# Official Piper's "Good Morning" Thread



## DSturg369

As time has flown by and the years start to add up, I find myself less the "night-owl" I once was. Now days, I like being up before the sun rises and watching her climb from behind the horizon and into the morning sky, refreshed from a restful slumber. Accompanying me nearly every morning is a hot cup of coffee and a bowl full of a good smoke. I know I'm not the only one that continues to grow more thankful to be allowed to continue to witness such a wonderful occurrence. This is a gift that is in limited supply. 

If you're on this list, please chime in and give a shout out to your fellow Pipers here at Puff. 

This morning, it's Prince Albert in a MM Country Gentleman and a mug of 8 o'clock.

Have a GREAT morning everyone!


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## donovanrichardson

Thank you for this thread Dale, I think this is a fantastic idea!

Although I am not enjoying a bowl in my pipe this morning, I would like to wish everyone a wonderful day at work, school, or just life in general.

Take care everyone!


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## canadianpiper

Fantastic thread, I too am a early riser weekends or weekdays and though I dont smoke in the morning I would like to wish all a good Monday.
___________________________________________________________________________
Flickr: pink_elephant's Photostream


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## dj1340

Great thread Dale, I also love the mornings. Now that spring is here it's nice to hear the birds singing away and the robins are happily digging in the mulch for worms. Doves are back as well cooing away. Long dreary winter but warmer weather is around the corner.
For me it's my standby Stanwell and a bowl of Bald Headed Teacher along with some good roast.


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## freestoke

Yo, Dale! Got my 4Dot stoked with PA! 

I generally get around about 7:30 to 8, no matter when I went to bed, but sometimes the cats will roust me earlier, so I only see the sun rise in the winter. I've always had this view that we're genetically wired to stay put until daylight, because there are very big animals that get up before dawn with keen night vision that are very hungry.

Whatever, first thing I do is pour some coffee and crank up a pipe!

Nice thread!


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## DSturg369

freestoke said:


> but sometimes the cats will roust me earlier


Glad I'm not alone in this. We have one cat... Spanky... He usually wakes up my Wife with sweet, morning kisses while he's on the pillows between us. Well, you can probably guess which end I get to wake up to. :tsk:


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## phineasrex

Excellent thread, I was up before the sun today, and am on most days. Had my Country Gentleman loaded up with Bayou Morning Flake, but I was drinking the venerable Folgers. There is something incredibly reassuring about tobacco and coffee in the pre-dawn hours. I feel that a relaxing start to the day greatly contributes to my mental health. Read, smoke, and drink, that's the way to live. Now if I could only find a way to get paid to do this, I'd be set.


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## FiveStar

phineasrex said:


> Read, smoke, and drink, that's the way to live. Now if I could only find a way to get paid to do this, I'd be set.


Amen brother. If you find anyone hiring, tell em you know a few other guys that are "unemployed" at the moment. LOL

I only get to have a morning pipe on the weekends. I just don't wake up with enough time before work during the week, but I don't mind so much. I like that it keeps me from smoking too much (which I'm prone to do) and makes my weekend pipes all the more enjoyable.

I've been finding I really enjoy a good breakfast on the weekends, followed by a French Press full of good joe and pipe of something rather strong. I'll usually smoke Pease Cumberland or even a C&D Burley Flake for morning breakfast, just to get things moving. A great way to start the day! :flame:


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## shannensmall

Great thread man. I almost never get up in time to see the sun rise. More often than not, I'm more prone to see it come up before going to sleep. Wile I am not one of the early risers, I do love my morning routine of strong coffee and strong baccy. I'm just now getting up and am drinking coffee from my French press and smoking a bowl of Happy Bogie.


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## EvoFX

awesome! i have been enjoying early morning pipe. and i guess i might be the minority on this. But a nice cup of tea, not a coffee drinker haha. Sadly i ran out of my good teas and waiting for another shipment to come back in.....


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## japacheze

I always start my mornings with one of my Savinelli Bings and a bowl of Scotty's Butternut Burley. Absolutely wonderful with a cup o' joe.


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## piperdown

I do on the weekends when it's warm out. More cigars than pipes but I've been leaning more towards pipes lately, especially since I got a MM and a wonderful Nording.

Very nice thread Dale! :tu


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## phineasrex

EvoFX said:


> and i guess i might be the minority on this. But a nice cup of tea, not a coffee drinker haha. Sadly i ran out of my good teas and waiting for another shipment to come back in.....


Never fear, I like my tea too, and I know there are many brothers that feel the same.

Five Star, if I find that dream company, this forum would be the first I'd tell. Though I wonder what they would sell. Profound thoughts perhaps?


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## PunchMan6

Well done thread brother...I don't drink coffee and usually dont have tea till later in the morning, BUT, most mornings, I start my day with a bowl full of a nice English and some fresh water...I find the early pipe takes away my hunger a bit till I can eat...
This morning it was Beck's Ol Limey Bastard in my Savinelli dedicated to english blends....Damn, now I have to check this every morning!!!!!


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## WWhermit

It's good to have you back Dale. Hasn't been quite the same without ya.

WWhermit
ipe:


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## freestoke

I do not get up before dawn. Good predawn AM! Got some SWR and a fresh cup of coffee and 4 cats to keep me busy. The weather is finally going to warm up!


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## donovanrichardson

Good morning everyone!

I have a 7:15 class and today was tough to get up for. But I'm here drinking a cup of nice hot coffee. Weather is not good either, unfortunately.

I wish everyone the best, have a great one today gentlemen!


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## DSturg369

Good Morning to my Puff Family. 8 o'clock coffee, a cob, and PA... My morning IV. Wishes for a great day for all.


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## freestoke

Hey, wake up out there! 

I got up early this morning and got the PA going with some Columbian coffee. Gonna be NICE today for a change.


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## DSturg369

Goooooooood Morning Viet........ Wait, that's not right.

Goooooooood Morning Puff! 

Mug of 8 o'clock and a cob full of Carter Hall this morning to get things going. I slept a tad later than usual today. New schedule at a new job site has me off today so I hit the snooze a couple times. Hoping everyone has a great day!


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## mirain

Can't say I see the sun rise very often but I do enjoy that first bowl with my morning java. That happens mostly on the weekends. This weekend I'll be firing up my new meerschaum with a hearty English blend.


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## shannensmall

Good mownin Puffers. A cob full of JKP and a cup full of strong coffee. I actually woke up early this AM.. hey 9:30 is early for me.


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## VFD421

Good morning, Some C&D Burley Flake #1 and a mug of Peet's coffee. Talk about an eye opener :shocked:


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! 

My day is starting as usual, with a cob of PA and a mug of 8 o'clock coffee. Wife has a Dr's visit this morning and later it's work for me. Have a great day all!


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## freestoke

PA here, too, and some coffee! Looking at the weather report...so when do we get to play golf this year, anyhow? Had like 10 rounds in by this time last year, this year nada and none in sight. At least the snow's almost gone!


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## Xodar

Morning puff-folk,
7:15 here, work starting, cob full of PS Navy flake and cup full of coffee. The day may just be worth continuing = )


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## Zogg

I puff a little later in the day, but im up at 5 am to work out (though im injured atm..) so i also love mornings


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## Jessefive

I love getting up early, but having kids makes it hard. It seems no matter how early I set the alarm, the kids are up with me. I'd love to have a predawn smoke, but I'd need to wake up at 4am for that to happen.


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## Natedogg

The last time I saw the sun rise was about 5 years ago when I stayed at a beach house on the Outer Banks. Such an awesome sight to see the sun coming over the Atlantic Horizon. I am as far from being a morning person as it gets.

Also, the weekends are the only time I get to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee with my daily bowl of Bayou Morning.


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## EvoFX

good morning!

started the day off with some eggs, oatmeal, toast and a cup of tea. pipe of FMOTT and getting ready for some cycling (best combination haha)


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## Hellraiser

Good Morning! Enjoying a bowl of Prince Albert.


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## DirtyBlackSocks

Gooood morning, just picked up a nice Limited Edition Hunter's Nording - the 2000 Rusticated Boar, smoking a nice large bowl of Penzance right now in a Nording Freehand No. 2 - easily my favorite pipe.

For those of you who have not tried a Nording yet I'd suggest heading over to Cup O' Joes and taking a look - they're lower end models are only 50 bucks a piece but smoke like a 300 dollar pipe.


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## freestoke

Ha! The early bird gets the PA! And some coffee. (Damn cats.) Mornin' guys!


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## FiveStar

Morning all! I've no business being up this early, but I tied on an extra Rye whiskey last night, and that seems to wake me up prematurely sometimes. Seems the older I get, things work the opposite of the way they used to. Take for instance the french press of Counter Culture coffee I just polished off. Now I'm sleepy again.

Scarfed a prosciutto and onion omlette for brekkie, and decided to treat myself to a morning pipe since I had time. A bowl of Germain's Brown Flake (thanks Dave!) went down sweetly with my many cups of joe. 

Think I'll go into work early today. Sooner I get there, sooner I can leave and start my weekend.


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## donovanrichardson

Good morning brothers! Hope everyone has an excellent Friday and this afternoon is always the perfect time to kick back with a large bowl of something excellent!


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## DSturg369

Good morning Puff Pipers!

PA and 8 o'clock to get things started today for me. Off from work today and have a few errands, with trusty MM cob and a pouch of PA ready to go.


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## canadianpiper

As usual, up early but not smoking I will save that for this evening when I start my weekend. Finally.
Giddy up..
_______________________________________________________________________
Flickr: pink_elephant's Photostream


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## dj1340

Having my morning cup of roast and a bowl of Trout Stream when I looked up and saw a Red Tailed Hawk jumping around in my bushes. Don't know what he was after, maybe a field mouse but not something you see every day. Man I love nature in the morning!!


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## phineasrex

Morning pipesters, later classes today, so I missed sunrise. But for some reason it's snowing here in southeastern PA, so I just shoveled, now onto a bowl of bayou morning flake and a couple cups. Probably going to finish off The Quiet American before heading off to be scholastic. Enjoy your friday folks.


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Been up since 04:30 hours and starting a 7-day work week today (uggh). Hot coffee and a cob of Prince Albert Choice Blend to start things out this morning. Have a pre-loaded cob with a very nice, gifted blend called Mission Pipe Shop's "Nut's To You" (thanks User Name!) for the ride to work. Have more of the same loaded in the travel pouch for meal break at work.

Have a great day all!


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## freestoke

Mornin' to ya! Sun might peek through occasionally today for a change! The Mohawk Valley gets less direct sunlight than any place on the N. American continent, so any sun is good! Got the 4Dot with some PA going and a nice cup of coffee.


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## El Gringo

Good morning all. Having a bit of Tambo with my morning coffee.
Its quite dreary here, and I dont think I'll be seeing the sun come out today, but it is Saturday...cant beat that.


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

PA choice Blend and hot coffee this morning. Up at 04:30 hours for a 12 hour shift again today... Back to 8's tomorrow.

Hope you all have a great day!


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## freestoke

Been up for a while, but just finished my first bowl of PA. BEAUTIFUL out there! Think I'll beat a few whiffle balls around the yard in a bit. Starting my second bowl with my second pipe with another cup of coffee. Might go out and smoke it on the porch. Been a while since that's been a comfortable choice.


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## Jivey

Had to start the day with a nice hot bowl of oatmeal now sitting back enjoying a pipe bowl of Anni Kake and some coffee.


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## DSturg369

Good morning Puff Pipers!

I slept a little late this morning. Didn't get up until about 07:00 hours. Hot coffee, OJ, pancakes, eggs, and fried bologna... MmmmMmmmm!!

Now, on to some PA Choice Blend in my fav MM cob... A Country Gentleman.


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## freestoke

Good morning! Finally getting around to a smoke this morning -- up at 8, but took a while to get things in order. PA as usual. Something is wrong with the snow that's falling. It's clear instead of white and doesn't stay where it lands, sort of running off in streams and stuff or sinking into the ground.


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## MarkC

Finally, I'm up this early rather than up this late, and can post on this thread! I'm on the middle day of three off in a row (two is rare enough; this is a real treat!), so I decided a morning bowl of FVF and a cup of tea was just the thing.


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## Xodar

Monday morning is somewhat mitigated by this thermos full of coffee and pipe full of Macbaren VA flake. I am one of those people who get better as the week progresses. By Friday I am amazing, but Mondays I struggle for mediocrity, lol.


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

After much coffee, OJ, French toast, and a sausage & egg biscuit... I'm totally awake now.

Now enjoying a MM Legend and some PA. Aside from the Master's traffic and a windy, rainy start this morning, it's looking like the day should be pretty good.

Hope everyone out there in Puff-land has a fantastic day!!


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## freestoke

Mornin' y'all! Starting my blind taste this morning with Delta from User Name for the Blind Taste Test, in the 4Dot. Good stuff! Some coffee and a second straight bowl of it. (The 4Dot is a workhorse and can easily do a two bowl run with no difficulty.) Antsy waiting for the Par 3 at the Masters tomorrow!


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Slept in pretty late this morning, until about 09:00 hours. That's really late for me. Guess I just needed some extra Zzzzz's. Finally got some coffee brewed and now enjoying some PA in a MM cob to go with it. Now I'm ready to go all Beowulf on whatever the day has to throw at me!


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Started my day at 06:02 hours this morning. Loaded a bowl of Carter Hall to jump-start the day while the 8 o'clock was brewing. After a couple egg and cheese biscuits and a couple mugs of coffee, now on to some Sugar Barrel. Trying to stretch out the remainder of a tub of Prince Albert... I'd probably crack up if I ran out! Have a good supply of PA Choice Blend to substitute until I can replenish. 

Have a great day everyone!


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## freestoke

It's Masters Thursday! Watching TGC and the scoreboard. Gonna PLAY this afternoon!! Can you BELIEVE it! Gonna be 50 and sunny. First outing since last November. (Probably gonna be some ugly shots out there for me today! :biggrin: ) Got some PA in the Savinelli for a change, with a cup of coffee. Might start the Smithfield ham soakin' to cook tomorrow for the weekend. (Well, what passes for Smithfield ham these days anyhow. :violin: )


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## DSturg369

When's supper?... Yum! :tu


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## Xodar

freestoke said:


> It's Masters Thursday! Watching TGC and the scoreboard. Gonna PLAY this afternoon!! Can you BELIEVE it! Gonna be 50 and sunny. First outing since last November. (Probably gonna be some ugly shots out there for me today! :biggrin: ) Got some PA in the Savinelli for a change, with a cup of coffee. Might start the Smithfield ham soakin' to cook tomorrow for the weekend. (Well, what passes for Smithfield ham these days anyhow. :violin: )


Oh Lord,
When you say country ham in Oregon they look on a map for a country called Ham. And Hushpuppies out here are shoes. You're making me hungry Jim :hungry:


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## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Oh Lord,
> When you say country ham in Oregon they look on a map for a country called Ham. And Hushpuppies out here are shoes. You're making me hungry Jim :hungry:


:biglaugh:

Got it soaking! Not going to water cook it tomorrow, though. Tired of catering to these damn Yankees and their sissy ideas of ham -- I'm baking it so it'll be nice and hard and flaky and salty, like it oughter. (They don't even have decent pork up here, much less ham!) I grew up in Hilton Village, Va, so I know me some Smithfield ham. Smithfield is just across the river, maybe 30 miles or so.

Back in '66, they changed the law in Va, making it legal to raise pigs the Yankee way, you know, shredded newspaper and vitamin pills. Back when I was growing up, the pigs were PEANUT fed, exclusively. Right there in the law. A Virginia ham had yellow fat and the pigs were fed from troughs that made them get on the their hind legs to reach the food, giving them monster butt and leg muscles. They had been on royal charter since the 1700s and the English monarchs ordered them every year. After '66, they took away the charter because they weren't the same any more. I think you can still get one like that, but it costs a lot of money to have a farmer raise one from scratch for you. I really miss a real Smithfield. Used to be my favorite food, now it's only "good". Better than a sissified Yankee ham, though!

Anyhow, she's soakin'. Still not all bad! :hungry:


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## laloin

freestoke said:


> :biglaugh:
> 
> Got it soaking! Not going to water cook it tomorrow, though. Tired of catering to these damn Yankees and their sissy ideas of ham -- I'm baking it so it'll be nice and hard and flaky and salty, like it oughter. (They don't even have decent pork up here, much less ham!) I grew up in Hilton Village, Va, so I know me some Smithfield ham. Smithfield is just across the river, maybe 30 miles or so.
> 
> Back in '66, they changed the law in Va, making it legal to raise pigs the Yankee way, you know, shredded newspaper and vitamin pills. Back when I was growing up, the pigs were PEANUT fed, exclusively. Right there in the law. A Virginia ham had yellow fat and the pigs were fed from troughs that made them get on the their hind legs to reach the food, giving them monster butt and leg muscles. They had been on royal charter since the 1700s and the English monarchs ordered them every year. After '66, they took away the charter because they weren't the same any more. I think you can still get one like that, but it costs a lot of money to have a farmer raise one from scratch for you. I really miss a real Smithfield. Used to be my favorite food, now it's only "good". Better than a sissified Yankee ham, though!
> 
> Anyhow, she's soakin'. Still not all bad! :hungry:


will you 2 Good'ol boys stop talking bout Southern cooking, I git me a taste of it when I was in Florida a few yrs back, and wow.
Biscuits and Country gravy, red eyed Gravy, collard Greens, Fish fries, hushpuppies, mud bugs oh Gawd I'm dying for a crayfish boil bout now hahah
troy


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

The day started at )6:00 hours with a cup of fresh, hot coffee and a M cob of PA Choice Blend. Followed that with another MM cob of Carter Hall and now having some Sugar Barrel in a Dr Grabow Royal Duke.

This evening is my last shift of the week with a few days to rest up. Next scheduled shift starts at 23:00 hours on Wednesday... Woot!

Also, and just for Troy... Here's what we're having for supper on Sunday... Low Country Boil!


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## freestoke

laloin said:


> will you 2 Good'ol boys stop talking bout Southern cooking....
> troy


Obviously, the answer is NO! :biglaugh:

Mornin', guys! Looks great, Dale!

BTW, I picked Kuchar yesterday before they teed off -- so far, so good. I picked Phil last year.


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## Xodar

That looks awesome Dale! Are those mussels or clams?

Small apple full of MacB VA flake with coffee sweet and light. Going to be a good Friday :bounce:


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## Jessefive

I put down a half finished bowl of Hamborger Veermaster last night in order to be responsible and go to bed early. This morning I've been enjoying finishing it with my coffee.


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## DSturg369

Xodar said:


> That looks awesome Dale! Are those mussels or clams?


Those were mussels but clams work just as well.


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## freestoke

Saturday morning at the Masters! Smoking my standard morning bowl of PA in the 4Dot with a cup of coffee. Be out there pounding it around myself before watching the action later tonight, but it's fun listening to the golf talking heads analyzing stuff this morning. Too bad Tiger's in it, because it's gonna sort of mess up the coverage -- 10 minutes Tiger (including a replay of shots he hit the past two days and earlier today), cut over quick to one shot each of McIlRoy, Fowler and Choi, back to Tiger for 10 more minutes. 

I must be grumpy this morning, because I just have to say how much I despise Mike Tirico as a golf announcer. :lol: Can't for the life of me figure out what his qualifications are. And why hasn't he ever learned anything about the game after all these years? Seems like he'd figure something out eventually, but he just never does. BooooooRING and an empty pocket about golf.

There. Now I feel better. I'll stop bitchin', I promise. Mornin' guys! :wave:


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Slept in until about 08:00 hours this morning. Now on to some hot Java and some PA in a MM Country Gentleman. Have a couple of errands later this morning and have a MM Legend and a pouch of Carter Hall ready for the drive around town. Skipping breakfast and probably a sandwich for lunch. Saving room for a great supper tonight. 

Hope everyone out there in Puff world has a fantastic day!


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## Nachman

Went out on the back porch and smoked a bowl of Beverwyck this morning before it got hot. Going to be 91 today. That Beverwyck is a good burley blend, just comes too dry but I am too lazy to rehydrate it so I just smoke it that way. Got to order me some Walnut and PA for early morning smokes.


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## Latakius Vituscan

It's a fine morning here on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The first bowl was Ringlow Syrian Reserve in a 1960s Pioneer gourd calabash. Now, just finishing a bowl of GL Pease Odyssey in a Castello 33 kkkk.

DJ


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## laloin

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> The day started at )6:00 hours with a cup of fresh, hot coffee and a M cob of PA Choice Blend. Followed that with another MM cob of Carter Hall and now having some Sugar Barrel in a Dr Grabow Royal Duke.
> 
> This evening is my last shift of the week with a few days to rest up. Next scheduled shift starts at 23:00 hours on Wednesday... Woot!
> 
> Also, and just for Troy... Here's what we're having for supper on Sunday... Low Country Boil!


dammit Dale, 
your making me drool and very very jealous. might have to jump on a plane just to gate crash your supper (shaking fist)
looks yummy
troy


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## DSturg369

Good morning Puff Pipers!

Yes, the plan is to make that same thing this evening. 

Woke up at 07:31 hours today. Late start but went to bed at nearly 04:00 hours, so I suppose it's okay. Mug of hot coffee and a MM cob of Carter Hall to kick things into gear and the day officially started. 

Hope everyone has a great day!


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## freestoke

Finally up and about with my standard 4Dot/PA and some coffee (Columbian this morning :tu). Gonna head and play nine then watch the Masters later. Looks like my Kuchar pick's a loser. I want to see at least 10 people tied for the lead going into the final nine. :lol:


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## Nachman

Beverwyck this morning, then Meridian.


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Up this morning at 06:15 hours and enjoying some Carter Hall in a MM cob with a mug of hot 8 o'clock coffee. Wife is still sleeping as is our cat Spanky, on my pillow. 

Hoping everyone has a great day!


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## freestoke

Another PA and 4Dot morning with some coffee! Mornin' guys! 

Played pretty good yesterday, one over. Must say Charl Schwartzel played a bit better though! :lol: QUITE the Masters!


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## donovanrichardson

Good morning fellow pipers! As always, no pipe smoking for me this morning but I thought I would offer a good morning and best wishes to all in the week to come! No early morning class for me this morning so I got to sleep in just a touch which is excellent!


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Slept in late, until about 08:15 hours. Nothing planned today but to hang out on Puff and relax. Carter Hall in a cob to get me started this morning. Thinking maybe a good day to spiffy up my pipes from the past several days and dry out a few flakes for the evening.

Have a great day everyone!


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## freestoke

Mornin' ya'll! Smoking from the many-splendored pouch mixture (a little of everything) with some CH in it. Threw some perique in there last night, too, so a little snorkier than my normal morning smoke.


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## Zfog

God morning fellow puffers, I am smoking my 2nd bowl of Dunhill EMP. Great blend for the morning!


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Never went to sleep... I tried but just couldn't make it happen so I'm still awake. Coffee is brewing and smoking some Carter Hall to make the morning official. Have to go to work tonight (3rd shift) so I'll sleep at some point, but for now it's officially the morning.

Hope y'all have a great day!


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## DSturg369

Good morning Puff Pipers!

Short and sweet... Just home from work, Carter Hall in a MM cob, time for bed.

Have a great day y'all!


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## piperdown

Bowl of greek yogurt, honey and granola (hey! I like it) and smoked a bowl of Sunflower (blend I get from a B&M in Topeka) in my MM cob on the way into work. Great smoke!


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## freestoke

On my fourth cup of coffee already and 4th bowl, Anni Kake in my Alpha Litewate. PA, Squadron Leader and another Anni Kake earlier. AK is quite nice stuff!

Yes, Dale, the SL was in a cob. :lol:


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Enjoyed a bowl of Middleton's Walnut in a MM Legend on the ride home from work this morning. Had a follow-up of Carter Hall in a MM Country Gent shortly after I got home. Now having some PA Choice Blend in another MM Legend and then it's off to sleepy land for me.

Hoping y'all have a great day!


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## Xodar

Good Morning Puffers!
Friday, nor more than normally wet for this part of the northwest, and did I mention it's Friday? Stokkebye Luxury twist in a small apple and french roast the color of a mother in laws love. It's going to be a good day!


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## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> Enjoyed a bowl of Middleton's Walnut in a MM Legend on the ride home from work this morning.


Wow! Branching out into the hard core stuff, Dale? :mrgreen:

I started with Mac Baren HH Mature Virginia. Good stuff. Well into my 6th bowl of the morning, Squadron Leader. Doing some backups on the other computer now. Got another one of those stinking "rootkit" malware programs running on it somehow. Really annoying. Might actually have to buy something to get rid of this stuff. (And, no, I'm not so stupid as to "search" for a fix on that machine. :crash: )


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Home from work and soon going to bed. Drove home in a darn near monsoon this morning but still managed to enjoy some PA Choice Blend on the trip. Just loaded a MM Country Gentleman with Rice Krispies by mistake I'm so tired.... And you think they "snap, crackle, and pop" in milk?... HA! Last bowl before sleep; Carter Hall.

Have a great day y'all!


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## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!...Just loaded a MM Country Gentleman with Rice Krispies by mistake I'm so tired.... And you think they "snap, crackle, and pop" in milk?...


Swing shifts should be illegal, right up there with slave labor. (I kid you not.) I know what it's like and I feel for you, Dale. Sleep good! 

Good morning to everybody who's up! Got some MB HH Matured Kake spillage from last night topped with some PA and a cup of coffee.


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## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Posting from my desk at work this morning. At 07:00 hours, I'll be headed out and having some PA Choice Blend on the ride home. Pancakes and sauasge to soon follow!

Hope y'all have a geat day!


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## Max_Power

Good morning everybody. It's just after 6 Sunday morning, I'm having a coffee & a bagel while I get ready to drive to NJ for the day to herf with other puffers.

This is much earlier than I'm used to for Sunday's, but it's gonna be a great day, I can feel it.

Think I'll have some PA after breakfast.


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## freestoke

Some PA in the 4Dot and some coffee. Good mornin'! Nice rain this weekend. People are grumbling, but the gardens and trees aren't! :lol:


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## Zfog

freestoke said:


> Some PA in the 4Dot and some coffee. Good mornin'! Nice rain this weekend. People are grumbling, but the gardens and trees aren't! :lol:


Sounds good to me! I ham having some EMP in a knockaround Briar. Paired with an Caramel machiatto. Maybe not the best match but it is starting my morning in an excellent direction!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

12 hour shifts behind me now, for this week... 2 more 8 hour days to go until my work week is at it's end... Then 3 days off! 

Enjoying the company of a good friend... My MM Country Gent and some Carter Hall before bedtime.


----------



## Zfog

Good morning Dale and other puffers! I started my day off with some EMP. Always a great way to start the day.
I hope everyone has a great day!


----------



## freestoke

Don't know what I'm smoking! :lol: It's the TwoDot from last night that I was too tired to finish and too tired to remember what I put in there. I think it's LTF, though -- puff puff -- yeah, LTF. Anyhow, some coffee and a good morning!


----------



## DSturg369

Good morning Puff Pipers!

Enjoying some Carter Hall in a MM cob.

Aside from that good note, I'm mad as Hell! Here's why... http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/288916-taking-stand.html


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

My weekend starts today... Off until 0700 hours on Saturday! Woot!

Enjoying some PA Choice Blend in a Dr Grabow Royal Duke to start things out. 

Have a few flakes drying out for this evening... FVF and a first for me: St. Jakes Flake (compliments of User Name... Thanks James!).


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> ... a first for me: St. Jakes Flake (compliments of User Name... Thanks James!).


Mister Moo sent me some of that and I still have a little left. Good plan, Dale. Think I'd like some of that later myself!

Got up this morning to a power outage. Had a pretty strong thunderstorm with some big, thumpy lightning, so I figured that's what knocked things out. Nope. We've had a few inches of rain in the past week, no big deal, but enough. A few weeks back, they put in three new poles to replace some old ones and they just keeled over this morning about 5:30. Nice job. I just LOVE private enterprise handling the utilities. If they can take shortcuts and save a buck and put it in their own pockets they will.

Anyhow, got the generator going and I'm at least online with the refrigerator running and some coffee! PA in the 4Dot as usual. ipe:


----------



## Zfog

Had a nice big bowl of EMP to kick off the day, which always seems to do the trick!


----------



## donovanrichardson

Zfog said:


> Had a nice big bowl of EMP to kick off the day, which always seems to do the trick!


Still one of my top tobaccos overall right now! Excellent, light smoke which always tastes good morning, noon, or night!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Had a bad coughing spell last night and smoking only seemed to make it worse at the time. But, all seem right again this morning. 

Changing things up this morning a little bit. A mug of hot coffee is by my side but leaving the MM cobs in the rack for right now. Have a Savinelli 904 Capri Rood Briar loaded with some FVF to start things out today.


----------



## freestoke

Mornin', y'all. Got my 4Dot, PA and coffee as usual. Cold and windy day. Two seasons around here, winter and the Fourth of July.


----------



## Zfog

Good morning gentlemen, I am having some more EMP out of my Picasso Briar that Dave gifted to me. Kind of wishing i brought more then 3 baccy's on vaca but at least there good ones!:hungry:


----------



## Nachman

Opened an 8 oz can of Chelsea Morning last night because it had reached it's first birthday. Smoked it this morning and it was delicious.


----------



## astripp

EMP to start the day in my Puff meer.


----------



## EvoFX

Good Morning.

have to knock off a 10 page paper, but ill do that with some chocolate mind tea and MM of Squadron Leader.

Cheers


----------



## freestoke

EvoFX said:


> ...but ill do that with some chocolate *mind* tea...


Good thinking! 8)


----------



## Natedogg

Morning folks. This is one of the rare times I am up at 5:30 but its to pick up my oldest daughter out in Pittsburgh for Easter. It's a cold one this morning but a bowl of Bayou Morning always makes it better.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

The coffee is just finishing up and the Carter Hall is loaded in a MM Legend... Going to be a good day. Cooler here today also, was 90 and sunny yesterday and expecting 72 and raining today. 

Have a great day y'all!


----------



## piperdown

Hey, good morning all.
Coffee's going, house is quite as the kids aren't up yet, it's cold and rainy outside and I'm going to enjoy some Stonehaven in my Peterson on the way into work.


----------



## freestoke

Mornin'! Gonna be nicer today, supposedly, heading into a wet weekend. Golf this afternoon, PA and coffee this morning.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Up at 04:30 hours and starting my work-week this morning... Two 12-hour shifts and then five 8-hour shifts to go before my next weekend. Hot coffee and a MM Legend with PA to get me going. 

Have a great day y'all!


----------



## Zogg

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> Up at 04:30 hours and starting my work-week this morning... Two 12-hour shifts and then five 8-hour shifts to go before my next weekend. Hot coffee and a MM Legend with PA to get me going.
> 
> Have a great day y'all!


ouch!

I havent even gone to sleep yet!

I have a full easter weekend heading up on me.

I'm going to the bruins playoff game tonight with my dad. driving a few hours to meet him in boston then another hour further to his house, then driving back monday.

He doesn't know i smoke (mostly because my mom is one of those fanatical anti-smoking people.. except shes overweight and i workout 2 hours a day, so she's more unhealthy than i am! hah!!) so i wont be smoking on the way down, I'll have to have some before leaving and take a shower XD

morning rant i guess. its 6 am right now..

Planning on enjoying some Purple Cow in my new Luciano chubby billiard before leaving, should be fantastic. I love that pipe!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> Up at 04:30 hours and starting my work-week this morning... Two 12-hour shifts and then five 8-hour shifts to go before my next weekend. Hot coffee and a MM Legend with PA to get me going.
> 
> Have a great day y'all!


Frankly, having been on a swing shift in the military for a while, and having kept up with the science on it (I have a BS in physiological psychology), I'm surprised that it's still legal to make anybody do that. Night shifts are hard, but you can get used to them; swing shifts are murder, because you can't. It's like permanent jet lag. If there's anybody here who empathizes, Dale, it's me. :tea: Firing up a sympathetic Legend with some PA to go with this coffee.


----------



## pffintuff

Coffee and Prince Albert with black cav mix in an IMP meers.
Cheers.


----------



## Xodar

+1 for sympathy for Dale. I ran a swing for about 6 months on a production push one time. All I did was work and sleep. Packing my legend with PA/Navy mix in solidarity.


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Frankly, having been on a swing shift in the military for a while, and having kept up with the science on it (I have a BS in physiological psychology), I'm surprised that it's still legal to make anybody do that. Night shifts are hard, but you can get used to them; swing shifts are murder, because you can't. It's like permanent jet lag. If there's anybody here who empathizes, Dale, it's me. :tea: Firing up a sympathetic Legend with some PA to go with this coffee.


Physiological psychology? If I am interpreting my latin correctly there Jim, then you're the man to talk to about why the longer I am awake the more I love pipes with fat bottoms and wide hol.. errr, bowls? :der:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Happy Easter everyone! Try not to step in any bunny bombs.

Have the coffee I.V. going and a bowl of PA burning to get ready for 12 more hours today.

Have a fantastic day y'all!


----------



## pffintuff

Happy Easter, almost forgot. SWR this morning in the meers, with plenty of coffee.


----------



## freestoke

A little slow getting this 4Dot going with some PA. Been drinking my coffee looking for my Brebbia nail because there was a little tobacco stuck to the side of the bowl I wanted to pop off before filling. Finally gave up and started looking for the three new ones I got to nudge me into the free shipping zone last order -- nowhere to be found. (How's THAT for losing pipe nails?) Finally resorted to a pocket knife, but that was good enough to get me going. So finally! GOOD MORNING!!


----------



## freestoke

Apparently they have repaired the poles outside town that keep the permanent cloud cover overhead. I think we've have about 15 minutes of sun in the past week and NONE to be seen the coming week -- that weird period of bright light during the day a couple of weeks ago has been seen to. Smoking some PA in the 4Dot with some coffee, enjoying the gray outside. Good morning! :lol:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Wow, slept until 08:30 hours this morning... Guess I needed to catch up from the weekend. Back to 8-hour shifts for the rest of the week, so that should be a breeze. 4-day weekend starts on Saturday and that'll keep me going. Plus, today is haircut day and that always perks me up. High & Tight... I hate having my hair touching my ears.

Having some hot 8 o'clock and a bowl PA in a MM Country Gent to kick-start the day. 

Hoping all y'all out there in the big Puff ocean have a great day!


----------



## freestoke

Where IS everybody this morning!? Good morning anyhow! :wave: Got the Szabo going with some Smoker Friendly Sweet and Natural and my third cup of coffee this morning. I can't find my Anni Kake!! Any of you guys see my Anni Kake lying around? I didn't smoke ALL of it already did I?


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Was up too late and slept in too late again. Cup of hot coffee and a bowl of Sugar Barrel in a MM Legend for breakfast. I think I'm coming down wih some kind of Spring cold thing... Uggghhh.... Just what I need.

Have a great day y'all!


----------



## hawg

Up waay too early today. Had a nice bowl of Red Cake in my Sav. Was able to even sit out on the porch in the sun. Dreaming of my motorcycle trip. Doesn't get any better than this.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Up at 06:00 and started the day with hot coffee and a MM Country Gent with PA Choice Blend. Now on to a second bowl of the same. 

Y'all have a great day!


----------



## freestoke

Just about ready to sit down to some coffee and stoke up the 4Dot with -- tada! -- CH! I'll be popping a tub of PA shortly, but it's been a busy morning so far, had to "Revolutionize" the four cats among other things. (Anti-flea stuff.)


----------



## Nachman

Chelsea Morning in a Nording Freehand this morning.


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Just about ready to sit down to some coffee and stoke up the 4Dot with -- tada! -- CH! I'll be popping a tub of PA shortly, but it's been a busy morning so far, had to "Revolutionize" the four cats among other things. (Anti-flea stuff.)


 Hehe, at the risk of going off topic, Revolution is amazing. We use it on our cats, our staffordshires, and the beagle. Combination flea/heartworm topical that also covers ear mites (which is what we first purchased it for). Prescription only in N America, so bless the aussies who'll ship it with no fuss.

Wednesday morning, Coffee and PS Navy Flake in a new Cassano calabash shape I picked up this weekend :mrgreen:


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Prescription only in N America, so bless the aussies who'll ship it with no fuss.
> 
> Wednesday morning, Coffee and PS Navy Flake in a new Cassano calabash shape I picked up this weekend :mrgreen:


Yep, Aussies are also WAY cheaper! Oddly, it ships from Canada. Anyhow, been using it for years and the ear mites are also why I picked it originally, that and the simultaneous tick control. (Doesn't get all the different tick types, but the ones it doesn't get are the ones dogs usually get, not cats. Cats are pretty good at getting rid of their own ticks anyhow, especially if you have more than one cat so they can groom each other.

I'm on my fourth bowl as the morning winds down -- my trusty FourDot pot with some Anni Kake. (I found the AK in a bag marked SG St. James Flake. :twitch: My filing system leaves something to be desired.)


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Having some PA Choice Blend in a MM Country Gent before breakfast this morning. Hot coffee accompanying. 

Not working tonight and will probably be up most of the night. Wife is having an electrical stimulator put in her back this afternoon to see if it helps with her back injury pain, and I need to monitor her through the night to insure she doesn't have an adverse reaction and that it's not making things worse. Several pipes and tobaccos will be with me throughout the night as well.


----------



## freestoke

Man, Dale, tough sledding continues. Hope all goes well and she's better for having the procedure. :tea:

Broke open the PA a while ago and it's tasting great in the 4Dot with some Chock Full o' Nuts! Actually this one's out. Gotta go for two in a row!:tu


----------



## freestoke

Going for FIVE in a row! My low PA warning light was on!! And my fourth cup of coffee. Buzzing right along this morning! :lol:


----------



## Zfog

Good late morning guys! I had a bowlof some English Gentlemen this morning for a change of pace. It is a nice English that left an excellent room note!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

My Wife's med procedure was yesterday. She's still sore from the insertion process of the 2 electrodes in her spine but otherwise doing okay. She says she thinks it's working but is too sore still to really tell yet. 

Hot coffee and PA in a MM cob to get me going this morning. And I know I'm not alone in that their wives had them up at 04:00 hours to see the Royal Wedding... She's still watching it. 

Y'all have a great day!


----------



## freestoke

Mornin' y'all! 

Glad things went well for her, Dale. Hope it helps her out. 

I'll flick on the telly (as they used to say in England) here in a bit and watch the reruns. They actually closed school when I was a kid in Virginia so we could watch QE-II marry Philip. 

Right now, it's PA in the 4Dot and some coffee. My PA replenishment arrived yesterday!


----------



## Andrewdk

Xodar said:


> Hehe, at the risk of going off topic, Revolution is amazing. We use it on our cats, our staffordshires, and the beagle. Combination flea/heartworm topical that also covers ear mites (which is what we first purchased it for). Prescription only in N America, so bless the aussies who'll ship it with no fuss.
> 
> Wednesday morning, Coffee and PS Navy Flake in a new Cassano calabash shape I picked up this weekend :mrgreen:


Does this mean I can trade Revolution for tobacco??

And best of luck Dale, hope she feels better soon.


----------



## freestoke

freestoke said:


> They actually closed school when I was a kid in Virginia so we could watch QE-II marry Philip.


Oops. That was QE-II getting crowned queen, not marrying Philip!! sheesh.


----------



## Nachman

This morning I received a package of Old Codger Burleys so I had a Hardcastle Zulu full of Walnut. At first I tried it in a new MM American Patriot. Tasted like I was smoking air and I couldn't keep it lit. Then I realized the problem wasn't the tobacco. That cob was leaking like a sieve where the shank goes into the bowl. I guess I will get some Elmer's wood glue and try to patch it. It went much better with the Hardcastle.


----------



## Zfog

I missed this thread today, but wanted to send well wishes to your wife Dale. I hope all goes swimingly!


----------



## freestoke

Good morning! Beautiful day on the way after a 10" of rain the past couple of weeks. Hope they mowed the golf course yesterday, 'cause we'll be out there! Waking up with PA, the 4Dot and coffee.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Sorry for missing y'all yesterday but had a rather quick turnaround at work and needed to get some sleep in between shifts. Now off for a couple of days (until Wednesday night) and playing "catch-up" on the board. Started my day with a cup of hot coffee and some PA Choice Blend in a MM cob.

Hope everyone has a relaxing and wonderful Sunday!


----------



## Zfog

I'm glad you can relax for a bit Dale! I am heading off to meet up with Max Power (Chris) to hang out and smoke a few bowls. I believe we are both going to smoke a bowl of Tambo/Perique! Good Times! :lol:
Enjoy your day everyone!


----------



## freestoke

G'morning, everybody! Another great golf day on tap! Hit the ball nice yesterday, but the wind was brutal and I never made a putt. sigh. Great day to play, though! Smokin' some PA in the 4Dot with coffee to start the day as usual.


----------



## DSturg369

Change # 47...

Just got called... Have a 23:59 to 08:30 shift tonight.... Different site that needs some help. Well, at least the extra $$ will be nice; And... This site has a smoking area.. Woot!


----------



## Arizona

It's May 1st and I'm enjoying a bowl of Black n Gold in my Ascorti poker that I've had since new in 1985. That and a cup of 100% Columbian coffee with a splash of half n half in it. Nothing fancy, but just what I like.

April was my 30th Anniversary of pipe smoking by the way.  Enjoying it more than ever...


----------



## DSturg369

Congrats Jeff!


----------



## freestoke

Good morning! Things starting pretty slow today, only on my second cup and second pipe! Got a little Anni Kake cooking in a Legend. Supposed to rain so no golf. Hit the ball okay yesterday, but scored horrible!


----------



## DSturg369

A tad past the morning but......

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Got off of work at 08:30... An extra shift for the $$. Home to a cup of hot coffee and a bowl of Carter Hall to relax. A quick nap and then back to the Dr's office for the little lady. She had her temp implant removed (was a trial version), and it was a huge success! .. 50% or more pain reduction, easily. Wife was ecstatic. Now to schedule the permanent implant with a surgeon as soon as possible.

Hope we're having a great day all!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Woke up around 05:30 hours because.... Well, I don't really know why. Had a slightly upset stomach when I finally did lay down just a hour or so before then. Woke up and it was more upset. Sat up, stood up and broke into a run to the head. Guess it's a stomach bug. Loaded up and lit a bowl of PA Choice blend and it was okay at first, then it got even more upset and I was off to the head again. Hoping this isn't how my day is going to be. 

Have a great day y'all!


----------



## freestoke

G'morning, everybody! 

Bummer, Dale. Not much you can do but weather the storm with those things. Take it easy today.

Gotta pack up the beautiful Stanwell Canadian that came yesterday and send it back. How can they miss the bottom of the bowl with the drill? I just don't understand it. We can put a man on the moon but we can't get drill a hole to hit within an 1/8 of an inch? You could fit another pipe cleaner underneath where one put through the draft hole comes out. So there it will be, that little pool at the bottom, collecting moisture while you smoke. Wetter, soggier, tongue-biting and horrible as it progresses toward the dottle. Oh well, it could be worse -- I could have a stomach bug, huh Dale?  

4Dot, PA and coffee, of course!


----------



## DSturg369

Feeling a little better after a _light_ breakfast of 2 biscuits with sausage gravy, 4 eggs, 4 pieces of sausage, and a French toast. Just wasn't all that hungry this morning.

Coffee now, and finishing my bowl of PA Choice Blend.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Slept most of the night, woke up at 06:00, hat a nice bowl of Carter Hall and hot coffee, then off to a hearty breakfast of sausage and egg biscuits. Now enjoying more hot coffee with a bowl of PA Choice Blend and relaxing. Back to work tonight for 7 days straight so not much planned today other than hanging out on Puff with friends.

Have a great day y'all!


----------



## freestoke

G'morning everybody! PA in the 4Dot with coffee as usual. Almost went with the EMP, but not up to anything quite that exciting this morning I guess. :lol: Morgan the Traveler (our weirdest cat) was particularly annoying this morning, so at 6 she demanded grilled breast of chicken marinated in balsamic vinegar from last night or all would not be well with us. Even that didn't help, because I didn't give her enough, trying to save enough for sandwiches for lunch. Had to lock her in the garage until I got up.


----------



## freestoke

Thought I'd shake things up this morning with some EMP in the 4Dot and coffee. Got some Ranier Long Golden Flake yesterday, so I'll fire that up later. Came with a new pipe, a Sasieni Canadian that its absolutely amazing with a 3.9" shank. Smokes great!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Just home from work and headed out to wife's Dr's appointment. Hope everyone has a great day.... BBL.


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Thought I'd shake things up this morning with some EMP in the 4Dot and coffee. Got some Ranier Long Golden Flake yesterday, so I'll fire that up later. Came with a new pipe, a Sasieni Canadian that its absolutely amazing with a 3.9" shank. Smokes great!


I just got a tin of the long golden Tuesday as well. I have too much stuff open at the moment, but the tin showed up with a dent in it, and I'm telling myself "That paint can style lid looks questionable with that dent" so it will probably be open soon. No new Sasieni though, I bow to your superior planning Jim.

Thursday it is, and Spring seems like it's finally arrived. Smoking bullseye flake in the nubby acorn, strong coffee, and feeling like it's almost Friday!


----------



## SmoknTaz

Hello to all. On my days off and enjoying a bowl of 4nogs Weybridge. A nice morning treat!


----------



## Zfog

I was feeling spice this morning and had a couple bowls of nightcap. God I love that stuff!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Just home from work and about to chow down on some breakfast. Enjoyed some PA Choice Blend in a MM Legend on the drive home. After breakfast, some sleep is scheduled. Wife has me penciled-in for a wake-up at noon.... We'll see how that goes. Five more day to go then 3 days off to rest and smoke. Going to try to get by the storage where our stuff is on Saturday and retrieve all my pipes and tobaccos and my fishing gear... For one of those 3 days off. 

Smoke the good stuff and hope y'all have a great day!


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> I just got a tin of the long golden Tuesday as well. I have too much stuff open at the moment...


Good morning everybody! :tea:

Never got around to that LGF, because I've got too much stuff open also. Got a ton of new tobacco which I DON'T NEED! Why do I do this? :doh:

I'm back to the PA/4Dot/Coffee this morning. Got some 5100 yesterday and really like it! Mixes great with Irish Flake, so that's up next in the new Canadian!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

At work right now so shhhhhhh.

12 hour shifts start tonight... Same every weekend. Have a hot mug of coffee to keep me company. 2 more hours of an 8 hour shift left until I can enjoy some PA Choice Blend on the drive home. 

Hope y'll have a great Saturday!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> At work right now so shhhhhhh.


What's this "shhhhh"? That's like, "Are you awake?" 4:49 in the morning and you wake us all up to tell us not to snore because you're at work!? That's not "shhhh", it's "sheesh".

I was able to get back to sleep though, so I'm up now with some PA and the 4Dot. Coffee seems extra good this morning. Looking at a nice day for golf! Hit ball super yesterday but could do absolutely nothing around the greens :suspicious:, so I'm hoping to make a few putts today.

Anyhow, good morning everybody!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Although I'm stuck at work right now, I can tell it's going to be a beautiful day.

Strong coffee getting me through the night, I was able to smoke a partial bowl of PA Choice Blend earlier. Will finish it up on the drive home later.

Have a great day y'all.


----------



## Zogg

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> Although I'm stuck at work right now, I can tell it's going to be a beautiful day.
> 
> Strong coffee getting me through the night, I was able to smoke a partial bowl of PA Choice Blend earlier. Will finish it up on the drive home later.
> 
> Have a great day y'all.


You deserve a nap!

Ive been up all night, i passed the hell out all day yesterday (i slept until 7:45 PM!) cause of antibiotics; and im finally feeling a bit better. just smoked some dunhill nightcap and couldn't taste all that much.. stupid sickness!


----------



## freestoke

Good morning everybody! PA/4Dot/coffee. Slept late this morning. Putted pretty well yesterday, so I was able to sleep. :lol:

Beautiful week ahead for us, Paul, so maybe that'll straighten you out some. Hope so!


----------



## Zfog

freestoke said:


> Good morning everybody! PA/4Dot/coffee. Slept late this morning. Putted pretty well yesterday, so I was able to sleep. :lol:
> 
> Beautiful week ahead for us, Paul, so maybe that'll straighten you out some. Hope so!


Very jealous that you can even play golf. My 2 young children prohibit me from such activities! lol
I kicked of this Mothers Day with a nice bowl of Penzance in my English dedicated Dunhill!


----------



## DanR

I'm treating myself to some dessert for breakfast. Boswell's Christmas Cookie and a cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.

Good Morning Friends!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Didn't get to smoke a thing for the last 12 hours, but enjoyed a fine bowl of PA Choice Blend on the drive home from work. Two more 8-hour shifts then off for 3 days, to relax and puff 'til my heart's content. Tired now and headed to bed.

Hope y'all have a great Monday!


----------



## freestoke

I was about to send the greatest good morning post of all time, but the power went out before I could send it. Y'all will have to make do with a normal Good Morning!! Beautiful week ahead around these parts. :tu

Smoking some new Reiner Long Golden Flake in the Mayfair and I must say it is rather excellent. Accompanying it with a cup of some fine gourmet coffee I got for Xmas, but I don't remember what it is :ask:-- put the coffee in the canister and threw away the bag.


----------



## freestoke

Good morning, y'all. Fantastic nice day coming up! Into my third bowl already, some 5100+IF in the Sasieni Canadian, a superior mix. :tu And this new coffee tastes really good, whatever it is!


----------



## Zfog

freestoke said:


> Good morning, y'all. Fantastic nice day coming up! Into my third bowl already, some 5100+IF in the Sasieni Canadian, a superior mix. :tu And this new coffee tastes really good, whatever it is!


I wish I could smoke like you do! YOu must smoke in your home, god I would love that!
I have yet to smoke because it is raw outside. Poor me lol


----------



## freestoke

Zfog said:


> I wish I could smoke like you do! YOu must smoke in your home, god I would love that!
> I have yet to smoke because it is raw outside. Poor me lol


My home consists of various smoking rooms, some equipped with kitchen equipment, some with TV and computers...:lol:


----------



## Zfog

freestoke said:


> My home consists of various smoking rooms, some equipped with kitchen equipment, some with TV and computers...:lol:


One day....
how was that 5100 and IF?


----------



## Xodar

Tuesday beats Monday. Odd mexican coffee that has a floral thing from flowers that grow in the trees, and Tilbury. Feeling a little like Spring.


----------



## freestoke

Zfog said:


> One day....
> how was that 5100 and IF?


I really like it! I take a half bowl worth of 5100 and crumble some IF into it, wad it into a cannonball and stuff it in the pipe. Burns like a dream and has a decent nic hit.


----------



## Zfog

freestoke said:


> I really like it! I take a half bowl worth of 5100 and crumble some IF into it, wad it into a cannonball and stuff it in the pipe. Burns like a dream and has a decent nic hit.


I'll have to write that one down so I don't forget. Sounds great!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! (as well as to all you Lurkers... You know you're out there!)

Last shift tonight then off until Saturday morning! .. Woot! Enjoying some CH in a MM Country Gent to reflect on the night past and unwind before some sleep.

Looking forward to puffing, eating, sleeping, and spending some quality time here on Puff. 

Have a great Tuesday y'all!


----------



## KBibbs

Good morning (more of afternoon really) everyone! Woke up with a mild migraine so having a Dr. Pepper instead of coffee this morning while working on a 10-15 page paper that's due tomorrow. Not sure if I'll end up with much time to smoke a pipe today or not (though I finally found some PA that I wouldn't mind lighting up while working) but things are leaning more towards no unless I have a writing epiphany and bust out this paper. 

Anyway, just thought I would drop in and say hello, and good morning all!


----------



## freestoke

KBibbs said:


> Good morning (more of afternoon really) everyone!


It's always morning somewhere! :tu They were talking about the international dateline yesterday on NPR. The Samoas are working on a tourist package that flies you from one island to another across the dateline for New Year's or your birthday or whatever, so you can celebrate it twice. The announcer noted that you could work only Monday, Wednesday and Friday and still work six days a week! :biglaugh:

Good morning! Just finished my first bowl of PA in the 4Dot, same Xmas coffee -- good stuff. Golf again today. Hit the ball pure yesterday but my short game is just a disaster. Missed a 6 footer for par at the first, another miss from 3, then from 4 feet, then reached the par 5 fifth in two only to fail to get up and down from the fringe. (Not bad for somebody a month short of their 68th birthday, 5'7" tall and weighing 130 lbs, huh!? :lol: Still have a LITTLE length left in these old bones!) Another easy 8 footer on the sixth didn't go, a 10 footer at seven missed, then three putted the 9th for a four over 40. sigh. Anybody who can break 100 would have easily shot par or better off my ball. Once heard a guy from Viet Nam on a par three, apparently not playing well -- "I suicide myself!!"

Anyhow, I'm excited. Most beautiful day of the year coming up! Hope yours is going to work out as well. :wave:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Well, work officially sux! Arrived at the site last night and was immediately handed a notice. It stated that if I was even reported as smoking there again, that I would be terminated for that site. This morning I spoke with my supervisor and explained that I had not smoked on the property since receiving a verbal notice from her in my first week there and that I only smoked to & from work. She told me that I smelled of smoke and that, basically, she didn't believe me and also added that having any tobacco in my possession while on the property would warrant a termination, weather I was actually using it or not. Headed into the main office today to formally request a transfer before I get into some major trouble at my current work site. I will not tolerate being treated as such. :mad2:

On a better note... The PA Choice Blend and MM Legend combo on the drive home was goooooooooooood! :cheeky:

Hope y'all have a great Wednesday!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Headed into the main office today to formally request a transfer before I get into some major trouble at my current work site. I will not tolerate being treated as such. :mad2:


Holy Bajeezus, Dale! What an asshole! Hope that transfer goes through. Sounds like she'd be a witch to work with regardless of whether you smoked or not. sheesh. And who's the snot who complained? Unreal.


----------



## DSturg369

Not sure who complained. Right now, I'm working the 3rd or night shift. For the last hour, 0600 to 0700, many "big-wigs come through my area. Could have been anyone.


----------



## DanR

Man Dale, I think that really sux! I know there have been plenty of discussions about this already, but I still think that should be illegal! What's this country coming too?


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> What's this country coming too?


Forget it, it's already there.


----------



## DanR

I guess I'm lucky in that my boss and several of my coworkers are cigar lovers. If it weren't for the whiny ones, we'd probably be smoking in the office...

Oh, and to get this thread back on track - I smoked a 1/2 bowl of Boswell's Bear Blend with my coffee this morning. Good Morning All!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

The Good Lord has allowed me yet another wake-up this morning, so one always has to be happy with that. 

Was up at some point just after 0400, but was cross-eyed tired still so went back to bed. Up again at 0731 and started the coffee brewing. Filled a mug and pairing it with CH in a MM Country Gent. No plans today other than to just relax and spend some time with Wife.

Hope y'all have a great Thursday!


----------



## freestoke

Mornin' y'all! Another beautiful day on tap here. More golf! Smoking some Erinmore in the MM Diplomat and having some of the good Xmas coffee. Pollen's getting pretty heavy on the cars. Big time flowers out there. Beautiful!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Hot coffee and a bowl of CH is doing me just fine this morning. Have a few errands to run around town and have a travel pouch loaded and ready to go. Today is the last of my time off until next Sat. Two 12-hour and five 8-hour shifts to go. Still hoping to hear from the main office about a possible transfer but have to suffer through the BS where I am for now. Off to breakfast in just a few, so....

Hope y'all have a great Friday!


----------



## freestoke

Good mornin', y'all. PA/4Dot and coffee. A little rain for the weekend which is great for the gardens and fruit trees. Really good timing. Saw an oriole in the apple tree a little while ago, busy picking off the bugs for breakfast. Pretty!

Any of you guys getting flooded out? Looks bad for the people along the Mississippi for sure. What a mess. My heart goes out to them.


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Loaded up and lit a bowl of PA Choice blend and it was okay at first, then it got even more upset and I was off to the head again. Hoping this isn't how my day is going to be.
> 
> Have a great day y'all!


Seems you got past it a bit faster than I did. (I'm still not all the way clear, but getting there.) I'm not sure why this isn't cholera, actually. :lol: Hit me Saturday night and I've been in bed ever since -- except when I was journeying forth to pray at the porcelain altar. Haven't been that sick in 20 years, at least. I was wishing I was in one of those old Audy Murphy war flicks, where I could scream, "Medic! Medic!" and they'd come shoot me up with morphine.

Finally getting ready to have some food and maybe afterward my first bowl since Saturday.


----------



## DSturg369

I just had a stomach thing Jim, I'm thinking something I ate maybe just didn't agree with me. Wife also had a touch of it. No full-blown bug yet this year, knock-on-wood! I've had all the seasonal shots so I'm hoping that it'll pass me by. Get well soon Brother!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> I just had a stomach thing Jim, I'm thinking something I ate maybe just didn't agree with me. Wife also had a touch of it. No full-blown bug yet this year, knock-on-wood! I've had all the seasonal shots so I'm hoping that it'll pass me by. Get well soon Brother!


Don't think this one is one of the flu shot varieties. I had the shot, too, but this was a rotovirus, not an influenza, as I understand it. Anyhow, I'm finally over the hill. Audrey had it too, but she felt it coming and didn't eat, so she was over it in less than 12 hours. Apparently that's the trick -- DON'T EAT! The CDC is full of it with all their warnings about dehydration and electrolyte imbalances -- maybe for infants and elderly on life support, but if you're anywhere close to normal, pheeh...DON'T EAT OR DRINK if you aren't hungry or thirsty! Took me 4 days to shake it off and I can see that every time I ate or drank anything it got worse.

Anyhow, I'm just now firing up the 4Dot with some PA -- but no coffee, water. First bowl since Saturday!

And it is a real good morning for a change!


----------



## DSturg369

Glad to hear you're on the mend Brother!


----------



## freestoke

Okay! Good mornin', y'all! 

All is well this morning with an MM Diplomat full of PA and some COFFEE!! The good stuff, too! :tu The Great Pestilence is finally gone! What a pain in the butt THAT was!


----------



## DSturg369

Good morning Puff Pipers!

Been on a retreat from this thread for a few days. Just wanted to see where it went. It's crawling but still alive. :lol:

Hot coffee and some Sugar Barrel this morning to get me going. Slept late again... Guess I needed it, but wife is busy at a late breakfast for me... I so love that woman. . 

Two more nights of work and then off for four days of R&R. Plan on smoking some small jars and samples I haven't visited in many months... Frog Morton blends, Dunhill, and others. Looking forward to it.

Hope y'all have a great Thursday!


----------



## DSturg369

Good mornin' Puff Pipers! 

Hot coffee and Prince Albert Choice Blend for breakky this fine mornin'. It's Fridy and have a 4-day weekend ahead... Woot! Smoke 'em if yoos got 'em!

Hope yoos all have a ripper Fridy!


----------



## freestoke

Mornin', y'all! Got a 50/50 chance of a rainless day ahead. Might even get to the golf course later, depending. 

Wanted to report on a VERY strange weather event yesterday. I'm an "amateur meteorologist", have been my whole life. Love weather stuff and this area has some strange happenings, for sure. Yesterday, in a small region near Waterville, NY, a chain of thunderstorms developed and traveled north in stream about 5 miles wide. They continued to develop in the exact location for hours, as if there was a volcano spewing out a plume, the stream moving just west of due north, wandering neither east nor west, in a tight, cohesive band. Watching it on radar it was among the strangest things I've seen, weatherwise. It was the point source of the development of the storms that was so unusual. Quite a bit of local flooding along the Mohawk River, nothing dramatic or very unusual there, but the chaining and small width of the plume was some of the oddest I've ever seen.

Right now, it's some EMP in my big Savinelli Anni with excellent coffee, watching things dry out.


----------



## Xodar

Friday, and Spring is here. Nearly a perfect day, mid 70's and clear, just enough of a breeze to cool you off if you do something in the sun.
Tilbury (smoking a ton of this lately) in the new danish egg cob, hot coffee and contemplating the weekend.


----------



## freestoke

Mornin', y'all. Having to break into the jarred PA this morning for dry stuff because the humidity is so high that what I had out is too wet to smoke, wetter than where it started. Starting to get weird around here with the rain every day. Might get a good one with today, though! Have a good one!

At least the world didn't... :rapture:


----------



## Zfog

D-day.... so far so good. Smoked a bowl of DFU to kick off the day. Big inlaw family get together. Wish me luck everybody!:decision:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Slept in this morning until just a little while ago. Coffee is almost ready and I'm loading up some Sugar Barrel in a MM Legend. Have nothing whatsoever to do today, aside from a lot of smoking and TV. Looking forward to some quality war movies this weekend.

Hope y'all have a great Saturday!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Looking forward to some quality war movies this weekend.


Ever see The Best of Enemies (1961) - IMDb ?


----------



## DSturg369

Haven't seen it, no. Looks interesting though.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

OK.... I don't know why I thought this was Memorial weekend.... It figures that I have to work next weekend and miss all the good movies. Well, at least I get to smoke some choice tobaccos.

Anyways... Mug of hot coffee and a bowl of Sugar Barrel to start the day. Since the Rapture didn't happen, I can continue my quest through the small jars and samples in my tobacco collection this weekend. Not sure what's next but I'm looking forward to trying lots more new (to me) tobaccos.

Hope y'all have a great Sunday!


----------



## freestoke

Good morning, all. Pretty decent day on tap hopefully. Maybe today the storms will miss us for a change and we can get in some golf. Yesterday was a little lucky! Went to the course, packed the clubs onto the push carts (I HATE  gas/electric golf carts), walked around front to find an outing. Since it has rained every day, we hadn't been there for a while to see the sign posted. Decided to hit a few balls at the range and the timing was perfect! We finished the buckets, got the clubs back in the car and it proceeded to storm! :tu

Had to resort to putting my PA in the microwave this morning to dry it out enough to smoke. But it's smoking great right now in the 4Dot and the coffee is excellent.


----------



## Zfog

Starting off this Raw morning with a Bowl of Veermaster in my McCarter.
Hoping to get some yarrd work done today, kinda.


----------



## DanR

Good morning pipers!

Got a nice day planned here in San Antonio. I had a bowl of exhausted rooster (a sample that i got as a bonus in my trade with Jivey) in a MM Cob with my coffee earlier this morning. I'm headed out to brunch in a few, but rubbed out some St. James Flake (that i got in my newbie sampler trade from Jimmy James) and laid it out to dry for when I return. It smells good, and I can't wait to try it. 

I was looking through my mason jars this morning, and as I was minding my P's and Q's, I found myself looking at the large variety I have (thanks to the brothers here) but still wanting to buy more (i.e. Hmm, looks like I'm low on Westminster, need more of that... Really like that IF, need to buy a few tins of that...). Man, this TAD is insane!


----------



## freestoke

Mornin'! Started with the standard PA/4Dot, but have my Canadian smokin' with some LNF.  Super!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! (and also to the cigar folks!)

Coffee + PA Choice Blend + MM cob = Great start to the day.

Continuing on with my Smoke-Fest Weekend, and smoking up several samples and small jars. Most have a year or longer of rest time and I'm simply amazed at the change they have undergone. If they tasted like this when I first got them, they'd have been gone. On the list for today are Luxury Twist Flake, Squadron Leader, Union Square, Dorchester, and a few others. 

Hope y'all have a great Monday!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> On the list for today are Luxury Twist Flake, Squadron Leader, Union Square, Dorchester, and a few others.
> 
> Hope y'all have a great Monday!


Go crazy, Dale! :lol: Smoked a little LTF yesterday myself! First in a while and it tasted pretty damn good!


----------



## Nachman

Red Raparree this AM. Love that Turkish tobacco.


----------



## Xodar

Monday morning, customary cluster****. Only bright spot is the MacB navy flake in this MM legend. That and the coffee. Well, that and the coffee, and no rain.


----------



## freestoke

A bit of a variation this morning. User Name sent me some PA Choice, so I'm giving that a whirl for my first bowl of the day, in the 4Dot with coffee as usual. (Keeping the experimental parameters constants.) I can tell the difference, but there doesn't seem to be all that much. I think I'm leaning toward preferring the regular. The Choice doesn't seem to have as much of the trademark PA casing that I enjoy with the regular (not that there's all that much in regular PA to begin with).

Anyhow, hope things are going as well for y'all this morning!


----------



## DSturg369

The choice is a little less cased, and that's about it.... You are correct. At least, that is my opinion as well.

Good Morning Puff Pipers! 

CH in a MM Legend and hot coffee getting me finally started this morning. Slept way late, until almost 10:00 hours. Had a good time in the new chat last night. A few Puff members dropped in and we discussed pipes, tobaccos, cigars, and life in general.... Good times. The link for the new chat in in my Sig. It's still new but hoping it'll catch on and that y'all can stop by sometime and hang out a bit. I'll be in there as often as I can be.

Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!


----------



## Zfog

I started the day off with a nice bowl of Dark Birdseye then I topped that baby off witha nice bowl of Escudo!


----------



## gentimmy

had a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake this morning out of one of my MM's


----------



## freestoke

Started off with the 4Dot and PA and my first coffee, then shifted to EMP. After watching Dave's pipe-load video, I was inspired to go with a 3-stage for the EMP and convert the session to a slow smoke. Let it go out at 51:30 or thereabouts. Could have scratched another 5 minutes out of it, maybe, but I waited a little long on that last tamp!


----------



## DSturg369

Morning is officially over here, but.....

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Was up too late in the new chat. Got up too early, smoked a bowl of CH in a MM Legend, ate a good breakfast and went back to bed. :lol: 

I've got rather lazy being off the last 4 days, sleeping a lot more than normal. But, back to work tonight (11pm to 7am), and for the next 7 days straight, and 7pm to 7am on Sat and Sun. No word on a transfer form my ruddy, tobacco Nazi work site as of yet, so it's no smoking at work for me. It still beats the alternative of being unemployed however, so I am grateful, even though my attitude often doesn't reflect it. 

I do however hope y'all have a great Wednesday!


----------



## Xodar

Thursday and a weird set of circumstances have me as the only one in the office. No sympathy for my co-workers though, half of them are in Hawaii or Mexico. Thought about working naked but sure as hell I'd get cold called by a sales rep and probably burn myself with hot ashes too. MacB NF in an MM Washington and some ridiculously good Kona coffee the Hawaii employee left me as a peace offering. Going to be a good Thursday.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Thursday and a weird set of circumstances have me as the only one in the office. No sympathy for my co-workers though, half of them are in Hawaii or Mexico. Thought about working naked but sure as hell I'd get cold called by a sales rep and probably burn myself with hot ashes too. MacB NF in an MM Washington and some ridiculously good Kona coffee the Hawaii employee left me as a peace offering. Going to be a good Thursday.


Ha! :lol: I started with some LNF this morning for some reason, in the FourDot (as opposed to the 4Dot). Wish I had some of that Kona! We used to grind it fresh where I worked once. :tu

Beautiful morning here! On my second bowl of LNF.


----------



## gentimmy

Xodar said:


> Thursday and a weird set of circumstances have me as the only one in the office. No sympathy for my co-workers though, half of them are in Hawaii or Mexico. Thought about working naked but sure as hell I'd get cold called by a sales rep and probably burn myself with hot ashes too. MacB NF in an MM Washington and some ridiculously good Kona coffee the Hawaii employee left me as a peace offering. Going to be a good Thursday.


My dad just opened an office in Portland! where do you work at?

loading up jack knife for lunch as we speak


----------



## Xodar

gentimmy said:


> My dad just opened an office in Portland! where do you work at?
> 
> loading up jack knife for lunch as we speak


 I'm an estimator/project manager depending on the day, for a small architectural sheet metal shop off of Columbia Blvd. If your Dad moved to Oregon in spring I hope he brought his rain gear :smow:


----------



## gentimmy

Xodar said:


> I'm an estimator/project manager depending on the day, for a small architectural sheet metal shop off of Columbia Blvd. If your Dad moved to Oregon in spring I hope he brought his rain gear :smow:


nice!

didn't move there, just opened an office. we have offices in St. Louis, Dallas, Huntsville, Atlanta, and now Portland.

I thought Oregon was known for gloomy weather and rain?:hmm:


----------



## Xodar

gentimmy said:


> nice!
> 
> didn't move there, just opened an office. we have offices in St. Louis, Dallas, Huntsville, Atlanta, and now Portland.
> 
> I thought Oregon was known for gloomy weather and rain?:hmm:


 Yeah well, I didn't find the rain smiley as quickly as the snow smiley, lol.

And definitely for rain, although not so gloomy, at least it feels like more sun here than Seattle or BC. Cloudy today, and wet, but this time of year everything is growing like crazy. Prime weather for hops and Pinot grapes, which have nothing to do with why I live here I swear


----------



## DanR

I started my day with some butternut burley in a MM cob. Now I'm having something Jimmy James (user name) sent me called Oriental Supreme. I think it's PS (it says on the bag, but I forgot already and I'm too lazy to walk inside). Nice cool smoke, just what I was looking for. I'm smoking out of my Ropp hollowed out Tree Stem pipe (I don't know what else to call it) that I got off eBay. Good smoking pipe!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! (belated a little)

Carter Hall in a MM Legend for the drive home from work this morning, and another of the same with hot coffee on the side when the drive ended. Wife had a Dr's appointment at 13:00 hours, so I just stayed up until now. Enjoyed a nice cigar while she was in the Dr's office and having some PA Choice Blend right now, before some needed sleep. And, to make the day even better, I won Ben's Movie Trivia Contest... Woot! :banana:

Hope y'all have a great Thursday!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Just home from work. The coffee is brewing and I'm loading a MM Country Gentleman with some Sugar Barrel to get me motivated for today's errands. Wife is still sleeping like an angel and our cat Spanky wants to play. I'm just too tired to roughhouse with him this morning... Our usual after-work ritual. 

Will be stopping by my work office today and explaining to they yet again that I want out of my currently assigned work site before I freak the hell out and do something stupid, like curse out the site supervisor. I have had it with her and the site and am at the point I'd rather quit, even without another site being secured beforehand. We'll see how it goes. Anyways.....

I hope y'all have a great Friday! And, be careful out there this weekend.... Going to be a lot of drunks on the roadways.


----------



## freestoke

Congrats on your trivia win, Dale! 

Looks like a beautiful Memorial Day weekend coming up here. It's been raining so much, the course is playing about 8000 yards right now. :help:

Got some PA burning in an MM Diplomat this morning with my coffee.


----------



## gentimmy

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> Just home from work. The coffee is brewing and I'm loading a MM Country Gentleman with some Sugar Barrel to get me....


stay strong man! stick with it and I'm sure it will pay off!

Morning gentlemen, no smoke for me this weekend...girlfriends in town crampin my style :ballchain:


----------



## Xodar

Hope things even out for you Dale, and you get your transfer, must be frustrating.
Friday here in the Pacific NW, so I expect biblical rain, beating sun, and perhaps some brief hail. Straight acorn full of Pirate kake and I'm wandering around the shop and office going "Aaaaarrgh".
Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!


----------



## freestoke

G'mornin' y'all! More rain last night, but today looks like it should be okay. Damn golf course is NEVER going to dry out. Playing about 9000 yards now, and it's only nine holes. 

Hope you guys have a great Memorial Day! One of the few decent "special days". Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, 4th of July -- just lots of food and you don't have to buy anybody any presents!


----------



## DSturg369

Been a few days.... I do apologize... Been busy with work is all. Thanks for topping Jim!

Good morning Puff Pipers!

Hope y'all have a great Memorial Day. Be safe take a moment to thank those that gave their all for the freedoms we treasure.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! ... And also to all you cigar smokers!

Enjoyed a bowl of Sugar Barrel in a MM Legend on the drive home from work this morning. One more night of work tonight then off until Saturday morning. It's been a long week/weekend.... Busy, busy. I plan on putting fire to many a bowl of tobacco and even a few cigars. Also, I hope everyone had a safe and memory filled holiday weekend.

Y'all have a great Tuesday!


----------



## freestoke

Mornin' y'all! Been 24 hours or more without rain! Beautiful day coming up, if a bit hot. (Ninety might not seem hot to you guys, but there are summers around these parts where it doesn't get past 85 or so.) More like it, if you ask me! :tu Think I'll celebrate some sun with PA plus some scraps of Reiner LGF from last night, in the 4Dot as usual. Coffee tastes great this morning!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! 

No work until Saturday morning and the plan is to smoke to my heart's content. I'll be in the chat room (see my sig line for the link), if anyone wants to pop in.

Y'all have a great Wednesday!


----------



## Andrewdk

Morning pipers, bowl of SG squadron leader, followed by Scotch mixture, nice nic kick from the second bowl.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Enjoyed a nice bowl of Sugar Barrel on the drive to work this morning. Now, sitting here at work... Wanting a smoke but it's 12 hours away... 

Y'all have a great Saturday!


----------



## gentimmy

Good morning guys! Enjoying my first bowl at my new place! Nightcap! I just moved out of my parents house and transferred to SMU in Dallas, Tx!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Heading out the door to work with a mug of coffee a MM Legend with Sugar Barrel! 12 hours to go and then five 8-hour shifts until some time off. 

Y'all have a great Sunday!


----------



## freestoke

Back from Boston late last night, so this is my first bowl of PA since Friday morning! Took a cob and my pouch of this and that, but only smoked two bowls while I was gone. Anyhow, good morning everybody!


----------



## Nachman

Watched the Blue Jays, Robbins and squirrels while I smoked a bowl of Old Gowrie on the back deck this morning.


----------



## freestoke

Getting back to normal a bit today, with my standard PA, 4Dot and coffee morning. Great week coming up weatherwise. 'Bout time! 

Hope you survived that last shift, Dale! Just tried some SBarrel for the first time last Friday myself. Not bad! :tu I expected it to be a lot heavier in the sugared up department, but it was pretty nice!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Having some Sugar Barrel myself this fine morning. The 12-hour shifts done for another week, and five 8-hour evenings to go. Then, off for 4 days of smoking bliss! Hoping to take a drive up to the lake, just my sweetie and myself. Thinking a picnic maybe.

Anyways.... Have the week to get through first.

Y'all have a great Monday!


----------



## freestoke

Good morning! Got my standard rolling, 4Dot/PA/coffee. Beautiful day on tap here, although a bit hot for these parts. Gonna be great on the course today, not much wind for a change! The ball's gonna be sailin'!


----------



## freestoke

Hot one on tap for today! (For around here, anyhow.) Same ol' same ol' this morning to start, but in a few minutes I'm getting a cup of the "good stuff" that's brewing. :cf Enjoy the day, y'all!


----------



## Xodar

Trying out the new coffee press this morning, think I used too much, could probably waterproof a boat with the current cup. 3 Friars in a Cassano calabash shape and a 75 degree day on the horizon, beautiful Thursday.


----------



## DSturg369

Xodar said:


> Trying out the new coffee press this morning, think I used too much, could probably waterproof a boat with the current cup.


:lol: Been there, done that, have many tee-shirts to prove it.

Good Morning Puff Pipers... And Cigar Folks!

With a hearty breakfast behind me, on to some hot coffee and a bowl of Sugar Barrel. Have an 8-hour shift tonight and a 16-hour shift tomorrow, then off for 4 days, unless I can pick-up some OT someplace. The current plan is to lay fire to many a bowl of choice tobacco and even toss in a few cigars for good measure. With the temps nearing 100 every day for a week now and forecast to continue for the next several days; The recliner, the a/c, and a few good movies will be the order of the weekend.

Y'all have a great Thursday!


----------



## freestoke

Another 4Dot/PA/Coffee start. Gonna be another hot one today, though not Africa hot like you got there in Florida, Dale. Might play golf later, depending on thunderstorms in the afternoon. Actually, I doing a rerun right now! Same pipe, tobacco and coffee! (That first pipe was interrupted and somewhat unsatisfactory on the relight. The 4Dot doesn't like to quit on a loser! I'm letting it have a Mulligan. :lol: )


----------



## DSturg369

Florida has it easy... Georgia here, and it's sweaty, humid near-hell hot here... And Summer ain't even really started yet!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Florida has it easy... Georgia here, and it's sweaty, humid near-hell hot here... And Summer ain't even really started yet!


Phase out, Dale! Of COURSE you're in GA! The Masters. sheesh.  At least you're not in Savannah! Now THAT'S hot! Lived there all through high school.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! 

Another HOT one here in Dixie today with 96 and sunny forecast. Starting the day with a mug of hot coffee and a bowl of Middleton's Walnut to kick-start the morning and to get ready for a 16-hour shift tonight (15:00 to 07:00). But, I do have the next 4 days off afterwards to recuperate. Not bad I suppose, as long as the coffee stays hot and the office a/c stays cold, it should be fine.

Y'all have a great Friday!


----------



## Xodar

It is Friday. Going to be low 70's and sunny. Have good coffee and 3 Friars in an MM Washington, and may actually be feeling good about this day before 6AM....I am getting old, lol.


----------



## freestoke

Steady on, Dale! At least you're not laying down asphalt or something equally brutal today. 

Just had some PA Choice in the 4Dot. Made the coffee too weak last night -- booooooo!!! I make it the night before to start brewing on a timer in the morning. Must have been asleep already! :lol: Totally beautiful day on tap today. Gotta get out there and bash the ball around! The weekend looks like it might be a washout, but we can definitely use some rain.


----------



## Nachman

Royal Yacht on the back deck this morning. Lot of nicotine to jump start the morning.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! 

Started my day with Sugar Barrel in a MM cob... My morning "go to" since I'm currently out of PA... Yes, I know, it's a crying shame.

Since have tossed in a 5 Vegas Classic Torpedo but foresee a bowl or two in today's lineup still. 

Hoping tomorrow's meeting at my work's main office concerning a reassignment I requested will go well, but going to enjoy today none the less. Hope all of Puff will be doing the same.

Y'all have a great Sunday!


----------



## freestoke

Mornin' y'all! Kind of a dreary day. Smoked some PA in the 4Dot as usual this morning, since then some Erinmore Flake and HH Matured Virginia, then an LNF. Good day to do not much and watch the golf later. 

Hope it goes well for you tomorrow, Dale!


----------



## Zfog

Good morning/afternoon gentleman. I started my day off with a bowl of Butternut Burley (thanks to CanadianPiper)
2nd was a bowl of SL out of my Big Ben!


----------



## freestoke

Well, it's morning somewhere! Good morning, out there on the west coast, Alaska and Hawaii! I'm on an Erinmore Flake bender today. A little on the cool side, but a nice day overall!


----------



## KBibbs

I finally feel I've gotten up early enough to post in the Good morning thread! While I realize this isn't early at all to a lot of you...well too bad. Enjoying a cup of coffee right now and then I might head to the tobacconist to hang out for a while.


----------



## Xodar

It's Wednesday, and the boss is traveling, the sun is out, the birds are singing, the long golden flake is drying atop some poor salesman's equipment brochure...

Pretty good for midweek, shortly stuffing that LGF into an MM Washington and going for combustion.


----------



## freestoke

KBibbs said:


> I finally feel I've gotten up early enough to post in the Good morning thread! While I realize this isn't early at all to a lot of you...well too bad. Enjoying a cup of coffee right now and then I might head to the tobacconist to hang out for a while.


Hey, it's a dirty job, but...

I used to throw darts until 4 in the morning. Getting to that guitar lesson at 2 was a major ordeal sometimes, never mind those 1 o'clock classes!

A little late, but I started with my standard and right now it's a bowl of RLGF and some coffee in the TwoDot. Have a nice -- uh -- day.


----------



## SmoknTaz

Xodar said:


> It's Wednesday, and the* boss is traveling*, the sun is out, the birds are singing, the long golden flake is drying atop some poor salesman's equipment brochure...
> 
> Pretty good for midweek, shortly stuffing that LGF into an MM Washington and going for combustion.


 Sounds like a great day to kick back and celebrate! :banana:

Smoking Captain Black in a no name Canadian and waiting in anticipation for the "Big" game this afternoon. It is the Vancouver Canucks third trip to the finals and their first Stanley Cup if they pull this one off!

Go Canucks Go! :cheer2:


----------



## freestoke

SmoknTaz said:


> Go Canucks Go! :cheer2:


My sympathies this morning, Ken. Hope you weren't caught in the rioting. :shock:

Big golf today! US Open week, the one tour stop where the players don't have fun. I love to watch the suffering.

Having me some PA/4Dot/Coffee, listening them babble on with predictions. Sounds like the course is set up for Phil MIckelson (but they never ask ME!!). You heard it hear first! :lol:


----------



## Xodar

It is a beautiful day. I am filling up a lil bent medico with St. James Flake (Thanks Hellraiser!) and contemplating deep thoughts and the weekend. Coffee is hot, and shortly the medico will be too!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Was up at 04:00 and at work at )6:00, only to be sent home at 10:00 for lack of work. My new perm schedule won't be decided until next week so I've been scheduled for a number of construction projects at the hospital until that time. The one I was assigned today ended so I was sent home. Scheduled for 12 hour shifts tomorrow and Sunday and an 8-hour on Saturday , provided those projects continue running. Need the hours so I'll take all I can get. 

Enjoyed some 3 C's in a MM Legend on the drive to and from work this morning... Very nice chocolate aroma and taste. Having some Middleton's Walnut in a MM Country Gent right now with hot coffee accompanying. Has been a good morning so far, aside from the short work day.

Y'all have a great Thursday!


----------



## Katharsis

45 minute commute to work with some Frog Morton: Across the Pond. Helps me deal with traffic. Northern Virginia traffic = awful.


----------



## Xodar

I am a little late getting to the morning thread this morning, but I am sticking with John's theory of progressive beneficience (trademarked)

That states that for however bad a Monday after a good weekend is, that's how good the following Friday will be, with steady increases day by day. And Monday sucked this week, so today is looking like why the birds sing.

Three friars in a straight acorn nubby, and some finely flaked cob plug (courtesy of Hellraiser) drying out on top of the drafting table for the next bowl. Life is good!


----------



## MarkC

You know, I was sitting here fuming at this site for talking me into buying this stupid Old Boy that doesn't even work when I remembered that crucial last step of the refuel: "turn flame adjustment back up". Duh....


----------



## jwreed81

Good morning all! Wow, I was up all night and now its light out! I usually don't puff in the mornings, but I might as well light up now and kick off the day right...maybe a little 1Q to mellow on with a big cup o' joe? hmm...


----------



## SmoknTaz

freestoke said:


> My sympathies this morning, Ken. Hope you weren't caught in the rioting. :shock:
> 
> Big golf today! US Open week, the one tour stop where the players don't have fun. I love to watch the suffering.
> 
> Having me some PA/4Dot/Coffee, listening them babble on with predictions. Sounds like the course is set up for Phil MIckelson (but they never ask ME!!). You heard it hear first! :lol:


Thanks Jim! I was downtown but was no where near the core so I was okay. Still can't believe the morons that trashed the city though!

So McIIroy has an 8 stroke lead. Let's hope he has a good game Sunday and doesn't have a melt down.


----------



## freestoke

SmoknTaz said:


> Thanks Jim! I was downtown but was no where near the core so I was okay. Still can't believe the morons that trashed the city though!
> 
> So McIIroy has an 8 stroke lead. Let's hope he has a good game Sunday and doesn't have a melt down.


Glad it wasn't a problem for ya! :tu

Wow, he's giving them a dimpling isn't he!? My solid pick shot a sizzling 77 yesterday! :biglaugh:

Smoking a mystery this morning, scraps of Erinmore, Reiner LGF, PA, 5100, and so forth on the "loading platform".


----------



## Zfog

Happy Fathers day to all my fellow fathers out there. I am going out to breakfast with my Wife and 2 children, then going to hit a bucket of balls at the range. I have a big bowl of Penzance packed up in a Nording good to go!
Have a great day Gentlemen!


----------



## SmoknTaz

Zfog said:


> Happy Fathers day to all my fellow fathers out there. I am going out to breakfast with my Wife and 2 children, then going to hit a bucket of balls at the range. I have a big bowl of Penzance packed up in a Nording good to go!
> Have a great day Gentlemen!


Same to you Zach and to the rest of the Dad's here. Started my morning off with 5100 and a cup of Timmy's and have Anny Kake on deck for the drive to work later. Enjoy your day with the family Gents!


----------



## freestoke

An amazing Open! Wish the conditions had been more "Open-like", but it was fun anyhow! 

Smokin' a cob with PA this morning. Smoking in my new Legend/Pride that came in the other day. I cannot tell the difference. Legends and Prides are identical, the exact same pipe, if my pipes are anything to go by. Same size, same shape, same everything. Same same same. (And no, I'm not spending half a day to mess around for a $3 item to see if I got the wrong item this/last time! :lol


----------



## Xodar

It was a fun open to watch for sure!
Mundane Monday. Summer starting, and I am desperately trying to work up some enthusiasm for this, the stubbed toe of weekdays.
Mac Baren NF in a lil medico briar.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! .. And you cigar folks also!!

Glad to be back on the 'net this morning after a storm knocked out my internet since Saturday evening. Was having the DT's for my Puff fix! Enjoying some Middleton's Walnut in a MM Legend this morning, with hot coffee and a hearty heaping of Puff.com on the side.

This past week, I injured my knee at work. Had my knee checked yesterday and was told that it's a result of hyperextension or tearing of the hamstring muscles. 3 days rest, wrapped and iced, and ibuprofen for swelling. If the swelling and symptoms don't lessen after the 3 days, I'll be back for an x-ray. This totally sucks as with no insurance currently, it's an out-of-pocket expense I just don't need right now. Missed work on Saturday but did go in for 6 hours on Sunday... Was painful but I really need the $$, even moreso now. Scheduled to work Thursday through Sunday and can't miss any more time so praying it's nothing worse than muscle issues and mends quickly. 

But for now... Resting, leg elevated, and smoking is just what the Dr ordered. Okay, maybe not the smoking but hey.........

But glad to be back online so that makes the down-time tolerable.

Y'all have a great Tuesday!


----------



## freestoke

Boy, you can't seem to catch a break, Dale. Rest up! At least you'll catch up on some sleep. :tu (You're still eligible for unemployment insurance if it slows you down for a while, aren't you? Or don't they do unemployment insurance in Georgia any more?) Anyhow, hope you're back on your feet quick! 

Yesterday was the ideal golf day. The slightest breeze to keep you cool, temps in the high 70s, full sun, fairways fast for nice long tee shots -- and not a soul on the course but Audrey and I!! Unreal. This is a PUBLIC golf course, the old Griffiss AFB course that went into private hands when they closed the base, and not some weird goat lot, either. Inexplicable. She played great, with a 40, and I only beat her one shot because she had three 3-putts. 

Right now, I'm working on a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake, but I started the morning with my standard 4DotPACoffee combo. Another totally great golf day on tap!


----------



## DSturg369

If I have to miss any more work-time, I'll be checking into Injured Workman's Compensation and lost wages. Hoping that I'll be able to return to full duty on Thursday.


----------



## Xodar

Dang Dale, hope things turn for the better, you are due.

Tuesday, MacB Navy Flake in an MM Washington and busy as Diogenes at a Used Car Salesman convention.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> ...and busy as Diogenes at a Used Car Salesman convention.


:biglaugh:


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Brothers! I don't post in here very much but I thought I'd give it a shot.

Not sure what it is about summers, but I seem to have a harder time in the mornings than I do the other seasons. Slept through the alarm and was an hour late to work. 

To make matters worse I folded up a flake and a half of LNF (vs the normal rub-out) and stuffed it into my Viking. I couldn't for the life of me keep it lit and ended up carefully removing about a 1/3 of the baccy while in traffic using the tweezers from a small SAK. Better but still not great. Guess I'll go back to rubbing out my flakes...

Well, the day can only get better, right?


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Better but still not great. Guess I'll go back to rubbing out my flakes...


Give this a shot, Jon. I(Oh!! That's a pun, isn't it! :lol http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/293111-musketballing.html


----------



## Xodar

Wednesday, week clipping right along. Red Bull this morning because my coffee cup is somewhere between my house and work, eventually I may stop sitting it on top of the car as I load my stuff in. FVF in a straight acorn, delicious!


----------



## DSturg369

Good morning Puff Pipers and Cigar Smokers!

Hot coffee and a bowl of Sugar Barrel started my day. Middleton's Walnut following up. Both in MM cobs.

The knee is feeling better today. Swelling is way down and I can hobble on it. Stiff due to inactivity but I do believe it's on the mend... Thank goodness. Still taking it easy today though, as not to make it any worse.

Y'all have a great Wednesday!


----------



## freestoke

Good to hear, Dale! :tu

Started with my standard 4DotPA, but the last couple have been Bob's Chocolate Flake. Great stuff! Nice rain today, and we really needed it!


----------



## freestoke

Anybody up yet!? Good mornin', if you are! Starting off with a PA4DotCoffee. My golf game is starting to recover! FINALLY!

Gave one of Audrey's coworkers a lesson Wednesday. She had given him some swing tips at work which seemed to help, but told him he should see me for a real lesson and he did. He was patient and intent on figuring things out, which is the first requirement imo. (You can't teach anybody anything, they have to *learn* it.) He was ecstatic, when Thursday all his tee shots went "long and straight". :tu Really made me feel good. He told Audrey that his partner kept saying, "You're going to dump me now, aren't you?" the whole round. :biglaugh: The nice thing about the lesson was that I got to hit a lot of shots! I never practice any more, really, just play, so it helped me as much as it did him! :lol:

Hope y'all have a nice Sunday. Pretty sure it's going to be a good one on the course for me today!


----------



## laloin

your all a bunch of wack jobs, getting up before the sun hahha. But if I ever got my lazy ass out of bed before the sun, or at sunrise. I'd be smoking a bowl of MacBaren Virginia #1 or PA with coffee 
troy


----------



## freestoke

laloin said:


> your all a bunch of wack jobs, getting up before the sun hahha.


Not me! I believe the brain circuits dictate, "Don't get up before the large, hungry animals have already eaten." Never mess with Mother Nature.

My brain circuits are dictating a bowl of PA in the 4Dot and some coffee to get things under weigh. Eight thirty and all is well.

* Anybody else find it bothersome that they've usurped numbers for emoticons, so you can't put in military time or lists with eights for example?


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers, and Cigar Folks as well.

Started my morning with some Middleton's Walnut in a MM Legend and now on to some Sugar Barrel in a M Country Gent. Hot coffee is a welcomed friend as well.

Was a long weekend, standing in the sun, directing traffic, and I'm worn out. The knee did okay but is sore. I had it in a brace and iced last night, just to get t rested for the week ahead. Have to drop by the office today to get a permanent, 40 hour week work schedule, for which I am grateful. Have had less that 30 hours the last 3 weeks, with this past week being only 24 hours. Already stretched to the breaking point, it's going to be rough this next "payday". 

But aside from my woes...

Y'all have a great Monday!


----------



## Hambone1

Irish Puff in my basket pipe on the way to Whataburger for a Wataburger with cheese, no tomatoes, large fires and a large diet coke with a splash of Strawberry Fanta! Woot! Breakfast of champions!


----------



## gentimmy




----------



## freestoke

Shawn said:


> Irish Puff in my basket pipe on the way to Whataburger for a Wataburger with cheese, no tomatoes, large fires and a large diet coke with a splash of Strawberry Fanta! Woot! Breakfast of champions!


Wow, Whataburger! I do miss the fast food in Dallas. sigh. Especially the Taco Bueno. Can't get anything but Burger Klutz and McDogmeat. sigh. And no Mexican food withing driving distance that's even edible. sigh. Rome, NY once had the best pizza places in the world. Gonzo. Nothing but Italian restaurants around here and not one of them has more than a moderately acceptable pizza anymore. sigh. Whataburger. Used to eat a lot of 'em. sigh.

On to some Erinmore Flake to drown my sorrows.


----------



## DSturg369

We used to have a What-A-Burger here. It was the BEST burger and fries in the state, IMO. But as time went by, they started to cut costs and the quality suffered badly. To my understanding, a few years ago an Attorney from up North someplace just happened through the area and saw it. Apparently, he had ties to a company of the same name up there and threatened a lawsuit on the small Mom & Pop burger shack, so they changed the name, to "Mom's Burgers"... It ever really recovered and has since closed. Very fond memories though!


----------



## KBibbs

gentimmy said:


>


Nothing says good morning like a nice Fat Tire eh? :rotfl:
That is a nice looking pipe though.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers... And Cigar Folks As Well!

A hearty breakfast behind me, hot coffee and PA Choice Blend are now on the menu. 

Was supposed to meet at my work office at 09:00 to discuss a permanent work schedule. Instead, I got a phone call at 08:30 form the office stating that I didn't need to come in, to save my gas, and that instead I needed to be at the hospital tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 08:00 to speak with the Site Supervisor and that a permanent schedule would be mine. Very glad for the news but I wish I was actually working instead. $$ situation is crap so I'm selling some cigars in an attempt to offset the lost hours a little. Be on the lookout if interested... Shameless plug, I know. Will smoke a few bowls today and maybe a cigar or two, figuring things out. "Darkest just before the dawn" and all that... I know.

Y'all have a great Tuesday!


----------



## freestoke

Not quite morning any more, at least around here, but I forgot to reply earlier. Good afternoon, Dale! Looks like the cavalry is on the way!


----------



## freestoke

Started off with some Erinmore because I set a few bowls of PA on some paper to dry out first. Finally got the 4Dot loaded, was smoking that when I started typing -- then spilled the rest of the dried stuff all over the rug just now. (Sorry, Dale. Like those old western flicks, where the bad guy pours the last of the canteen out on the ground.)

Cold here today. Only in the 60s. They used to say there were only two seasons around here, winter and July 4th. Hope summer is nice this year, only a few more days! :lol:


----------



## Nachman

First bowl of the day was Hal O The Wind in an old Danish Sovereign XXX billiard. The only trouble with that pipe is that if you fill it you better have some time. It will last about an hour and a half.


----------



## gentimmy

KBibbs said:


> Nothing says good morning like a nice Fat Tire eh? :rotfl:
> That is a nice looking pipe though.


haha thanks man.

I would have indulged this morning but I slept in


----------



## freestoke

KBibbs said:


> Nothing says good morning like a nice Fat Tire eh? :rotfl:


This penny didn't fall right away. Had to look up Fat Tire, but now that I've found it...:biglaugh:


----------



## freestoke

Another PA4Dot morning, but I was toward the bottom of the jar and it was sorta "fine" and the recent humidity made it a bit wet. Probably the most relights of a bowl of PA ever! I feel like a noob this morning! (I wish! :lol Nice day on the way, though. Could be worse! :tu


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers & Cigar Folks!

Up at 04: 21 hours this morning, after an emotional ride last evening... See the other threads. My Puff Brothers have yet again gone Above & Beyond in helping a fellow Puffer in need... Me. I'm still in shock. Thank you from the very depths of my and my wife's hearts.

After getting the coffee brewing, I loaded some Sugar Barrel in a MM Legend and struck fire to it. A great start to what I hope will be a wonderful day.

Y'all have a great Sunday!


----------



## Stubby

Well not really morning anymore here EST, but I started early this morning. I'm chillen at the where I work (Don Yeyo Cigar Factory), smoking some SP-2000 Sunset Rum out of my Dragon Claw Meerschaum. It is a nice smooth blend and smells great in the shop.

Not a bad way to start the 4th!


----------



## brotherwilliam3

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Happy 235th Birthday to America!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers and Cigar Folks!

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and got through it safely. I started back on a 40-hour work-week yesterday, and very thankful to do so. I lucked into a Monday through Friday schedule, 16:00 to 00:30 hours. I work for a security contract company and I've been assigned to a local hospital, doing hourly patrols of potential problem areas for safety and fire code compliance checks. Lots of walking but I need the exercise so it's all good. Plus CPR cert on Wednesday and a firearms cert class in October. My salary nearly doubles if I move into a carry position. Hopefully, things are slowly turning around.

Enjoyed some Middleton's Walnut this morning in a MM Legend this morning, with hot coffee accompanying. A nice start to the day.

I want to thank my Puff family once again for their most generous help. I'm hoping to get a list of everyone involved so that I can thank each one of you personally. 

Y'all have a great Tuesday!


----------



## laloin

glad to hear you got back to working 40 hrs work weeks. But 1600 to 0030 hrs late afternoon to early morning....better then no work, but I can't handle swing shift but hey you get to do heaps of walking and maybe smoke a pipe while your at it hhahahah
troy


----------



## Andrewdk

Good to hear work things are getting better for you Dale, it's the memory of the tough times that make the good times so enjoyable though, keep it up brother.


----------



## freestoke

Glad things are working out, Dale! :tu Should be nice getting off that swing shift craziness, eh? That's not such a bad time slot, if you ask me. 

Another 4DotPACoffee morning, getting ready for some golf later. Great day to play! A little breeze, 80 degrees and full sun. Got a tournament Saturday, so I'm rolling out my new swing thought this afternoon. I've gotten into a bad habit of late of letting my head dip a little and it's been messing me up pretty bad. (My Truly Fair pointed it out the other day.) 

Just an aside: If you play golf, think about that old golf adage, "Keep your eye on the ball." Both eyes, actually...the ball is the only thing in the context of a golf swing that IS NOT MOVING AT ALL. It's a point of stability. If you concentrate on keeping your eyes focused on the ball, you can hold your head still almost automatically. The KILLER bad move in a golf swing is letting your head go down at the ball on the downswing. Keep your eyes at the SAME DISTANCE from the ball throughout the swing. Especially, don't get any closer to it than you were at address -- ever.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All!

Dale, glad to hear things are moving forward for you. The upgrade to a carry position sounds interesting, do they provide the hardware or do you? :gn

My week has been, and most likely will continue to be, pretty difficult (relatively speaking). I'm a software development manager with about 10 employees. I work for a multi-national software company with about 3,500 employees spread around the world. My situation is a bit difficult because I'm here because the company I worked for was acquired a few years ago. With that we lost 85% of our original team through attrition. I rebuilt the team in a hurry but now I'm having personnel issues. One of the programmers (mistakenly) thinks he's God's gift to software. Another is suddenly struggling to complete his work on time and is giving false status reports. Why can't we all just do our work and feel happy with a job well done?! Additionally I'm filling two roles right now - manager and architect. Have been for 3 years now. That means I can't do either as well as I should and things are going down hill... I need to decide to finally pigeon hole myself into one role or another. My ego won't allow me to suffer another project manager coming in to manage things (I hired most of the team and I built the software myself - it's my baby) but the architect role is really where I should based on a number of things that are going on. 

Don't get me wrong, I realize life is good right now and I'm happy to have the work, but the stress is there nonetheless and when you throw in additional pressure from an increased support load it can be overwhelming.

OK, I feel a bit better for dumping this although I apologize for dragging down a "good morning" thread.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Morning All!
> 
> My week has been, and most likely will continue to be, pretty difficult (relatively speaking). I'm a software development manager with about 10 employees.


Fire your two worst producers and distribute their pay to the other eight, amortized for the unemployment payments the company will have to make when you lay them off. I worked in software development for 37 years. Every project I ever worked on (that I wasn't doing the entire thing) could have been done better and faster by removing the non-productive members (and not hiring anybody else). I've worked on a few where five of the "good" players could have done everything themselves, easily, instead of spending scads of time hand-holding the other fifteen idiots and slackers, spoon feeding them and fixing their mistakes. (I realize it probably won't work that way, since the spazzes are filling out a time card and the company is charging the customer by hours on the project. In that case, they're warm bodies making money for the company, even if they sit and surf the net all day.)


----------



## DSturg369

Stonedog said:


> The upgrade to a carry position sounds interesting, do they provide the hardware or do you? :gn


Hope your stress levels go down Bro. Stress can make or break a job.

As for a carry, The caliber weapon I cert and qual with has to stay the same... 9mm, 40 S&W, etc. The exact weapon is not specified but I would have to purchase it, and it would remain mine if/when I leave the company. The company gets a discount from several places but for Glock only. The handgun I want is a different make and would be cheaper anyways.


----------



## Nachman

DSturg369 said:


> Hope your stress levels go down Bro. Stress can make or break a job.
> 
> As for a carry, The caliber weapon I cert and qualify with has to stay the same... 9mm, 40 S&W, etc. The exact weapon is not specified but I would have to purchase it, and it would remain mine if/when I leave the company. The company gets a discount from several places but for Glock only. The handgun I want is a different make and would be cheaper anyways.


I have carried many weapons. In the old days it was always a 45, but my experience is that 9mm is the most accurate and easiest to qualify with. I now own the most accurate duty weapon I have ever had. It is a S&W M&P 9mm. In less than 2 seconds I can empty the clip into a targets head at 15 yards without a miss. I recommend S&W, never liked the triggers on Glocks anyway.


----------



## Hambone1

Irish Puff (local B&M blend) in my basket pipe on the way to have blood drawn! Good smoke... bad destination!

Oh, you couldn't give me a glock! I absolutely hate those weapons! Berretta for me! I have a 92 FS and a .45 (don't remember the name) with a rotating barrel. Sweetest guns I own (I own 29). Kimber is a close second for me.


----------



## freestoke

Late start today! Scramble tournament yesterday, beer on the course, with the standard results. :lol: Finally getting around to a 4Dot, coffee and some IF+5100 to get me functioning again. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Back to the PA/4Dot/coffee this morning. Another hottish one in store -- not hot hot, but pretty warm for these parts, probably high 80s.


----------



## freestoke

Mornings are lonely around here without Dale! He hasn't been on the forum for days now. Having my usual PA/4Dot/Coffee, wondering how he's doing.


----------



## Xodar

I am wondering about Dale as well Jim, hope he's just catching up on sleep with the new night shift. I'm back in the office for at least a week though, it's somewhat summer here in Oregon, although it rained yesterday (in the middle of July, even here that's odd).

Doing the tour of VaPers this morning, Stokkebye Navy at the moment, Reiner LGF loaded in the next cob, and St. James flake drying on my desk looking all crystally and delicious. Coffee is particularly good this morning, and my next deadline is _hours_ away. The weeks looking up!


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> I am wondering about Dale as well Jim, hope he's just catching up on sleep with the new night shift.


Yeah, he's had enough problems of late. Maybe his computer went on the fritz. 


> Reiner LGF loaded in the next cob.


Really like that stuff! Figures, practically the most expensive tobacco I can locate is my current favorite. :boohoo:


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Really like that stuff! Figures, practically the most expensive tobacco I can locate is my current favorite. :boohoo:


Aye that, I agree Jim. It's so sweet and fragrant I waffle back and forth on whether there's a super light casing there. I think it's just good sweet VA's, tasty.


----------



## freestoke

Different start today, Union Square in the Sasieni Canadian. A bit moist out of the can, so I let a couple of flakes dry overnight and got them into pretty much perfect musketball range. Really nice! And the coffee is 100% fresh ground Columbian this morning. Stepping up in the world for -- THE OPEN!!! :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

I had some LTF rubbed out into my old Bertram on the way in to the office this morning. I paired it with a nice Chik-Fil-A biscuit and a diet coke...  For some reason the nicotine hit was unusually strong. I've been focusing on burleys and latakia blends lately so this was a nice change of pace. 

My team is 3 weeks from a major deadline and I've got vacation to Disney scheduled next week. Stressing out over the project and whether or not I should cancel the vacation. Mrs Stonedog is turning 40 this summer and this trip is our celebration / gift to her (she's a Disney fanatic). The kids (10 and 14) are really looking forward to it too, but missing this deadline will have a significant impact on my career (at least at this company).


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Different start today, Union Square in the Sasieni Canadian. A bit moist out of the can, so I let a couple of flakes dry overnight and got them into pretty much perfect musketball range. Really nice! And the coffee is 100% fresh ground Columbian this morning. Stepping up in the world for -- THE OPEN!!! :lol:


I thought I felt a disturbance in the force this morning. Prince Albert may be on a plane right now coming to make sure Jim is OK.

Thursday, super mild for July, and Marlin Flake in the Casano calabash. Sadly my coffee doesn't sound as good as Jims, but I make up in a giant thermos what I lack for quality.

Any early favorites on the Open Jim? Everybody following McIlroy around?


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> I thought I felt a disturbance in the force this morning. Prince Albert may be on a plane right now coming to make sure Jim is OK.


:lol:

Got no idea about a favorite. Players I'd like to see win are Kuchar, Westwood, Sergio...and Miguel!! Miguel Angel Jimenez is 47 and one shot back! I like people who drink and smoke and party it up -- go Miguel!! (And he smokes cigars, so the cigar side of Puff should be squeezin' hard for him.:beerchug: )

Rory's got the best swing since Sam Snead, so it's hard to say he won't win. An amazing record in the majors the past year. Missed a playoff for the PGA by a shot last year, blew the Masters and destroyed the field at the US Open. Off to a decent start at least.


----------



## freestoke

Hey, so far so good on Miguel, eh!? You'd think Puff would be going nuts! Pipe smokers seem to be singularly "ungolfy", for some reason, but those cigar smokers are all over the course! 

10:30 and I'm just starting my first pipe! The 4Dot as usual, but it's packed with scraps from yesterday, some Union Square, Bayou Morning Flake and 5100 all mixed together. Tastes great! And so does the fresh ground Columbian. :tu

Seems like Dale should have shown up by now.:hmm:


----------



## Nachman

Where is Dale? Has someone been assassinating Puffers one by one. First John now Dale have gone missing. Royal Yacht this morning.


----------



## freestoke

And today the leader is Darren Clarke, who smokes cigs on the course, smokes/gives away $40000 worth of cigars every year, and smokes a pipe to boot! 

A little change of pace this morning, with some straight up 5100 in the 4Dot.

And Dale is still absent from his thread.


----------



## Zfog

Smoking some St. Bruno in my Sasquatch while outside with my oldest boy.
Where are ya Dale???


----------



## Xodar

It is odd not see Dale here, hopefully he makes an appearance soon.
FVF in the no-name churchwarden and fresh coffee out of the new coffee pot. If I had all the money I spent on shattered carafes and cups left on top of the car in the last decade, well, I'd have more money to buy replacement coffee pots and cups.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Lately I have been cutting back on cigarettes, so this morning I intend to smoke some SMM mostly for a "nic-kick". I have grown unfavorable of latakia lately, but I am out of VA/Per now. I actually could not finish my last bowl of English blend and have yet to try it again for two weeks now. Though, I believe this morning the nicotine will help me over look the flavor. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> Lately I have been cutting back on cigarettes, so this morning I intend to smoke some SMM mostly for a "nic-kick". I have grown unfavorable of latakia lately, but I am out of VA/Per now. I actually could not finish my last bowl of English blend and have yet to try it again for two weeks now. Though, I believe this morning the nicotine will help me over look the flavor. :lol:


I've heard it suggested that you preload at night for the morning pipe. The early desperation for that first smoke is easier to get by if all you have to do is fire up the pipe. Might want to grab something "sincere", like Royal Yacht for that first smoke. :lol: Just recently tried Bayou Morning Flake -- whoa! At least IF territory! :shocked:

Been through some PA and LNF already. Think I might hit the Union Square next. :tu

And Dale is still missing. :dunno:


----------



## The Mad Professor

freestoke said:


> Might want to grab something "sincere", like Royal Yacht for that first smoke...
> Been through some PA and LNF already...


I intend to buy some Royal Yacht on my next visit to the tobacconist. It has been recommended to me before, the reviews seem great, and it so happens to be one of the few non-McClellend blends my B&M stocks, or else I would have included some with my online order the other day. I do enjoy having an excuse to visit there, sample some blends, and relax, even if I pay a little extra.

PA is what I usually start the day with but today I wanted more kick, and I'm out of LNF. Hurry USPS, hurry! :lol:


----------



## DahlKen

This morning starting off with some PS LTF in my Falcon straight with billiard bowl, then going to try out my sample of Stonehaven.


----------



## freestoke

My Savinelli Anni 120 has been neglected of late, so I'm making a radical departure from my normal 4Dot regimen. Maybe not too radical -- PA and coffee will keep me from being too wild and crazy this morning.

And Dale is still not in evidence.


----------



## asmartbull

Stokkebye LTF in a cob with French Press...
A great way to start the day


----------



## DahlKen

This morning we got a little G&H Dark Flake Unscented rounded out with just a dash of PA in a cob along side some plain Folgers.


----------



## Xodar

When in doubt I fill an MM Washington with Mac Baren Navy flake and light it on fire as I drink my coffee.
Tuesdays are often filled with doubt for me, and consequently filled with navy flake and coffee.


----------



## italiansmoker

Dunhill 965 in my Brebbia Freehand


----------



## Zfog

Finished a bowl of Three Nuns in a 4 Dot from last night, next was a bowl of Westminster out of a Big Ben.


----------



## freestoke

Returning to the 4Dot/PA and fresh ground Columbian. Gonna be a hot one today! That midwestern high pressure system has wandered in here now.

I figure the last we heard of Dale, they were giving him a carry permit and were going to allow quasi-normal smoking rules at his new job. I'm guessing that his old boss showed up, saw him smoking his cob and started a stink -- so he shot her and is now in custody.


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Returning to the 4Dot/PA and fresh ground Columbian. Gonna be a hot one today! That midwestern high pressure system has wandered in here now.
> 
> I figure the last we heard of Dale, they were giving him a carry permit and were going to allow quasi-normal smoking rules at his new job. I'm guessing that his old boss showed up, saw him smoking his cob and started a stink -- so he shot her and is now in custody.


:gn :nono: LMAO!

Stonehaven in a lil bent Medico, and the last of the Kona coffee a friend brought me back from Hawaii. Sunny and mid-70's here, and looking to be a beautiful week!


----------



## freestoke

Yeah, I know it's afternoon. I can live with the consequences of posting on this thread off hours, I suppose. Just as long as there's no more heat involved. Says a 97 on the thermometer and it feels like 100. Unusual for these parts.

Was gone all morning and most of the afternoon, so I missed my morning post. It was a PA/4Dot, so no surprises. Not much piping today, just a the PA, some Royal Yacht and a bowl of Erimmore Flake. Busy busy busy.


----------



## Xodar

Ahhhh, Friday! Full weekend planned and supposed to actually be summer-like here. Starting the day with anni-cake in the danish egg and coffee brewed so black it's actually bending the light around it a little.


----------



## Nachman

Royal Yacht on the back deck this morning. I dropped my last czech tool through the cracks in the deck. It got me thinking. In a couple of hundred years when archeologists excavate this 2oth to 21st century site I wonder if they will be able to figure out what all those czech tools and pipe nails they find around my place are?


----------



## freestoke

Your coffee is probably what's pulling Nick's Czech tools out of his hand, John. 

Had some PA earlier, but now I'm with Nick, a quick bowl of Royal Yacht in a cob before hitting the course. (Gotta have a Vitamin N boost for those really big tee shots!) Round trip to Mass this afternoon, to take Truly Fair's brother-in-law back. At least we'll be in the car for the heat wave. :tu


----------



## Max_Power

Just had half a bowl of C&D Burley Flake #1 on a nice little work break. It's hot as he!! outside tho.


----------



## Andrewdk

A mix of SG Kendall Cream and Ruins of Isengard in a Dr. G royal duke, vanilla and cream combo was pretty nice.

When will Dale return? There needs to be some sort of puff emergency beacon system setup so we know when members are going off the grid.


----------



## Zfog

Where oh where has Dale gone????
Smoking some Condor this morning.


----------



## asmartbull

Erinmore and French Pressed coffee
I am loving this hobby


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good Morning Folks.



No work today. WooHoo.

So it was a good morning to sit on my patio with a cup of coffee and a nice bowl of Solani White and Black in my Savinelli Laguna.

It won't be long before its back up too 100+ degrees today and incredibly humid, so I'll enjoy what I can while I can. LOL

- Vin


----------



## Nachman

Rattray's Accountants Mixture in a big bulldog this morning. I used my new replacement czech tool and didn't drop it this time.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I used my new replacement czech tool and didn't drop it this time.


Anybody else on this thread use wooden tampers? I cut a small dowel into two inch pieces for a small bore tamper and a larger one into 4" pieces for a larger bore "competition tamper". Makes it very easy to twist-tamp a flat surface without compressing the ember too much. Love wooden tampers.(Without a metal tip of course, which defeats the "twist" factor.).

Smoking a mix of scraps from the paper plate this morning in the 4Dot. Erinmore Flake, PA, Royal Yacht, Squadron Leader, Union Square and Bayou Morning Flake from yesterday. Yum!


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good morning all 

Its 10:30am here.

I am enjoying my Peterson Aran with some black "2035" flakes crumbled in and layered nicely.

This flake has been jarred for over a year, I don't even remember who makes it or where I bought it. LOL

Nor did I remember what a Vitamin N whack it will give ya. *sweat*

Nice... I think I'll leave this jar on the time row for a while.


Vin


----------



## asmartbull

H+H Anniversary ( thanks Dave) in a Charatan Perfection,,,,,Frech Press coffee
A great start to the day........


----------



## owaindav

Having the rest of a bowl of LTF in my Sav Trevi author. Haven't had any LTF in a while. Quite enjoyable.


----------



## freestoke

More scraps in the 4Dot this morning. (Good scraps, though!) Coffee tastes great this morning. I think it has something to do with the rain on the way. I know we don't need it as bad as other places that are really suffering, but we do need it. Gardens are pumping out cucumbers and squash now -- love fresh cucumbers!


----------



## User Name

Actually couldn't go to bed, so it still feels like nighttime. I'm excited because I'm getting some stuff in today, plus, my bomb lands today.


----------



## asmartbull

MCClelland's Virginia Woods and coffee.......Just awesome !!!...


----------



## piperdown

asmartbull said:


> MCClelland's Virginia Woods and coffee.......Just awesome !!!...


Wow Bull, you're really getting into it.


----------



## freestoke

piperdown said:


> Wow Bull, you're really getting into it.


Isn't he though? My god, he shows up as a newbie and a week later he's firing up Penzance in a Charatan. A veritable prodigy!

I ALMOST started my day with Brown Flake Scented, but couldn't get out of the PA/4Dot rut. sigh. A creature of habit.

Beautiful few days we're having after the heat wave. And my golf is getting better again, too! :hippie:


----------



## Xodar

Bayou morning in a washington I've just barely got the corn taste smoked out of, and a thermos full of espresso roast, delicious even if I did grab the wrong bag this morning.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Bayou morning in a washington I've just barely got the corn taste smoked out of, and a thermos full of espresso roast, delicious even if I did grab the wrong bag this morning.


Bayou Morning Flake, eh? Now that's a way to pump yourself up early in the day! Yowzah! :biglaugh:


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Bayou Morning Flake, eh? Now that's a way to pump yourself up early in the day! Yowzah! :biglaugh:


Haha, tasty and potent. But this is my first order of bayou morning and is ribbon cut, is it supposed to be a flake?


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Haha, tasty and potent. But this is my first order of bayou morning and is ribbon cut, is it supposed to be a flake?


Ya know, I looked on tobakrevs and saw only the flake, so I figured you just left it out, but I remember seeing the plain Bayou Morning somewhere, possibly on smokingpipes on the order page. Ah -- "067:Bayou Morning". I think I read that the flake is somewhat more potent, which wouldn't surprise me. It's up there with IF or even heavier. :shock: And if you don't like perique, keep it in another room! :lol:


----------



## laloin

freestoke said:


> Ya know, I looked on tobakrevs and saw only the flake, so I figured you just left it out, but I remember seeing the plain Bayou Morning somewhere, possibly on smokingpipes on the order page. Ah -- "067:Bayou Morning". I think I read that the flake is somewhat more potent, which wouldn't surprise me. It's up there with IF or even heavier. :shock: And if you don't like perique, keep it in another room! :lol:


there is both a bayou Morning ribbon cut, and flake, both are up there in the N dept and both are loaded with Perique. 
I have only gotten to finish half a bowl of the ribbon cut, before having to put it down, it's that strong, and I would agree it's up there with If or higher heheh
troy


----------



## Xodar

I just hadn't realized it was available both ways, lol. I believe the last go round was from P&C. And it is satisfying, but still pretty smooth and a little sweet at the beginning. I will have to get the flake variation on my next order to compare.


----------



## freestoke

Back to leftovers again. Dumped the last of some Weybridge, PA and LNF on the plate yesterday, plus a little spillage from a few other pipefuls. Interesting! My 4Dot is wondering WTF!? Good coffee this morning, even though it's only Chock Full o' Nuts.

Pretty nice day on tap. Ex*CITED* about the way I hit the ball yesterday. Threw away a few shots around the greens, but I banged it out there pretty good otherwise for a 38 (+2). A little unlucky, because I'm putting pretty good, just didn't make anything at all and missed a couple of short ones. I suddenly feel like shooting my age is possible this year after a slow start to the season!


----------



## Hambone1

P.S. Mellow Mocha in my basket pipe on the way to work... um good.


----------



## Xodar

Thursday, 3 friars in the new diplomat, still working the corn taste off it but the coffee so black it looks like ink is helping. Sunny and 80's here, I may be trying to think up a good excuse to play hooky by lunchtime.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Sunny and 80's here, I may be trying to think up a good excuse to play hooky by lunchtime.


"I always shoot in the 70s. Any hotter or any colder, I don't play." -- Phil Harris. (Quote is approximate...)


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> "I always shoot in the 70s. Any hotter or any colder, I don't play." -- Phil Harris. (Quote is approximate...)


That works for Phil. Myself on the otherhand would be restricted to playing in Nevada or Mexico, because personally I always shoot in the 110's mg:


----------



## DahlKen

After 3 days of being sick with no taste buds I wake up this morning to taste and a box from Pipesandcigars. So first bowl this morning is a little taster of C&D Manhattan Afternoon in the Irish Sea 999 with some Folgers so thick it comes in by tanker.


----------



## Stubby

Started out the morning with a bowl of BCA in my 16" Clay and a nice cup of coffee. Was a very nice way to start my morning at work.


----------



## Nachman

Started the morning with Red Rapparee in an Eriksen bulldog, then decided to start breaking in my new Savinelli Caramella Zulu. I bought it for a Vaper pipe so I popped open a 14 month old tin of Escudo and loaded up two flakes. I was nervous about buying a filter pipe as the only pipes I have ever had that were designed to use a filter were some cobs. I put in the adapter and stoked it up. NICE. It smoked cool and dry all the way without using the balsa inserts. It has a lot of promise. When I get it broken in, it might even rival my favorite Nording.


----------



## asmartbull

EMP in a Stanwell De Luke.......This blend really stimulates the 
the palate......Thanks for recommending it....


----------



## freestoke

The 4Dot is wondering what's going on -- PA Choice this morning, leftovers yesterday. Lot of weirdness lately. Chock Full o' Nuts though, so the 4Dot has some normal company at least.

Might not be golfing today, what with thunderstorms this afternoon. sigh.


----------



## Xodar

Friday, french press, friars 3. Feeling alliterative today. Brewer's festival starts tonight, I better polish up my part-the-crowd lurch.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Friday, french press, friars 3. Feeling alliterative today. Brewer's festival starts tonight, I better polish up my part-the-crowd lurch.


For some reason, this reminds me of my trip to Iceland, back in 1968. At the time, everybody in Iceland got totally smashed every night as far as I could tell. Nobody had a car and everything is within walking distance in Rekyavik, so you were free to get as smashed as you wanted. (At the time, they had no jail whatsoever, either.) Two people in a room was a crowd. A room full of people was a collision fest. Just amazing how they would careen into one another. My long experience in crowds, especially drunken fraternity parties, gave me the skills to prance through a crazily meandering throng of juiceheads without spilling a drop. They were all in awe at my expertise. :lol:


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> For some reason, this reminds me of my trip to Iceland, back in 1968. At the time, everybody in Iceland got totally smashed every night as far as I could tell. Nobody had a car and everything is within walking distance in Rekyavik, so you were free to get as smashed as you wanted. (At the time, they had no jail whatsoever, either.) Two people in a room was a crowd. A room full of people was a collision fest. Just amazing how they would careen into one another. My long experience in crowds, especially drunken fraternity parties, gave me the skills to prance through a crazily meandering throng of juiceheads without spilling a drop. They were all in awe at my expertise. :lol:


Your stories are always great Jim, you've covered a lot of the globe, I smile when I see you start to reel one off.
This is little more local, but my folks had a pair of kids in the 70's, 80's, and 90's so there is a little bit of a gap between me (the oldest) and my youngest sister. She turned 21 last year, and for her birthday I took her to the brewer's festival. At one point in the afternoon the place was packed, and we were trying to make our way to the far tent. I showed Amie the lurch... Squint one eye, empty mug in each hand, and stagger towards your goal like you were alone on the waterfront. I am about 2 bills with an inordinate amount of hair. People miraculously part like the red sea. I wish I had pictures of us at the end of the afternoon... We didn't have to act to pull the squint off, we're all wearing the string remnants of pretzel necklaces, and nearly a dozen of us are lurching through the tents!


----------



## asmartbull

EMP in a Stanwell de luxe.....
on to 
Virginia Woods, in a GBD Tapestry,,,,,that smokes wonderfully.... 

All I know is that my cigars are getting some needed rest...


----------



## freestoke

The 4Dot is in shock from the past few days of Leftovers and unfamiliar PA Choice and is in therapy right now. I started the morning with the Alpha Litewate and some Five Brothers. :tu


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> I am about 2 bills with an inordinate amount of hair. People miraculously part like the red sea. I wish I had pictures of us at the end of the afternoon... We didn't have to act to pull the squint off, we're all wearing the string remnants of pretzel necklaces, and nearly a dozen of us are lurching through the tents!


:biglaugh:

Thanks, John! I'm short, slight and virtually hairless. Has to be the Fred Astaire action or I get trampled.


----------



## DahlKen

Just finishing up a bowl of some LTF in the Irish Sea 999 and then will be trying out some of the PS Cube Cut in a MM Cob.


----------



## freestoke

I think the 4Dot is relieved to have some PA in it this morning. Life had become too strange for it lately. A newly refilled jar from the tub, too! Hitting the spot with some Columbian coffee. :tu


----------



## Zfog

Enjoying a bowl of Veermaster in my 4 Dot with a Dunkin Donuts coffee!
Dale?


----------



## freestoke

Zfog said:


> Enjoying a bowl of Veermaster in my 4 Dot with a Dunkin Donuts coffee!
> Dale?


The charge of the 4Dot brigade continues apace! PA and some Columbian.


----------



## asmartbull

Two Friends English Chocolate with French Press coffee


Not a huge fan of Aro's, but this is very good....


----------



## Xodar

Having some french press and aspirin and studying not making any loud noises. The Diplomat is full of MacB navy flake, and as soon as I can tolerate the sound of a match striking I'll give it a go. The brewer's festival was a success, the Monday following brewer's fest seems less so.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Having some french press and aspirin and studying not making any loud noises. The Diplomat is full of MacB navy flake, and as soon as I can tolerate the sound of a match striking I'll give it a go. The brewer's festival was a success, the Monday following brewer's fest seems less so.


:biglaugh:

A quart of V8 or tomato juice! I went to UVa, so I had to take Hangover Remediation 101, one of the required courses to take your degree. (

From Rugby Road to Vinegar Hill, We're gonna get drunk tonight. 
The faculty's afraid of us, they know we're in the right. 
So fill up your cups, your loving cups, as full as full can be, 
And as long as all the liquor lasts, we'll drink to the U of V...

OOOOOOOhhhhh IIIII think we need another drink! HEY!!
IIII think we need another drink! HEY!!
IIIIIII think we need another drink, for the glory of the U V AYYYYY.


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good Morning Folks.

Im off from work today.. and :behindsofa: hiding from my pager and cellphone. LOL.

It is a beautiful morning for a bowl of some C&D Cajun Kake in my Pioneer Meer. 
I enjoy this tasty little pressed crumble.
It even looks similar to a dark "brownie" in a tin when you open it.

Have a great day 

- Vin


----------



## asmartbull

Eileen Dream in a cob....what a pleasant room note....


----------



## freestoke

Well I just could not win on the course yesterday. SCREAMING my tee shots, majestic iron play -- shot a stinking 41. Impossible. Hit 5 greens in regulation, just off the edge of 3 others, with two birdies! Impossible. sigh. Today's another day. Gonna tie my lowest ever out there, 31 (-5). I feel it coming on. 

PA in the 4Dot and some coffee. ipe: 

Not quite up to truffles and Irish cream, but it's about all I can handle this morning, Bull! :lol: My god you have a lot of tobacco already! :shock:


----------



## Stubby

Currently sitting in the shop enjoying a cup of coffee and some BCA. I haven't smoked in 2 days, so this BCA is seeming extra sweet on the retrohale.


----------



## Garin

This morning I pulled out a pipe that I had set aside for a DGT about three or four days ago (and then promptly forgot about). It was a bowl full of Royal Yacht that was too wet and smoked poorly then. When I lit it up, I got a blast of *nasty* in the first puff. I almost immediately dumped it. But I tried again, and with each puff it softened out a little more. Within a minute or two it evolved into possibly the best Royal Yacht I've ever had. Most interesting.

As it was just a half bowl, I finished off with a cob of Sillem's black. Royal Yacht, Sillem's black, a cup of coffee, and a shady spot in the back yard made for an excellent summer morning!


----------



## Hambone1

Nothing for the past three days.. it's 110 outside (I only smoke outside or driving with the windows down in the truck)! NOTHING! ARG!


----------



## asmartbull

Marble Kake ( Thanks Dave) in a Chartran......I nice AM it is..........


----------



## freestoke

PA/4Dot as usual with my morning coffee. (Hey Bull, did you order a Sasieni yet!?  ) Trying to recover from yesterday's disaster on the golf course. Hit a gigantic drive off the first tee, a perfect wedge to 15 feet, almost hitting the flag, missed the putt but happy. Even better tee shot off two, then ever so slightly thinned an eight iron which just BARELY failed to carry the front bunker. Had an up-and-down-down-down-down for a seven. Been a while since I four putted! OR made a seven! :shock: Never quite recovered my equanimity. Rain this afternoon most likely, so I'll have a day to think this over. :lol:


----------



## Zfog

Packing some PA in a basket nosewarmer. This thing is lighter than a feather and the perfect clencher! 
Good morning gents!


----------



## DahlKen

This morning I needed a bit of spring in my step, so broke out some Brown Irish Twist into a Falcon. Just what I needed to get the day going.


----------



## asmartbull

This morning English Chocolate was yelling my name.......
I love my EMP, but lately the English Chocolate and Eileens Dream
have been getting the nod......
Enjoy the day gent's......


----------



## freestoke

There is nothing wrong with your browser. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next few seconds, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your browser. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to...John Middleton Walnut.

That's right, Puff fans, no PA this morning (yet). Just felt like some Walnut. Couldn't get all that weird, though. Still the 4Dot and coffee.

(Just substitute "television" for "browser" and "hour" for "few seconds" and that's the intro to the old "Outer Limits" TV show. Oh...and "the Outer Limits" for John Middleton Walnut.)


----------



## quo155

I am still trying to locate my pipes...from a recent move. I have my tobac...just no pipes for now. I may have to break down and snag me a new corn cob pipe this evening!

I am somewhat new to the "pipe side"...just ordered some tobac for Josh for a trade over in the pipe tobac sampler trade...

Good morning...looking forward to getting to know some of ya!

Tommy in Texas


----------



## freestoke

quo155 said:


> I am still trying to locate my pipes...from a recent move.


AIEE!!! I had a very nice collection of pipes, dating from 1961, a Dunhill, Sasieni, Wade Freehand, etc. Really nice pipes. All stolen from my car on a move from Dallas, 1980. sigh. Hope you find them!



> Good morning...looking forward to getting to know some of ya!
> 
> Tommy in Texas


Same to ya! :beerchug: (Hmmm...maybe a little early for that. :lol

Okay, I'm ALMOST back to normal. PA Choice in the 4Dot!


----------



## piperdown

Good morning gents!
Stonehaven in my Peterson aran, nice mug of coffee on my drive into work. Very nice.


----------



## Xodar

Not really morning, but I've been 2 handing the phones since about 5:30 so the MAcB NF is dottle. Thinking about doing the VaPer tour through the rest of today: PS LNF, St. James Flake, Bayou Morning, and the Reiner LGF.


----------



## freestoke

Well, I guess I'm on a Middleton run this morning -- and it's still morning in CA, so I'm California Dreamin'! 

Had to report back in. Smoked a bowl of Sugar Barrel and decided to order a tub, which forced me to 4noggins. (Not that that's a bad thing. :tu) They had some Reiner Long Golden Flake, too, so I decided to splurge on a couple more tins of that. And then...and then...Free Floating Tobacco Anxiety Disorder stepped in, combined with Uncontrolled Free Shipping Compulsion and so I jumped on the 500 grams of G&H Louisiana Flake. Never having tried it, I went with my fondness for all things G&H and took the plunge! Gad, I'm really loading up on VaPers! :shock:

Yeah. Like I need more tobacco. sheesh.


----------



## Xodar

I have to agree on the Sugar Barrel Jim. I was gifted a healthy amount in a sample from the MAW and loved it. Just the right amount of sweet without being cloying and overpowering the burley.


----------



## quo155

freestoke said:


> Well, I guess I'm on a Middleton run this morning -- and it's still morning in CA, so I'm California Dreamin'!
> 
> Had to report back in. Smoked a bowl of Sugar Barrel and decided to order a tub, which forced me to 4noggins. (Not that that's a bad thing. :tu) They had some Reiner Long Golden Flake, too, so I decided to splurge on a couple more tins of that. And then...and then...Free Floating Tobacco Anxiety Disorder stepped in, combined with Uncontrolled Free Shipping Compulsion and so I jumped on the 500 grams of G&H Louisiana Flake. Never having tried it, I went with my fondness for all things G&H and took the plunge! Gad, I'm really loading up on VaPers! :shock:
> 
> Yeah. Like I need more tobacco. sheesh.


Me thinks you should have bout another 50 grams of _something_...??? :bounce:


----------



## laloin

quo155 said:


> Me thinks you should have bout another 50 grams of _something_...??? :bounce:


no he should have gotten 10 more tins of escudo 
troy


----------



## asmartbull

Looks like a Sugar Barrel bowl on the way to work..........


----------



## freestoke

quo155 said:


> Me thinks you should have bout another 50 grams of _something_...??? :bounce:


Brains. A pound of something I've never even tried? I must be nuts.

Anyhow, I really appreciate all the support fighting my TAD. :twitch: I'll be cured in no time.

PA in the 4Dot. Coffee. Dentist appointment for a filling. :scared:


----------



## freestoke

asmartbull said:


> Looks like a Sugar Barrel bowl on the way to work..........


Okay, I think I have it. You've ordered one of everything from 4noggins and smokingpipes, just to seen what's out there, right Bull? What's it like to get two 100 pound crates of tobacco delivered to your door? :lol:


----------



## quo155

Top of the morning to you! No pipe for me thus far...still searching...but I will find them!

Order more tobacco...
Order more tobacco...
Order more tobacco...


----------



## Xodar

Happy Friday. Sunny and low 80's here this afternoon. MacB NF in a lil bent medico, coffee is plentiful, dark, and hot. If only I had a box of krispy kremes I would be approaching one with the universe...


----------



## mrsmitty

Robert McConnell Glen Piper in a Charatan's Make.


----------



## asmartbull

freestoke said:


> Okay, I think I have it. You've ordered one of everything from 4noggins and smokingpipes, just to seen what's out there, right Bull? What's it like to get two 100 pound crates of tobacco delivered to your door? :lol:


Jim
It feels like it.
Dave send me a generous bomb and I liked 95%.
I also hate ordering just 1,....If I don't like it,,,good bombing material.


----------



## freestoke

asmartbull said:


> Jim
> It feels like it.
> Dave send me a generous bomb and I liked 95%.
> I also hate ordering just 1,....If I don't like it,,,good bombing material.


One what? One hundred-pound crate? :lol: (Obviously, you have to order enough to get free shipping or no one will take your TAD seriously.)

From the looks of things, Dave got you off to a flying start! :tu


----------



## asmartbull

EMP in a Meer......

I am loving the both............


----------



## freestoke

Trying to wake up with some PA in the Four Dot pot. (A little curve there for ya.  ) Fresh ground Columbian this morning, nice and stout.


----------



## asmartbull

Dunhill Royal Yacht...in a Peterson that just doesn't want to be broken in....


----------



## bullofspadez

FMOTT, first go with this. Not sure about it yet. Good, but I was expecting a little more sweetness out of it. Maybe I am just missing that little bit of VA that the other English stuff has.


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good Afternoon Brothers,

Well. I went sort of low budget today.. But no regrets.

I had some Lane Black Cavendesh in a MM Cob.. It Went very well with my 3rd cup of coffee. ( Almost Black) 

I like the Black Cavs a little better then the golden ones for some reason.

I do enjoy Lane 1Q as well on occasion.. But not as much as this stuff.

Have a great weekend. :smile:

Be safe, Peace and God Bless. 

- Vin


----------



## laloin

Gawd, I can't believe I'm actually posting to say I was up at the crack of dawn to have a bowl. Had to open the range at 7am this morning. Since the morning was foggy I broke out a bowl of FM in my CG cob. wow yummy after a week straight of Virginias heheh
troy
oh yeah, don't think I be a regular up at dawn kinda of guy, hehehhe


----------



## Xodar

Ahhh Monday... Trying to work up some enthusiasm here, but monday's are my kryptonite. Coffee bordering on too strong (if there is such a thing) and drying out a little FVF for the drive in. Who knows, maybe we'll have a power outage at work and I'll have to finish the day leeching coffee shop wifi and drinking espresso on the company dime. A guy's got to have dreams...


----------



## Stonedog

Well, I was up way too early (0530, early for me!) but this is going to be a regular thing for the next several school years. My son starts High School today and he catches his bus at 0630, which is when I normally wake up to go to work.

Among the classes he's taking is Air Force JROTC just like I took 20 years ago. It will be interested to hear what he thinks...

To celebrate my heir's first day of high school I had a bowl of Hamborger Veermaster that had been fully rubbed out and allowed to sit in the pipe all weekend. I was pleasantly surprised at how mellow and flavorful it was. I believe this is the best way I've found to experience Veermaster.


----------



## freestoke

laloin said:


> Had to open the range at 7am this morning....
> troy
> oh yeah, don't think I be a regular up at dawn kinda of guy, hehehhe


Wow, you mean a driving range! :shock: Cool! Do you hit the ball or just run the place?

Never could play golf in the morning. Hate the dew on the greens, not to mention being half asleep. But I can smoke some PA! :lol: Here, watch this!! ipe: Good, huh?


----------



## quo155

Some good "funnies" this _not so fine_ Monday morning! Some of you cracked me up...and with me not going to sleep until 0330 this morning...and then having to get up at 0700...I am too tired for this "stuff"...the morning, that is...so thanks to each of you for cheering me up! :dizzy:


----------



## asmartbull

My first estate four dot came in yesterday.
A very small rustic .....in pristine condition.
I was hesitant because of the size.
This morning a little EMP and life is good.
It will be a dedicated English smoker for times when time
is in short supply.......


----------



## freestoke

asmartbull said:


> It will be a dedicated English smoker for times when time
> is in short supply.......


Sounds like a good flake pipe, too.

I'm just waking up with the ol' PA/4Dot and coffee. Got some SG Louisiana flake yesterday and it's really good stuff! :tu Gonna jar it up this afternoon -- that 500 gram block is so neat I almost hate to dismantle it!


----------



## Xodar

Ahhh Tuesday. French press and 3 Friars in the Casano calabash, a couple more cups and I'll be ready to do my impression of a human being...


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Ahhh Tuesday. French press and 3 Friars in the Casano calabash, a couple more cups and I'll be ready to do my impression of a human being...


You am what you am. ipe:

Moving on to some -- to some -- what AM I going to smoke now? Ah...Union Square in the Savinelli on an empty stomach! Put the last of what I had opened on a paper plate yesterday and it's about perfect! That should do it! :tea:


----------



## freestoke

freestoke said:


> Got some SG Louisiana flake yesterday and it's really good stuff! :tu Gonna jar it up this afternoon -- that 500 gram block is so neat I almost hate to dismantle it!


Uh...make that G&H Louisiana Flake!

And now I'm on to some Reiner LGF in the Mayfair. Wow is this stuff good! :tu


----------



## asmartbull

This morning I am back to EMP in a Peterson rhodesian (sp).....after a lot of reading, I have decided to try smome of my favorite baccy's in all my pipes...

Enjoy the day gents...


----------



## freestoke

Hang onto to your hats! ipe: WALNUT!! It's the 4Dot again, though. Can't stand too much excitement this early.


----------



## Xodar

Whoa Jim, the 4Dot may be having an identity crisis mg:

Wednesday, it's not just the psychotic daughter of Gomez and Morticia anymore...
I believe I actually have a day without deadlines today (although I double up tomorrow). An uninterrupted day of pipe smo...I mean work. Gives a guy time to focus on a project and to break in his new Diplomat.


----------



## asmartbull

Night Cap in a Savi........Another one to add to the list.....


----------



## freestoke

asmartbull said:


> Night Cap in a Savi........Another one to add to the list.....


Used to smoke a lot of that in college! Nice, huh? :tu


----------



## gentimmy

Is night cap heavy on the latakia or is it just me?

I turn in my final for my last summer class tomorrow. Have a TON of catch up to do since I was out last week with the surgery. Gonna go enjoy some LNF in one of the cobs


----------



## Xodar

Nightcap is latakia rich, but it's the perique that makes it a lot heavier than EMP for me.


----------



## asmartbull

Not sure what the difference is, but I do prefer the EMP.....
The "finish" of the night cap was a little to bold and spicy for me..


----------



## gentimmy

I prefer the EMP as well...just trying to get the tastes sorted out...still new to this


----------



## freestoke

asmartbull said:


> Not sure what the difference is, but I do prefer the EMP.....
> The "finish" of the night cap was a little to bold and spicy for me..


Nightcap has more latakia plus perique. Lux Navy Flake has some perique, Louisiana Flake more, and Bayou Morning Flake oodles. Perique will "burn" your nose and sinuses. It's an acquired...uh...taste, if you can call it a taste, although perique definitely also has its own real taste. I'd equate it to the Scoville scale -> Scoville scale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

We could call it Snorkies instead of Scovilles.

Oh...just finished a bowl of Union Square in the FourDot apple. :tu


----------



## asmartbull

Anniversary Cake.........Got to say this is more like a desert than
a morning smoke.....
Perhaps I just equate mornings and EMP.....

Enjoy the day gents...


----------



## Xodar

PS LTF in the Diplomat, French press in the third coffee cup I've bought this month... (I suspect you ncould trace my day to day movements Hansel and Gretel style using coffee cups that have been left on the roofs of cars and trucks as breadcrumbs). The sky is bright, the birds are singing, and the FVF is drying out on my desk as I puff on the twist, going to be a good day!


----------



## quo155

Good morning...

For the morning drive to work, I enjoyed a bowl of Sutliff Private Stock - Maple Street in my cob.

I seem to really like the aromatics in the morning...


----------



## asmartbull

Mac Baren Vanillia Flake in a Chartran.....I am getting better at this folding thing.....


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

I just had my first bowl of Stonehaven and I must say it lives up to the hype. 

I was saving my little jar of this elusive blend for special occasions. It dawned on me that I should at least try it so that I know that I like it... Well, I'm glad I did but now that I've tasted it must have more!  Now I'm off to try to get my name on a few SH waiting lists...


----------



## Xodar

Friday, how it rolls off the tongue. Going salmon fishing out of Astoria tomorrow, so dedicating this weekend to the nautically themed smokes. Navy flakes from MacBaren, Stokkebye, and Sam Gawith, and may grab some 7 seas from the smokeshop this afternoon. Strong coffee and Marble Kake this morning, getting better all the time.


----------



## freestoke

Erinmore Flake in the TwoDot. Erinmore Flake is sorta like PA Flake, isn't it? :lol: Coffee's especially tasty today for some reason -- hmmm. Maybe it's the Erinmore!


----------



## craig_o

Dunhill EMP, which is living up to its reputation.


----------



## Stubby

Just checking in with some Altadis bulk BCA out of my Peterson Donegal Rocky 221.

Also, I have to say that Vernors Ginger Soda goes spectacular with BCA. Barrel aged ginger ale and vanilla really compliment the smoothness of this.


----------



## DanR

If Dale were here, he'd probably say, "Good Morning Puff Pipers and Cigar Smokers! This morning was hot coffee and Sugar Barrel in my MM Cob."

I hope he's doing okay!

Me, I had MacBaren Navy Flake in my Peterson Tankard.


----------



## quo155

DanR said:


> If Dale were here, he'd probably say, "Good Morning Puff Pipers and Cigar Smokers! This morning was hot coffee and Sugar Barrel in my MM Cob."
> 
> I hope he's doing okay!
> 
> Me, I had MacBaren Navy Flake in my Peterson Tankard.


Maybe I should read...but where is Dale?


----------



## DanR

quo155 said:


> Maybe I should read...but where is Dale?


That's a good question. He's been absent for a few weeks and we've been missing his posts!


----------



## quo155

DanR said:


> That's a good question. He's been absent for a few weeks and we've been missing his posts!


Got you...me, being new to the "Pipe Side"...I don't know who he is...but I have seen a post like this before...several of them...I hope all is well with him...


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> That's a good question. He's been absent for a few weeks and we've been missing his posts!


He started this thread, in case any readers hadn't noticed. PA in a cob was his go to smoke, but he'd run out and was making do with Sugar Barrel. He's been gone since July 8. Worrisome, because he'd just started a new job that was far superior in many ways than his other one. Things were looking up.

I started a thread about it, "Where is Dale?". Some people who know him better are sending him regular mail and such to find out what's going on.


----------



## asmartbull

EMP in a Meer
The second best way to start the day......


----------



## freestoke

"I didn't know they let 7 or 8 handicappers in the field at the PGA." :biglaugh: One of the announcers on The Golf Channel. I'll give him Tiger two a side! I've been pulling against Tiger for a long time, ever since I found out that when he was in college (winning all those US Amateur titles), Cobra was paying his father $200k+ a year for Tiger to hit their driver and tell everybody how good it was. So much for amateur standing, eh? Anyway, nice to see him playing worse than I do!  :lol:

In celebration, I've got my FourDot pot full of Dunhill Flake, watching the post mortem of yesterday's play on TGC. :tu


----------



## freestoke

Go, Jason! Anybody catching him "putting just a little between your cheek and gum"? :lol: He a dipper! If there's one thing the tour can use right now, it's a player to dips snuff. I haven't noticed anybody chewing tobacco since Ernie Els, and he gave it up, so I like Jason right off. 

And today's a big scramble. Looks like the weather will just barely hold for it, but it looked bleak earlier in the week. We won this about ten years ago, back when it was a rock radio station tournament -- really interesting field. :new_all_coholic: :hippie: Now it's an animal shelter charity, so it costs more and there's dick for prizes. Still a decent tournament, though. The Golden Age of Scrambles is behind us I fear. The big time criminal charities, like the Red Cross and United Way have taken over a lot of course time, with usurious entry fees and useless prizes, like a free entry fee to their national scramble in Orlando or some such crap. 

So, with the scramble a few hours away, I'm repeating the Dunhill Flake from yesterday -- hit the ball a ton! Had my tee shot sailing out there as far as a Phil Mickelson 5 iron!!


----------



## asmartbull

This morning a bowl of Town Topic ( Aro) in a cob.
While I really don't love the Aro's, this is a great morning
smoke with a cup of coffee.


----------



## DahlKen

This morning we are going with some Bob's Choco Flake, and a thick cup o' joe with just a hint of caramel and vanilla. Good stuff


----------



## Nachman

Due to some health issues I haven't been smoking my pipes much lately. I've been depending on nasal snuff for my nicotine. But this morning I was recovered enough to go out on the patio and smoke some Rattrays Accountants Mixture. It was a pleasant smoke. I've been missing the pipe.


----------



## DanR

I'm glad you're feeling better Nick!

This morning I had some GLP Montgomery in a MM Cob, right before I started some plumbing repairs in the house. Finished now, so I'm contemplating my afternoon pleasure...


----------



## funbags

Nachman said:


> Due to some health issues I haven't been smoking my pipes much lately. I've been depending on nasal snuff for my nicotine. But this morning I was recovered enough to go out on the patio and smoke some Rattrays Accountants Mixture. It was a pleasant smoke. I've been missing the pipe.


Hope you get better real soon.


----------



## quo155

Nachman said:


> Due to some health issues I haven't been smoking my pipes much lately. I've been depending on nasal snuff for my nicotine. But this morning I was recovered enough to go out on the patio and smoke some Rattrays Accountants Mixture. It was a pleasant smoke. I've been missing the pipe.


Yes, very glad that you are doing a bit better...and I am glad some snuff could keep you going while down!


----------



## asmartbull

Again
EMP in a Meer......Guess I am becoming a creature of habit


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Due to some health issues I haven't been smoking my pipes much lately. I've been depending on nasal snuff for my nicotine.


Happy you're doing better, Nick! Too bad Jason Dufner couldn't win the PGA yesterday. I'd have LOVED to see a snuff user win a major! Tim Fincham (CEO of the PGA Tour) would have had to talk to the CIA about liquidating him in the national interest.

Gonna have some PA in the 4Dot to get back on track. Missed an eagle putt that would have given us a skin yesterday. Crushing. I drove a par 4, hitting it 10 feet directly behind the hole and we couldn't make the putt. Crushing. (And don't give me this "There are more important things in life" crap. You're WRONG!! :lol


----------



## craig_o

Breaking in the Tevere with some EMP. Might try mixing it up tomorrow morning, but I haven't had a morning pipe since Friday.


----------



## freestoke

I see there's grim news from Latakia, Syria. Don't think I have anything with Syrian in it, so I'll just smoke a bowl of Chipman Hill instead in sympathy for the townsfolk of Latakia.


----------



## asmartbull

Let's try some Town Topic in a cob....
Smells great. French Press coffee.....The start of a great day...


----------



## freestoke

Okay. Chipman Hill is 4 stars on tobakrev. This PA in my 4Dot is better! :tu Nice fresh cup of coffee -- I'm starting to wake up.


----------



## Stubby

Smoking some Peterson Irish Oak. Thanks to a little more research on proper filling and lighting procedure I found on here I am a little more than half way through my bowl without a relight or tamping.

Its hard to stop myself from tamping the ash like i was always doing, but it smoking so good.


----------



## Xodar

Tuesday after a long weekend feels remarkably like a Monday. MacB Navy in an MM Washington, coffee is a little weak but then again so am I today.


----------



## Stonedog

Still not used to getting up at 5:30 every morning but strong tea and a Saseini Old England filled with Britt's Balkan make it almost bearable.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Still not used to getting up at 5:30 every morning but strong tea and a Saseini Old England filled with Britt's Balkan make it almost bearable.


Great choice of pipes! :tu Love my Sasienis. Sorry I can't help you with the early rising, though. I think it's terminal if you keep it up. I've had to do it a few times in my life and it almost killed me! :lol:

Back for a second bowl of PA in the 4Dot after some Dunhill Flake.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Great choice of pipes! :tu Love my Sasienis. Sorry I can't help you with the early rising, though. I think it's terminal if you keep it up. I've had to do it a few times in my life and it almost killed me! :lol:
> 
> Back for a second bowl of PA in the 4Dot after some Dunhill Flake.


In a momentary lapse of PAD I somehow found myself on the 'bay bidding on two more Saseinis. Please, someone outbid me in the next few days before the wife catches me!


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> In a momentary lapse of PAD I somehow found myself on the 'bay bidding on two more Saseinis. Please, someone outbid me in the next few days before the wife catches me!


It's a medical expense. She can't complain about your trying to stay healthy, can she!?


----------



## craig_o

Had some EMP (again) this morning at about 745am (the only halfway reasonable time to have a pipe in Texas). I don't know that I am capable of tiring of this blend.


----------



## asmartbull

EMP in a cob.......This could be part of my daily ritual...


----------



## Stonedog

Had some Exhausted Rooster in my old Bertram apple. This blend is pushing its way to the top of my favorites list. I rubbed it out last night and left it loaded in the pipe as a DGT expirement. Not bad but leaving it to dry on a paper towel would've been better. I left it in the car and will enjoy the remainder on the way home tonight. I'm curious to see how it changes after being left in a car all day in the Georgia heat. I'm guessing not well.


----------



## craig_o

Same old same old... but in honor of waking up early, I'm breaking out the Hercules :jaw:


----------



## freestoke

Taking a cat to the vet early this morning -- early for me at least, at nine. Maybe that's what's got me off to a weird start, cranking some 1Q in a cob. I started trying to dry it out under the light a few days ago with no success. Hard overcome a liter of PG per pound apparently, so I went to the microwave this morning. Not all bad, I guess. Wish it was PA, though.

Speaking of microwaves, does anybody who decries drying tobacco in the microwave understand the different settings? Every argument I've seen against the practice presupposes STUPID use of the microwave. I thought pipe smokers were supposed to be smart! :lol:


----------



## Xodar

Wednesday and as busy as a man who doesn't have time to think up a clever analogy. MacB Navy in the danish egg, and resting the egg on top of my coffee cup, who the hell pointed the bottom on this thing? Ah well, Navy Flake is probably no worse than the sugar I usually put in it...


----------



## asmartbull

Just enjoyed a bowl of Royal London Dock in a Stanwell.
This was simply amazing.......Thanks Andy....
*This goes to the top of the list.*...


----------



## freestoke

asmartbull said:


> Just enjoyed a bowl of Royal London Dock in a Stanwell.
> This was simply amazing.......Thanks Andy....
> *This goes to the top of the list.*...


My lord! A month in and he has better pipes and a better cellar than I do! I protest!! :boink:


----------



## asmartbull

Mac Baren Vanilla Flake in an iddy-biddy four dot....Perfect for a flake


----------



## Stonedog

Double Fantasy in my MM Country Gentleman this morning. Discovered a new technique for tasting the smoke: smacking my lips together, and tongue into the rough of my mouth, seems to catch more of the aromatics in the smoke. Don't laugh but it never occurred to me to "taste" smoke like this while letting it swirl around in my mouth and exhaling through the nose.

And, tragically, I have been outbid on both Saseinis. I need to learn to stay off of the 'bay.


----------



## freestoke

I need a boring start for a change. 4Dot with PA and coffee.


----------



## asmartbull

freestoke said:


> My lord! A month in and he has better pipes and a better cellar than I do! I protest!! :boink:


Jim
I am blessed to have friends that go the extra mile.
I simply made a post expressing interest and a week later
35 samples and 3 pipes show up at my door
From that point, PAD takes over.......
The blessing is that I have not been spending as much on
cigars......


----------



## Xodar

Thursday morning, an 80 degree forecast, an uncommonly good french press and MacB NF in the Diplomat, which unlike the danish egg sits upright on my desk just fine. And Conan releasing this weekend, I am trying to figure out how to insert a pipeful into the list of what is best in life...


----------



## freestoke

Found an unmarked mason jar with a thick thread flake in it. Has some perique...what the hell IS this stuff!? I think the label fell off, so at this point it's like the Blind Taste Test, but with a multiple choice format. < puff puff > Too light to be Bayou Morning Flake...ah. Gotta be Louisiana Flake. Took some out the other day to put in an old Erinmore tin for drying and ready access, which explains the partially empty jar.

Nothing makes better ash than GH flakes. The Sasieni Canadian has been neglected of late and is absolutely singing!


----------



## freestoke

asmartbull said:


> Jim
> I am blessed to have friends that go the extra mile.


I'd call it the extra parsec.

If one of them was Mister Moo, I understand. For some reason, all those years of Dunhills and Sobranie and I never smoked a single flake tobacco, except some Escudo. I mentioned it and he BOMBED me with flakes -- including some 7 year old Stonehaven!!! It was a terrible thing to do to me. Just terrible. Now I'm merely a pitiable flake junky. :faint:


----------



## asmartbull

freestoke said:


> I'd call it the extra parsec.
> 
> If one of them was Mister Moo, I understand. For some reason, all those years of Dunhills and Sobranie and I never smoked a single flake tobacco, except some Escudo. I mentioned it and he BOMBED me with flakes -- including some 7 year old Stonehaven!!! It was a terrible thing to do to me. Just terrible. Now I'm merely a pitiable flake junky. :faint:


Dave and Tony, threw me off the cliff
and I continue to get hit every time I pop my head up....


----------



## asmartbull

Back to EMP in a Chartran.....This is a perfect combination in the AM with coffee....


----------



## Xodar

There are few words as elegant in the English language as "Friday".
MacB navy in the MM Washington, coffee is hot and sweet, and deadlines 2 hours away.


----------



## freestoke

Past the PA and on to the Reiner LGF. Got a few tins of that now, so I'm free to pop a jar. I'd almost forgotten. A perfect musketball in the Mayfair, contemplating a super day for golf this afternoon. I'm not sure there's anything better than LGF.


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Puff Pipers! I managed to take a day off today, but unfortunately I have a big list of "honey-do's" that require my attention. However, before I start that, I'm puffing on a beautiful bowl of "scrap" Virginias (I save my scraps in a separate mason jar)... The best part is that I had no high expectations, and it definately exceeded that!

The weather here in San Antonio is a cool 77 degrees and a slight breeze. Perfect for a morning smoke with my hot cup of coffee.


----------



## craig_o

Just now rolling out of bed. Going to give GL Pease Westminster another shot since I think the taste was muddled by smoking back to back with Mac Baren Scottish Mixture last night.


----------



## Hambone1

Trying a sample I got with my order from 4 noggins, Owl's Head, in my Boswell sitter. Nice mild smoke.


----------



## freestoke

Had a 4Dot/PA and now heading out to the NY Renaissance Festival. Got me a couple of cobs and the Serial Aromatics Pouch for the drive!


----------



## asmartbull

Back to EMP in a Meer......and work on todays line-up.
Still working through many of the bombs....
Enjoy the day gents


----------



## freestoke

The NY Renaissance Festival was pretty cool. Appropriately enough, it's a traveling show, which I didn't know, taking their act to Houston in the winter and other places Spring and Fall. Thought it looked a bit "polished" for a bunch of amateurs volunteering in the summer every year. 

Smoking a bowl of PA, wondering how they made it through the Renaissance without tobacco. Observe that the Enlightenment began when they finally started smoking! :tu

And why don't they have any Enlightenment Festivals?


----------



## asmartbull

London Dock in a meer...............
Note to self: Buy in bulk


----------



## Stonedog

I tried Virginia Spice for the first time this morning using my MM Country Gentleman. Very nice, it might find its way into my rotation.


----------



## freestoke

I have a goal. By Wednesday, I want this jar of 5100 off my desk!! I have another order arriving and will need more jars for the 500g Scotch Flake brick on the way. I actually have a pipe that will hold almost all of that 5100 -- maybe I should just stuff it all in there and spend the rest of the day smoking Red Cake.

Right now, it's just some PA. Gotta wake up before I make any rash decisions.


----------



## Xodar

On the eighth day he decreed everything would suck, and we'll call it Monday...

Quietly nursing some MacB Navy Flake in a small bent briar and lamenting the decisions I have made in this life, noteably finishing that bottle of cabernet last night and working in such a noisy industry. Coffee helps though.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> On the eighth day he decreed everything would suck, and we'll call it Monday...


 *Peter Gibbons*: Let me ask you something. When you come in on Monday and you're not feeling real well, does anyone ever say to you, "Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays?" 
*Lawrence*: No. No, man. Shit, no, man. I believe you'd get your ass kicked sayin' something like that, man.


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> *Peter Gibbons*: Let me ask you something. When you come in on Monday and you're not feeling real well, does anyone ever say to you, "Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays?"
> *Lawrence*: No. No, man. Shit, no, man. I believe you'd get your ass kicked sayin' something like that, man.


 Ahhh, what I need is a fax machine to kick the s*%$ out of :boom:


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All, waiting for the coffee to kick in after staying up a bit too late reading Crichton's Prey. Enjoyed a half bowl of Virginia Spice on the way in, this time in my Bjarne Viking. I'd swear this blend has latakia in it, but I guess I'm just tasting an abundance of "cigar leaf" on top of the VaPer.


----------



## asmartbull

Two Friends, English Chocolate, coffee black.....


----------



## Charlie G.

Good morning all you puffers. This is my first time posting in the pipe forums. I have been smoking both pipes and cigars for around 30 years and switch back and forth depending on my moods.
I have been lurking in the pipe forums since I found this site and have found a few new baccy's from reading others favs. One I have just found is Trout Stream, wow what a tasty treat it is. I am smoking a bowl of it this morning as I type. 
My thanks to all here and hope to post more often here.


----------



## freestoke

Coffee! I was well into my first PA/4Dot and something was missing! Talk about zoned out!? :lol:


----------



## Xodar

Tuesday, and still trying to convince myself that one shouldn't have to work on their birthday. I believe me anyhow! Tilbury and inky fench press, humming the folgers song.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Tuesday, and still trying to convince myself that one shouldn't have to work on their birthday. I believe me anyhow! Tilbury and inky fench press, humming the folgers song.


Should be a federal holiday. "Doctor Xodar is the only doctor we have that can possibly save this patient. Too bad it's his birthday."

I need NICOTINE!! And more COFFEE!!! Upping the ante with some Bayou Morning Flake.


----------



## Xodar

A beautiful Wednesday, and the first day I am actually running the ac in my office this year. Tilbury in a danish egg, french press in the second to-go mug I've bought this month.


----------



## Stonedog

I still had a few bowls of Erinmore Flake and Union Square from my newbie sampler. A month or so ago rubbed them out a bit, mixed and then jarred them up. The result is excellent and was a fine companion during this morning's commute.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> A beautiful Wednesday, and the first day I am actually running the ac in my office this year. Tilbury in a danish egg, french press in the second to-go mug I've bought this month.


Just opened some Tilbury this morning! Haven't done more than smell the tobacco yet -- been busy packing my NPS sample pack. Exhausting! :lol: Got it in the mail, so I'm gonna sit back and enjoy me some Tilbury! Never had any before.

My first bowl was Scotch Flake Aromatic, something sent to me by mistake from smokingpipes! They disavow any knowledge of carrying this tobacco, period! :biglaugh: Zay know NUSSING!!! Very odd. Not one review at tobaccoreviews, although the entry for it is there. I reviewed it here, if anybody's interested:

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/297207-gh-co-scotch-flake-aromatic.html


----------



## asmartbull

Traditional Barclay in a cob.....
Flashbacks of my grandfathers house.
No bite, mild with great room notes. 
Thanks Rick..


----------



## Hambone1

Finished off my Penzance and Blackwoods Flake I had received from jtree26 in my Boswell Nose Warmer


----------



## Stonedog

I had my first taste PA Choice Blend this morning. I used a cob (of course) and found it to be smoother than normal PA. Two thumbs up.


----------



## Hambone1

G&H Top Black Cherry in my Boswell Sitter, woot!


----------



## craig_o

OGS for the first time this morning. My God, what a thrill.


----------



## freestoke

Off to the NY State Fair! Had a quick cob of PA, taking the Erinmore Flake tin with Louisiana Flake with me -- and a cob!


----------



## Xodar

Sounds like fun Jim, and a cob does just seem tyo go with the fair.
Night Train in a lil bent medico, new coffee cup this morning, as I had another casualty in my ongoing war with the roof of the truck. Tomorrow's friday, the only downside is the ac fried here last night. But that won't suck for hours yet...


----------



## Kodos44

A nice french pressed coffee and a bowl of Orlik Golden sliced. It's a beautiful sunny morning here. Actually waking up without work calling is a rare treat :thumb:

Scott


----------



## craig_o

Well, I'm torn. It's been a hell of a week, so do I want something familiar or something new? 

Not feeling adventurous this morning, so it's time for some Mac Baren Scottish Mix.


----------



## Hambone1

last of my Escudo Navy Deluxe from jtree26 in my Boswell Nose Warmer. Big nic buz on the way to work. 108 today, enough to cause a fat man to break out in a grease fire! woot!


----------



## freestoke

After an opening PA/4Dot, I'm on to some Dunhill Flake. 

Hell of a NY State Fair! And I actually saw an old guy (about my age) smoking a pipe at the Pointer Sisters show! (Man, that is some great band they have backing them up!) Looked like he knew what he was doing, too! :lol: When you figure the Pointer Sisters started in '73, it's easy to guess that there were a bunch of old rockers in the crowd. Always seemed to me that "Jump" would make great figure skating music.


----------



## Stonedog

Man am I looking forward to this weekend. It's been a helluvalong week but I think I'm finally starting to get used to getting up at 0530 now...

Union Square / Erinmore Flake mixture in my Bertram wide-mouthed apple. If I had to get rid of all my pipes except one, this is the one I would keep.


----------



## Troutman22

> 108 today, enough to cause a fat man to break out in a grease fire!


AHHAHAHA

:whoo:

That is some funneh shiat.


----------



## freestoke

Another tournament today! We're gonna win this time, dammit. (Still smarting over that 10 foot eagle putt we missed a couple of weeks ago.) A quick bowl of PA and then get ready to head out. Shotgun at 10!


----------



## asmartbull

Fillmore in a Savi......Gutta get more of this......


----------



## freestoke

Anybody ever see "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation?" I feel like Clark Griswold, when he got his year's worth of jelly xmas bonus. We won. We had two eagles and birdied half the standard skin holes. Got nada but a free entry into next year's tournament, ie, nothing. If any of us can't play (sick, otherwise occupied...), totally nothing. Nothing for playing really well. We played extremely well. We got nothing. And they didn't even give second place! 

Last year we played in the same tournament and everybody was friendly, it was fun. This year, I felt like everybody hated us!  I'm sure they changed the winner prize because we aren't part of the in crowd that started the tournament. Frankly, I've never encountered anything like this in the world of scrambles and I've played in way over a hundred of them. I HAVE to play next year, out of spite.

Smoking some Sugar Barrel to improve my sour mood.


----------



## Nachman

@Freestoke, at least you have pride in a job well done.


----------



## asmartbull

Just finished a bowl or Erinmore Flake.............Happy as hell I visited this forum a month ago


----------



## asmartbull

Sterlings, Chairman of the Board.
A light English that is a great change of pace from the EMP that could easily be an all-day smoke


----------



## Stonedog

Had another bowl of my Union Square & Erinmore Flake mixture, this time in the wide "basket" pipe that is still haunted from the half bowl of Rum Flake I tried last weekend. Oh well, it was still good and maybe I can smoke the ghost out of this pipe eventually.


----------



## User Name

Stonedog said:


> Had another bowl of my Union Square & Erinmore Flake mixture, this time in the wide "basket" pipe that is still haunted from the half bowl of Rum Flake I tried last weekend. Oh well, it was still good and maybe I can smoke the ghost out of this pipe eventually.


You can taste the rum flake over the erinmore?

Never had rum flake, but it must be dripping with scent.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> @Freestoke, at least you have pride in a job well done.


Thanks, Nick! We're thinking of writing them a nasty email (I am a scratch handicap nasty emailer, with lots of training in flamewars in the old USENET :lol and telling them to blow it out their ol' wazoo next year. I certainly don't want to play in it again.

Back to PA/4Dot with some fresh ground Columbian.


----------



## Stonedog

User Name said:


> You can taste the rum flake over the erinmore?
> 
> Never had rum flake, but it must be dripping with scent.


I don't know if "dripping" is the word I'd used. It smells GREAT in the bag, but as soon as I lit it I got the perfume smell. The "mix" I'm talking about is the last bits of a newbie sampler from several months ago. It's about 5:1 Union Square to Erinmore Flake so there's little Erinmore although I swear I did get a bit of pineapple at one point.


----------



## freestoke

Moved on to some Royal Yacht. 

They say there's no pineapple flavoring in Erinmore. I think you're tasting prunes, the secret ingredient in Dr. Pepper!


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Moved on to some Royal Yacht.
> 
> They say there's no pineapple flavoring in Erinmore. I think you're tasting prunes, the secret ingredient in Dr. Pepper!


 Well, then it's just confusing for them to put a darn pineapple on the tin then, lol.

@Jim, show up next year in cut off shorts, football cleats, and t shirts advertising your favorite beer and/or cigarette. Everybody shotguns a beer for a birdie. If they make you feel like Clark give them some Cousin Eddie.

Ahhh, Monday, but it is mitigated by the fact it's my last full week here before heading for a week in Cabo. That makes it nearly bearable. MacB Navy in the diplomat, and coffee so dark the light is bending around it a little.


----------



## asmartbull

Balkan Sasieni in a meer......Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn


----------



## Stonedog

Almost finished with the last bits of Union Square / Erinmore samples. This time I used my smaller Viking. I'm making an effort to finish this mix (tough job, I know) before I move on to something else. Normally I switch between different blends every day. Interesting to note that the longer I stay on this the more flavor I'm able to detect in it... 

Anyway, Morning Y'all.


----------



## freestoke

asmartbull said:


> Balkan Sasieni in a meer......Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn


Just opened a can of this yesterday. First I've tried it and I agree! Really good!! :tu

Right now, though I'm getting awake with some Paper Plate Potpouri, scraps from at least half a dozen tobaccos in there...let's see. PA, LF, 5100, SB, RR965, Northwoods, Nightcap, Dunhill Flake, Balkan Sasieni and Tilbury. The 4Dot never had it so good! :lol:

I'm thinking what we should do next year in that tournament is show up, not enter the skins, play our own ball all the way around the course instead of scrambling and enjoy a nice full round of golf and drink their beer. Afterwards, not turning in a card at all, we can get some styrofoam takeout containers and take our food home so we don't have to sit with the bastards. Get something out of it anyhow. Audrey's leaning toward sending them an email ration of shit. So am I. She's even more pissed than I am, if you can believe it. I've also considered entering, then not even showing up, costing them 4 meals and rounds with carts, but I don't want to see the food go to waste.


----------



## Xodar

Awaiting the sun with Tilbury in the diplomat. If I don't smoke it for a week or two I forget how much I love Tilbury.


----------



## VinCigars

BCA in a Savinelli Hercules. Very nice and mild flavor!


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All, I had some BHT in a MM CG. The experience was underwhelming but I'd forgotten that BHT just doesnt work well in my CG. I keep a pipe smoking log that is updated after each bowl. When I went back I found that I never enjoyed BHT in this particular cob. No idea why...

Anyway, I'm going to set pipes aside for a few weeks as an experiment. Every morning when I walk out the door I feel the need to grab a pipe and a jar of tobacco despite the previous night's desire to not smoke the following day. I'm afraid this is becoming more than just a hobby so I'm going to see how hard it is to step away from it for a while. Wish me luck.


----------



## freestoke

Clocking in with some Scotch Flake Aromatic. Just loving this stuff! Couple of questions. Why does tobaccoreviews (owned by smokingpipes?) have it listed as SF "Aromatic" (like my box says), while ALL other US retailers list, what I assume is the same thing, as "Scented" ? I think the entry might have shown up there AFTER I sent them email telling them what they sent me! (By the bye, I'm the only reviewer! I might the only person on the planet who can stand it!  )

While I was typing this, I quickly went to the GH&Co. site, which seems to have to ready list of their full line, but does have an email address -- so I sent them my questions! :lol: We'll see what the horse's mouth whispers back.


----------



## craig_o

First pipe in a few days (still getting the work/school balance worked out for this semester), and I'll use any excuse to break open the Mac Baren Scottish Mixture. 

Great way to start the day.


----------



## Xodar

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks, tis the east, and this late in the year we're just seeing the sun now. Shining through the smoke from MacB NF in an MM Diplomat. Coffee is average at best, but it is Wednesday.


----------



## User Name

Dark Twist in my boswell churchwarden


----------



## freestoke

Last week, I was giving my cat penicillin for a throat infection (she completely lost her voice!). Last night when I went to bed it felt like *I* had a throat infection and spent the night hacking with bronchitis, so it's my turn for the penicillin this morning, I guess. Must be the fresh air, exercise, fresh vegetables from the garden and all this nice weather we're having. :lol: Your body can only take so much abuse.

Gonna brace myself with some Paper Plate Potpourri in the MM Diplomat. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Gonna make an attempt to polish off the PPP today and start a new plate. This stuff has some decent Vitamin N, which should take the edge off this bout of bronchitis. I hate to do it, but I'm heading off to il dottore this morning to get some antibiotics for it. Bronchitis is really tough when you have asthma. :frown: Been putting up with it for almost a week now and it's getting pretty old.


----------



## quo155

Morning Jim...and others!

No bowl for me this morning...getting my Vitamin N through my daily Copenhagen Wintergreen!

Looking forward to some McClelland 605-Pastry ncob (in cob) this afternoon...until then...remember to _always drink upstream from the herd!_ :cb


----------



## Xodar

Good Morning folks. Friday on a holiday weekend. Lost my first cup off the roof of the truck for this month this morning. Drinking Starbucks out of a paper cup and smoking MacB navy in the MM egg.
In the spirit of Tommy's Tejas wisdom I would like to throw some clever Oregonianism out there, but it would be something like "Don't take any wooden nickels, unless they are 100% recyclable, at which point we'll pass a city ordinance requiring you to use wooden nickels and only wooden nickels, so taking wooden nickels would become common practice and we'd lose that old saw, so I'll refrain...


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Lost my first cup off the roof of the truck for this month this morning.


Ah...undrunk driving. Bummer.

I told myself I'd wait until I smoked something interesting, but I lied. It's a PA/4Dot morning. I may not smoke anything but PA before lunch.


----------



## freestoke

freestoke said:


> Ah...undrunk driving...


"That's a joke, son. A flag waver. You're built too low. The fast ones go over your head. Ya got a hole in your glove. I keep pitchin' 'em and you keep missin' 'em."










A little more Paper Plate Potpouri in the TwoDot this morning. Lot on that plate! Dumped the ends of a few things on there a few days ago and can't seem to finish it. Seems like more there than when I started! :dunno: Maybe I'll never have to buy tobacco again! :shock:


----------



## freestoke

Maybe I'm making everybody nervous. Here -> ipe: PA in the 4Dot. And the bronchitis is easing its grip! :tu


----------



## freestoke

I could SWEAR I posted here yesterday. :dunno: Whatever, I'll turn in my homework late: same as today, the Paper Plate Potpouri. Quite good, actually! :tu

Apparently nobody survived the Labor Day weekend but me. :lol:


----------



## asmartbull

Celebrated Sovereign.............Hard to find an English I am not enjoying...


----------



## Stonedog

Half a bowl of Exhausted Rooster this morning. Not sure why this blend doesn't get more fanfare, this is a consistently good smoke for me. Will be cracking open a tin of Grey Haven pretty soon to see if it is similar.


----------



## Xodar

Tuesdays after holiday weekends seem like super-Mondays. Nursing some Tilbury in the MM Washington and working on absorbing enough coffee to function.


----------



## Nachman

Royal Yacht this morning. I have arrhythmias and nothing like a bowl of high nicotine tobacco to settle my heart down and make it beat regularly. Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. It just seems to work for me.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Royal Yacht this morning. I have arrhythmias and nothing like a bowl of high nicotine tobacco to settle my heart down and make it beat regularly. Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. It just seems to work for me.


I'm certain that if nicotine did work, the information would be suppressed.


----------



## User Name

sitting at my desk wishing I was piping. Morning all.


----------



## quo155

User Name said:


> *sitting at my desk wishing I was piping.* Morning all.


+1!

And good morning to all as well!


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I'm certain that if nicotine did work, the information would be suppressed.


Prime example. Nicotine helps with people that have tourette's. How often do you hear about that? Kid I went to school chewed nicorette to help his ticks and his doctor was able to ween him off prescription meds.

Off subject.

Morning pipers! Woke up, had a cup of coffee, and thought...
"Why am I not smoking right now?"

Gunna grab a pipe and a wad of something flakey. Dunhill? LBF? Navy? We shall see...


----------



## freestoke

Wow, some kinda record attendance yesterday!

I ran into something most interesting yesterday. How and why chamber geometry impacts tobacco flavor - Neill's Blog - Pipe Blog states:

*For example, I used to believe that I would create more flavor if I lit a larger portion of the tobaccos surface area. When I learned that combustion's purpose is to heat the surrounding tobacco - and that the burning area itself creates ash, not flavor - I started making sure that the center of the bowl was lit and then, as I smoked down, I pushed tobacco toward the combustion zone. Two things happened: One, my smokes started tasting better and sweeter, and two, my smokes lasted longer.*

I am experimenting even as I type, using the Standard Tobacco and Pipe (STP), PA/4Dot. I will report back.


----------



## Xodar

Eenteresting Jim, I find that flake tends to do that most of the time if I am not frequently tamping anyhow.
Short timing it here, future good morning posts will be made from Cabo for a week, and probbly not this early. Stokkebye LNF in the diplomat, and wondering if customs will open sealed tins on the way through.


----------



## asmartbull

EMP in a Meer...............a great combination......


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> ...wondering if customs will open sealed tins on the way through.


Does it matter? You'll be opening them anyway!

Snork, snork, snorkel! Sounds like the perfect vacation. ipe:


----------



## Stonedog

This morning was a half bowl of my newly opened Grey Havens in my old bucket-mouth Bertram. Ketchup notes aside, this is a nice blend. There must be some sort of sweet topping added. It reminded me of StoneHaven only weaker and not as rich.

Obviously last week's plan to step away from pipes for a while was a bust...


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Obviously last week's plan to step away from pipes for a while was a bust...


The best laid plans of tobacco and pipes do often gang aglee.

On to my "center combustion" experiment with Paper Plate Potpourri in the FourDot pot. I think I'm learning something! (Including how to spell "potpourri". )


----------



## karatekyle

Stonedog said:


> Obviously last week's plan to step away from pipes for a while was a bust...


♪ He tried to go to rehab but grey havens said nooo, no, no ♫

Haha.

Thinking about grabbing my medico filter pipe to start putting a hurt on some CAO aromatics. I don't care what y'all say about filters, the way cherrybomb smokes, it could be renamed M-69. Its an incendiary cherry clusterbomb, stuff bites like napalm. But it makes the girlfriend happy :ballchain:


----------



## freestoke

Well, it's the end of the Paper Plate Potpourri. The 4Dot was whining this morning, wanting to know if Prince Albert was ever coming home again.


----------



## quo155

Morning! It's been two days without a puff...I am going into withdrawals!


----------



## freestoke

quo155 said:


> Morning! It's been two days without a puff...I am going into withdrawals!


Sheesh. I was moving furniture for my new sofa delivery this morning, so I've only had one bowl so far -- two *HOURS* and *I'M *going into withdrawals! :lol:

Celebrating with a big bowl of deluxe premium Reiner LGF in the Canadian! Yum!! Lunch will have to wait. ipe:


----------



## indigosmoke

Good morning, gentlemen. Hope you are all having a fine AM enjoying a good smoke or two. Just opened a new pouch of St. Bruno. Man, I love this stuff!


----------



## Nachman

Started this morning with a bowl of Royal Yacht. We have had a record hot summer, hottest since they have been keeping records. It has been so hot I have been smoking mostly Virginias and Vapers, but about a week ago we got an impressive cool down. It felt so nice today, in the seventies, that I opened some cool weather tobacco. I popped open a pound of year and a half old Westminster and smoked a bowl. It was nice.


----------



## indigosmoke

Nachman said:


> Started this morning with a bowl of Royal Yacht. We have had a record hot summer, hottest since they have been keeping records. It has been so hot I have been smoking mostly Virginias and Vapers, but about a week ago we got an impressive cool down. It felt so nice today, in the seventies, that I opened some cool weather tobacco. I popped open a pound of year and a half old Westminster and smoked a bowl. It was nice.


I'm with you on the heat Nick. It's been so nice not be in a pressure cooker day in and day out. I think you are right. Time to break out some Squadron Leader.


----------



## asmartbull

Chelsea Morning.......Not sure if it is better than my usual EMP, but
it is surely a great change of pace....


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Gents,

This morning I went back to John Patton's Storm Front in my Viking. Fighting a headache and not looking forward to a long day at work, but at least I got my burley fix for the day.


----------



## freestoke

A little Erinmore Flake to start things off this morning. Would you believe there are pipe smokers out there who don't like Erinmore Flake!? :shock: (HAHAHAHA! Just kidding! :lol: Of course there are no such people. Couldn't possibly be.)


----------



## Firedawg

enjoying a nice Peter Stokkebye Luxury Twist Flake in a Peterson of course! Hope everyone has a wonderful day and weekend.


----------



## User Name

Morning Everyone,

Smoked some Dark Star on my way to work this morning, which I packed last night. Fantastic stuff.

I think I'll have a bowl of something English when I get home.


----------



## freestoke

User Name said:


> Morning Everyone,
> 
> Smoked some Dark Star on my way to work this morning...


Talk about obscure blends. Just checked tobakrevs...nothing but 3 or 4 stars, so why isn't it "Highly Recommended" one would wonder. Sounds super! :tu


----------



## User Name

freestoke said:


> Talk about obscure blends. Just checked tobakrevs...nothing but 3 or 4 stars, so why isn't it "Highly Recommended" one would wonder. Sounds super! :tu


I ordered 4 tins of this stuff from smokingpipes about 2 months ago.

The tin date for all 4 was 2008! :shocked:

It's really good stuff, but it has to be treated just right. Not a problem for the great Freestoke.


----------



## asmartbull

Got some Chelsea Morning sitting for a few minutes........
A wonderful blend for any time of the day....

Enjoy the day.....


----------



## freestoke

Finally over this accursed bronchitis crap, so, in the grip of post-operative euphoria, I'm blasting off with some Irish Flake. Was gone most of the day yesterday, smoked hardly at all, and what I did smoke was weak cheese, PA, Erinmore and that's about it. Scarcely enough to keep the mind alive. My low nicotine warning light is flashing I think, as yesterday's irresponsible behavior has led to dangerously low Vitamin N blood levels.


----------



## karatekyle

Gulped down a pot of coffee and a cannon ball's worth of some university flake this morning outside with the girlfriend. Read some of _The Trial and Death of Socrates_ and traded history factoids with one beautiful girl. An altogether fantastic start to a weekend.


----------



## freestoke

Some nice PA in the 4Dot with some strongish coffee. Sanity returns for one of its infrequent visits.


----------



## Photo Dan

I've got to eat a quick breakfast and then cut the grass but will definitely get a break later for a cigar and a libation :music:


----------



## User Name

I tried PS navy flake again last night. The first time I tried it, it wasn't a good experience. I jarred it up for 6 months and tried it again. Still, not digging it. I like the perique, but the PS VAs aren't holding up....

So now I mixed it 50/50 with Dark Star (I feel like Jim) and musket-balled it. I'm about to light up, wish me luck.


----------



## karatekyle

Some CAO cherrybomb in a medico filter, straight apple. Was outside playing cards with the girlfriend and her room mate and room mate's boyfriend.


----------



## freestoke

User Name said:


> So now I mixed it 50/50 with Dark Star (I feel like Jim) and musket-balled it. I'm about to light up, wish me luck.


LNF is pretty light on the perique, so I'm wondering what you don't like about it. It's my favorite of the Lux series.

With hopes that you survived this ordeal, I'll carry on with the morning report: 4Dot/PA/Coffee. ipe:


----------



## asmartbull

More EMP..........A fine day


----------



## Stonedog

Sitting on my back patio this glorious Monday morning. I'm actually home sick today with a head cold but it isn't stopping me from enjoying a bit of Stonehaven from my _very_ small stash.


----------



## Nachman

Royal Yacht to kick start the morning. Later I am going to smoke some ten month old Anni Kake. A few months of age really helps this tobacco.


----------



## User Name

freestoke said:


> LNF is pretty light on the perique, so I'm wondering what you don't like about it. It's my favorite of the Lux series.
> 
> With hopes that you survived this ordeal, I'll carry on with the morning report: 4Dot/PA/Coffee. ipe:


I don't really know. I'm thinking that I don't really enjoy the VAs in it. I do like bullseye and I LOVE twist.

I 50/50'ed it with Dark Star last night and it was delicious. I don't have a perique problem, I love escudo, Dunhill Navy Rolls, C&D bayou morning, etc.

Maye I have a bad batch? I got it Feb. 2011.


----------



## quo155

No pipe for a few days..._I'm suffering here!_

Morning!


----------



## freestoke

quo155 said:


> No pipe for a few days..._I'm suffering here!_
> 
> Morning!


Bummer, Tommy! Plenty of water and orange juice! Flush out the poison!

Smoking a sympathy bowl of SF Aromatic for you! ipe:


----------



## quo155

freestoke said:


> Bummer, Tommy! Plenty of water and orange juice! Flush out the poison!
> 
> Smoking a sympathy bowl of SF Aromatic for you! ipe:


:bowdown: Thanks Jim!

_Mmmmm_...I can smell it already!

Maybe tonight on the way home...I've just been "busy"!


----------



## freestoke

The 4Dot is getting a special treat this morning. Grousemoor! The 4Dot is singin'! (Smells like something I used to smoke 40+ years ago...Ye Olde Signe?)

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...98388-only-has-two-teeth-but.html#post3373550

Need I say it goes great with coffee!? ipe:


----------



## freestoke

And now a pipe with a bit more _gravitas_ -- the FourDot pot! Can't fool around with my first taste of FVF, now can I? ipe:

Wow! :shock: This stuff is really good, isn't it!?


----------



## Stonedog

Back to work this morning, loaded up a bowl of Grey Havens to begin to accustom myself to the ketchup essence.  I think my head cold is playing games with me so I'm going to revert to PA until everything clears up.


----------



## asmartbull

English Chocolate in a Cob.................pretty good stuff


----------



## User Name

freestoke said:


> And now a pipe with a bit more _gravitas_ -- the FourDot pot! Can't fool around with my first taste of FVF, now can I? ipe:
> 
> Wow! :shock: This stuff is really good, isn't it!?


No Jim! come back to the light....come on buddy!!!

....we lost him.


----------



## freestoke

User Name said:


> No Jim! come back to the light....come on buddy!!!
> 
> ....we lost him.


:shock: oh. I thought it was still morning! Are you sure that FVF isn't illegal? :hippie:


----------



## User Name

freestoke said:


> :shock: oh. I thought it was still morning! Are you sure that FVF isn't illegal? :hippie:


It isn't illegal, but I'd do illegal things to obtain it. :brick:


----------



## freestoke

User Name said:


> It isn't illegal, but I'd do illegal things to obtain it. :brick:


Don't know what I was thinking. Of course it's legal, otherwise you'd be able to buy it anywhere. 

Starting with the regular PA/4Dot after yesterday's heady sampling of TJ's killer shipment of FVF, Grousemoor, Dark Birdseye, Best Brown Flake, Red Rapparee and Old Gowrie. Probably the first time since 1961 that I smoked all new stuff all day. ipe: Amazing! Great tobaccos every one! :tu


----------



## asmartbull

Stoney in a rustic Savi.......Just awesome.....


----------



## fwhittle

Sterling Bargain Blend in my 303 Peterson with a cup of coffee. This has been my go to pipe for a couple of weeks


----------



## User Name

Suffering from tongue-bite due to a bowl of wet erinmore flake. Boooo! The bowl of butternut burley I had after that only seemed to make things worse.


----------



## freestoke

User Name said:


> Suffering from tongue-bite due to a bowl of wet erinmore flake. Boooo! The bowl of butternut burley I had after that only seemed to make things worse.


Sheesh, Jaimi. Bummer. (I don't see any sympathy/sad emoticons, so it appears the forum doesn't allow that. Stiff upper lip, Laddybuck.)

I'm heading for the Grousemoor this morning. It's raining and I feel like grousing.


----------



## freestoke

On to some Old Gowrie in the TwoDot apple. Really good smoke! :tu

Feeling a bit better, now that my wee kitty, Heidi, who weighs a whopping 6 pounds at age 4, down from 9 pounds, may be showing signs of starting to pull out of another bout of her urinary tract infection. sigh. Poor thing just can't seem to beat it down once and for all. She's such a sweetheart, but she's been sick off and on since last January. Pitiful. Taking her in again this afternoon after starting her medication again yesterday. Couldn't take her yesterday because I didn't have the time, but I was able to talk them out of some more medicine without them seeing her. (The vets pump cash out of you just like real doctors. :frown


----------



## DahlKen

Well been away for about a month closing out the summer, but am now back. So starting this fine crisp morning out with a nice taste of Kajun Kake in a Falcon with some crude-like coffee on the side.


----------



## Nachman

Cold this morning and getting colder. I started with Royal Yacht and then popped open an 11 month old tin of London Mixture.


----------



## freestoke

Hitting the hard stuff this morning, IF. Gotta get crackin' to be at the art center at 10 to man an information booth at the Dinosaurs Rock exhibit -- have to build up a nicotine cache to see me through the rest of the morning.


----------



## User Name

freestoke said:


> Gotta get crackin' to be at the art center at 10 to man an information booth at the Dinosaurs Rock exhibit


Is this some kind of old guy joke?


----------



## Xodar

Still technically morning, but my first day back so still working the giant pile off my desk. FVF in the diplomat helps a little.


----------



## asmartbull

Bal Headed Teacher in a cob..........Hell it feels like Winter this morning...


----------



## freestoke

User Name said:


> Is this some kind of old guy joke?


:biglaugh:

Dinosaur and Mineral School Assemblies, Dinosaur Parties, Dinosaur SuperStore - Dinosaur and Mineral School Assemblies, Dinosaur Parties, Dinosaur SuperStore

Really far out fossil collection! Tyrannosaurus Rex, fossilized dinosaur poop, maston and _et hoc genus omne_! Geodes, amber insects, trilobites -- really great! I was a volunteer ticket taker. Super show, with some seeded fossil digs, gemstone fishing (real rubies, diamonds,sapphires -- very neat), and for 5 bucks you can by a geode and bust it open and keep it.

Fun!

Smokin' a little UF to relax after a hard 3 hours at the "office". :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Heading for the Red Rapparee! TJ's bomb still exploding!


----------



## Nick S.

Bob's Chocolate Flake... I love this stuff...


----------



## bullofspadez

Cubed up some Stonehaven for the first pipe.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning all, after a weekend that seemed to last forever I'm actually happy to be back at work...

This morning it was a bowl of Grey Havens in my Bertram. I think I'm coming to terms with the ketchup essence (yes, I know it's not really ketchup) and found the bowl quite enjoyable.


----------



## asmartbull

Stoney in a Stanwell.........

Dried some over night...This is just heaven....There better be a release of this
soon.....it's a tough act to follow.....


----------



## fwhittle

2004 Christmas Cheer in a clay, and coffee


----------



## User Name

Morning everyone. I had a fantastic weekend with my new fiancee. I got to try some Scotch Flake Aromatic sent to be by the only and only Freestoke. Wish I could pipe right now...


----------



## indigosmoke

It's a St. Bruno morning for me. Hope you all have a great start to the week.


----------



## piperdown

Enjoyed a full bowl of Eileen's Dream in my cob. Picked up a tin the other day just to try it out. Not a bad smoke.
Normally I would have smoked 1/2 and left the other 1/2 for the ride home but....I forgot my laptop and had to go back home to get it.


----------



## freestoke

Still morning somewhere and definitely still mourning here. One of our cats has terminal kidney disease and will be riding out her last days here at home. Extremely sad, since she was so small when we got her as a kitten and was a tiny full grown cat. She's had it tough. Such a sweet little cat. I'll be crying a bit more than normal for this one.

Smoking a little Erinmore flake in the 4Dot. A beautiful day and she's enjoyed some time in the yard in the sun.


----------



## quo155

Morning/Afternoon...PTL we had a nice thunderstorm here last night! We needed it...so far today, no pipe...but looking forward to one this evening!


----------



## User Name

I'm sorry to hear about your cat, Jim.


----------



## freestoke

User Name said:


> I'm sorry to hear about your cat, Jim.


Thanks, Jimmy. Cats and their weak kidneys, not much you can do. This one's tough because she's only 4. But ever onward, I guess.

Smoking a little PA in the 4Dot with some coffee. Really dreary, rainy day here.


----------



## Stonedog

Yes, sorry to hear about it Jim.

Dreary here in Norcross, GA too. I finished a 1/2 bowl of LNF that was DGT'ed overnight in a ziploc bag in my Jeep's console. As usual it survived the night and may have even been better for the experience...


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> As usual it survived the night and may have even been better for the experience...


Ofttimes the last 1/2 of the bowl is the best, especially with flake. Not sure it matters whether or not it's the next day when you smoke it.

Slow going today with the pipes, only on my second bowl! Musketballing a little BBF in the Bari Dana. Nice little pipe that seems to get neglected for some reason, and possibly exactly the same age as my Mayfair. I'm thinking I bought them in the same pipe store the same day.


----------



## asmartbull

This morning I will be digging into my bad of scraps
( LBF, LTF, LNF, Anny Kake)...it is a delightful blend
which is a fine all-day blend


----------



## freestoke

Some coffee and the PA/4Dot routine. Gonna be a beautiful day!! :tu


----------



## Stonedog

I dipped my toe back into the Latakia/Oriental pool this morning. I enjoyed a concoction I mixed up several weeks ago. It is Britt's Balkan and Stanwell Vanilla (5:1) to bring out the vanilla that's supposed to be in BB. I then mixed that about 4 to 1 with PA to smooth it out a bit.

My stock of VAs and VaPers is getting a little light so I thought I'd try to work back into English/Balkan blends so that I can start to enjoy the Penzance and SL I have stored away.


----------



## freestoke

Decided I needed something deluxe, so I decided on some LGF. Cranked up a musketball in the Sasieni Canadian and it's just dandy!! :tu


----------



## freestoke

Hold onto your hats. It's PA in the Szabo! ipe: Got this pipe in an estate lot, cleaned it up and it smokes great. It's only problem is that it takes one of those big balsa filters like my Savinelli Anni 120, so it's a bit harder to clean after a smoke. (Don't use the filters very often.) A half bent and the best clencher I own. Should smoke it more.

A bleak forecast into the weekend. We've had a lot of sun (for around here) and rain this summer, so I assume that means lots of sugar in the leaves -- should be a dynamite leaf year! :tu


----------



## Stonedog

This morning I finished off a bag of LNF scraps in a MM Ozark Mountain. I always forget how well these cheap little pipes smoke...


----------



## quo155

Morning!

This morning, I enjoyed me a nice bowl of McClelland's Black Shag (221b Series) from 2006. I think I am starting to really like some "non-aromatic" smokes! I loved this...very complex...

Have a good day all!


----------



## freestoke

Using this Szabo twice in a row. An amazingly good pipe for what it is. I'm sure it was VERY inexpensive when it was new, a Hungarian pipe. Pretty ordinary half-bent apple with a rusticated finish, not a big pipe at all. The bowl remains cooler than most of my other pipes and the drill is perfect. This time the little guy is packin' Scotch Flake Aromatic and doing fine! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Well, it's still morning in California, damn it. Gotta report that the Szabo is working its butt off, now with a musketball of Louisiana Flake. Needed something "perky". :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Okay, wake up out there! We got a nice day coming for the Mohawk Valley. Maybe a little rain, but nice and warm. Probably some golf in store. Still puffing on this first Frank filled Szabo of PA with my second cup of coffee. ipe:


----------



## User Name

2nd day I've worked all week. F you economy.


----------



## Stonedog

Storm Front in my little Ozark. Now I'm trying to force myself off of smokingpipes.com... They listed a pipe that has my name written all over it. Is there an smilie for "drool"?


----------



## quo155

Morning y'all! 

Again, I enjoyed me a nice bowl of McClelland's Black Shag (221b Series) from 2006 in a cob. Yum!

Today seems to be a good day so far...my wife & I, along with some friends get to attend the Texas Rangers game tonight...we will be right behind home plate so look for me on TV!


----------



## Wildone

Morning,

Off today so I sit back on a lovely First day of Fall Morning,
and pack a full bowl of Edgeworth Slice.
Very soothing and enjoyable.
What a great Morning.


----------



## freestoke

Wildone said:


> ...and pack a full bowl of Edgeworth Slice.


Edgeworth Sliced!? :shock: HTF one-upsmanship _nulli secundis_! :lol:

I'll grub around down here with a pauper's bowl of Sugar Barrel. sigh. Still, not all bad! :lol:


----------



## freestoke

I've seen summers colder than this around here! Another 80 degree day on tap and another day of perfect golf weather -- no wind! It was almost hot out there yesterday. Stepping up the morning action with some PA Choice and coffee. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

I'm on to some Tilbury in the Szabo. Nice stuff, Tilbury. Finally got around to transferring my bag of that and a bag of ASTB into jars. Perfect day out there.


----------



## DanR

It's cooled off here in San Antonio to a brisk 98 degrees today. I'm sitting out back enjoying some LGF.


----------



## fwhittle

Some Carter Hall to start the day, maybe And so to Bed after the kids are in bed, been waiting tio try that for too long.


----------



## Hambone1

PA in my Boswell sitter


----------



## quo155

Morning fellows...afternoon here now and I have yet to enjoy a pipe since Thursday. I love how I miss the pipe so much when I go so many days without one...today, I will enjoy something!

I just wanted to say "Hey!" to my BOTL...


----------



## Wildone

Thought I would endulge again.

View attachment 57363


Broke into the Edgeworth sliced


----------



## freestoke

Wildone said:


> Thought I would endulge again.
> 
> Broke into the Edgeworth sliced


Nice thing about that stuff is that when the can is empty, you can sell it on e e b a y and buy yourself a new pipe!

That's a CAN of tobacco, too -- call it a tin and we'll ship you back to England! That there's American tobacco you're smokin', son. It's really starting to bother me. All these CANS (goddamnit) of red, white and blue, through and through, AMERICAN tobacco from yesteryear are being marketed as collector's TINS!!  It's driving me crazy. We fought a war to get rid of Limey influence on this side of the Atlantic. We even changed the spelling of words to make SURE we were different! And here we are, everywhere you look, calling American CANS of tobacco tins. It's TREASON, I tell you! Villainy most foul! :fencing:

So I'm smoking some PA in the Savinelli. From a plastic CAN, dammit. I think I'm even rebelling against "tub". Sounds suspiciously British. :spy:


----------



## Nick S.

freestoke said:


> Nice thing about that stuff is that when the can is empty, you can sell it on e e b a y and buy yourself a new pipe!
> 
> That's a CAN of tobacco, too -- call it a tin and we'll ship you back to England! That there's American tobacco you're smokin', son. It's really starting to bother me. All these CANS (goddamnit) of red, white and blue, through and through, AMERICAN tobacco from yesteryear are being marketed as collector's TINS!!  It's driving me crazy. We fought a war to get rid of Limey influence on this side of the Atlantic. We even changed the spelling of words to make SURE we were different! And here we are, everywhere you look, calling American CANS of tobacco tins. It's TREASON, I tell you! Villainy most foul! :fencing:
> 
> So I'm smoking some PA in the Savinelli. From a plastic CAN, dammit. I think I'm even rebelling against "tub". Sounds suspiciously British. :spy:


You aren't bitter are you? :lol:

I feel sorry for the person that slips up around you...:crutch:


----------



## quo155

freestoke said:


> That's a CAN of tobacco, too -- call it a tin and we'll ship you back to England! That there's American tobacco you're smokin', son. It's really starting to bother me. All these CANS (goddamnit) of red, white and blue, through and through, AMERICAN tobacco from yesteryear are being marketed as collector's TINS!!  It's driving me crazy. We fought a war to get rid of Limey influence on this side of the Atlantic. We even changed the spelling of words to make SURE we were different! And here we are, everywhere you look, calling American CANS of tobacco tins. It's TREASON, I tell you! Villainy most foul! :fencing::


Jim, I love it...what you said! :usa2:


----------



## The Mad Professor

freestoke said:


> I think I'm even rebelling against "tub". Sounds suspiciously British. :spy:


:rofl:

*Tub*: Middle English tubbe, from Middle Dutch; akin to Middle Low German tubbe
First Known Use: 12th century


----------



## Wildone

:tea::beerchug::beerchug::cb
Well said



freestoke said:


> Nice thing about that stuff is that when the can is empty, you can sell it on e e b a y and buy yourself a new pipe!
> 
> That's a CAN of tobacco, too -- call it a tin and we'll ship you back to England! That there's American tobacco you're smokin', son. It's really starting to bother me. All these CANS (goddamnit) of red, white and blue, through and through, AMERICAN tobacco from yesteryear are being marketed as collector's TINS!!  It's driving me crazy. We fought a war to get rid of Limey influence on this side of the Atlantic. We even changed the spelling of words to make SURE we were different! And here we are, everywhere you look, calling American CANS of tobacco tins. It's TREASON, I tell you! Villainy most foul! :fencing:
> 
> So I'm smoking some PA in the Savinelli. From a plastic CAN, dammit. I think I'm even rebelling against "tub". Sounds suspiciously British. :spy:


----------



## Nick S.

A bowl of Presbyterian in my Millville on thie dreary day


----------



## Stonedog

Looks like I missed a little American chest thumping yesterday...

Ironically I enjoyed a glorious bowl of Squadron Leader this morning. 

That's all right, I'll be giving a history lesson this weekend about April 19, 1775 at an Appleseed event so I get my patriot points back (with interest).


----------



## freestoke

A little German tobacco this morning. Started with some PA in the Szabo ealier, but I cleaned the Mayfair yesterday and it asked for something spiffy, so Reiner LGF it is. I can never say no to the Mayfair. 8) (Actually, I'm an Anglophile _nulli secundis_. I think I like England better than the British do. :lol


----------



## Nick S.

freestoke said:


> A little German tobacco this morning. Started with some PA in the Szabo ealier, but I cleaned the Mayfair yesterday and it asked for something spiffy, so Reiner LGF it is. I can never say no to the Mayfair. 8) (Actually, I'm an Anglophile _nulli secundis_. *I think I like England better than the British do.* :lol


:ask: That's a drastic turn around from yesterday... Did the PA come in a tin?:tease:


----------



## freestoke

Nick S. said:


> :ask: That's a drastic turn around from yesterday... Did the PA come in a tin?:tease:


I'm a Gemini. :hippie: Doesn't mean I don't think American should be the national language, though -- like, ya know, instead of stinking ENGLISH!!


----------



## Nick S.

freestoke said:


> I'm a Gemini. :hippie: Doesn't mean I don't think American should be the national language, though -- like, ya know, instead of stinking ENGLISH!!


Yeah, except English isn't even the national language... but we probably shouldn't get into that... too political...


----------



## freestoke

On a side note, I'm dedicating my Mayfair to Reiner LGF. What a good smoke that was! :tu I've never dedicated a pipe before, other than generally avoiding Latakias and aromatics for some of my pipes. _Semper excelsior_!


----------



## The Mad Professor

Good morning gentleman (or afternoon to most of you)! :yo:
I'm feeling brave today. Having my first bowl of GH&Co Brown "Happy" Bogie... it is not as bad as some people make it to be. No head rush here (until the end of my small bowl), but it's my first smoke of the day so that's helping I'm sure. Used a cigar cutter and rubbed slightly. Having a little issues keeping lit and moisture, but I think I tamped a little too tight at one point though. Will know better next time. 

The flavor isn't bad, straight forward tobacco as some have said. I did prefer the Kendal Kentucky for a more daily smoke. I certainly enjoyed the preparation of this cut, and I certainly appreciate the strength first thing in the morning, so I see the possibility for a weekend ritual or something... :noidea:

Plus its fun to keep on hand for crass jokes.


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> Good morning gentleman (or afternoon to most of you)! :yo:
> I'm feeling brave today. Having my first bowl of GH&Co Brown "Happy" Bogie...
> 
> Plus its fun to keep on hand for crass jokes.


:biglaugh:

Hey, it's always morning somewhere! :tu

Just finished mine! How weird. And on to some Irish Flake! I'm testing my theory that cigars don't have the Vitamin N of stiff pipe tobacco. Why is that? I'm definitely verifying it, though! :jaw:
Smoked a Camacho on the course yesterday and it supposedly is a strong cigar, but these back to back bowls of nicotine are WAY less tobacco than that cigar but still making me feel it. I've smoked quite a few cigars on the course lately, courtesy of ProbateGeek, and haven't noticed all that much of a nic hit. Maybe it's the retrohaling and French inhales? I was retrohaling the cigars some, though. :dunno: If you check the average nic levels of pipe smokers, it's higher than cigar smokers, too, so there's some scientific evidence for my premise.


----------



## The Mad Professor

freestoke said:


> Hey, it's always morning somewhere! ...
> I'm testing my theory that cigars don't have the Vitamin N of stiff pipe tobacco. Why is that? ...
> Smoked a Camacho on the course yesterday and it supposedly is a strong cigar, but these back to back bowls of nicotine are WAY less tobacco than that cigar but still making me feel it. I've smoked quite a few cigars on the course lately, courtesy of ProbateGeek, and haven't noticed all that much of a nic hit. ...


Back from class so now it's 5 o'clock somewhere. :beerchug:

I never thought about it, but cigars rarely give me a strong nic hit. Many pipe blends don't either, but some can knock me out! I have only had one cigar that strong - a Camacho Triple Maduro. Damn was is good, but glad I smoked it sitting. The continuous hour of smoking so I didn't ruin my $20 cigar wasn't helping either. At least I can put the pipe down if the room spins!

But it is funny how a small bowl of the good stuff can hit way harder than a whole cigar. I guess it _is_ more potent. :noidea:


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> But it is funny how a small bowl of the good stuff can hit way harder than a whole cigar. I guess it _is_ more potent. :noidea:


I guess it's the variety as much as the processing. Maybe the Maduro strain just doesn't have all that much umbladee. Most OTC tobaccos are pretty flimsy, too, the only exception I am aware of being Five Brothers (not an OTC expert). You could smoke a whole pouch of PA with barely a nic hit, I think -- which is what I'm smoking now as a matter of fact! In the Szabo with some especially good coffee this morning. ipe:

PS: Maybe to get that full cigar taste you need nitrogen rich soil too, which supposedly makes for low nicotine levels. But then, how do you explain Happy Bogie or 1792, very cigar like tobaccos?


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I guess it's the variety as much as the processing. Maybe the Maduro strain just doesn't have all that much umbladee. Most OTC tobaccos are pretty flimsy, too, the only exception I am aware of being Five Brothers (not an OTC expert). You could smoke a whole pouch of PA with barely a nic hit, I think -- which is what I'm smoking now as a matter of fact! In the Szabo with some especially good coffee this morning. ipe:
> 
> PS: Maybe to get that full cigar taste you need nitrogen rich soil too, which supposedly makes for low nicotine levels. But then, how do you explain Happy Bogie or 1792, very cigar like tobaccos?


Maduro is actually not a strain but a preparation. Much like cavendish. So it really depends on what they make it out of. Camacho 3Ms are brazilian mata fina. They're full flavored but I've never really gotten a big nicotine hit off them.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Maduro is actually not a strain but a preparation. Much like cavendish. So it really depends on what they make it out of. Camacho 3Ms are brazilian mata fina. They're full flavored but I've never really gotten a big nicotine hit off them.


Ha! Didn't know that! I only smoked the one Camacho that ProbateGeek sent me, but it did have SOME nicotine hit, more than other cigars I've smoked. The only cigar I ever smoked that queezed me up a bit was one at a golf scramble that had wine tasting from local NY wineries and a bunch of different cigars from some place in Syracuse. It was large and almost black but I have no idea what it was.

All this nicotine talk has me reaching for the IF! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

After laying a foundation with some PA, I'm giving this Lagonda my first "review smoke", using the irreproachable Sasieni FourDot pot that I cleaned a couple of days ago, specifically for this purpose. Deluxe! Definitely won't be panning this stuff! ipe: For some reason, I have this imaginary, cheesy, '50s-style advertising line playing in my head: More GL Pease, please.


----------



## Stonedog

Sadly no pipe was smoked by StoneDog this morning.

However, this weekend will be spent outdoors camping at a two day event. I foresee many bowls of LNF, SL and SH (well, one or two of SH) and a few cigars from my recently acquired samples. Weather will be in the low 70's, partly cloudy and I'll be surrounded by like-minded men and women doing one of my favorite activities - target shooting! :biggrin1: Really looking forward to this weekend, just have to get through a day at the office first.


----------



## Max_Power

Stonedog said:


> Sadly no pipe was smoked by StoneDog this morning.
> 
> However, this weekend will be spent outdoors camping at a two day event. I foresee many bowls of LNF, SL and SH (well, one or two of SH) and a few cigars from my recently acquired samples. Weather will be in the low 70's, partly cloudy and I'll be surrounded by like-minded men and women doing one of my favorite activities - target shooting! :biggrin1: Really looking forward to this weekend, just have to get through a day at the office first.


Sounds like an awesome weekend! I did much the same a few weekends ago and it was great.

I hope you find some cigars from those samples that are agreeable.


----------



## Lord Voldemort

Good morning krusty krew


----------



## freestoke

Lord Voldemort said:


> Good morning krusty krew


What have you done with Dale, LV?

Just finishing this Lagonda -- long smoke in the FourDot! One of my largest, but I'm glad I went with it. This Lagonda is the nines. Don't think any of my other pipes would have done it as much justice.


----------



## Lord Voldemort

Wish I could smoke a pipe right now. It's Friday, work sux, and all I want to do is go home and have a pipe.

Too bad I don't many tobacco choices. Just captain black. Wish I had like 100 different stuff like you guys.


----------



## Max_Power

I just took a nice little smoke break from work. MacBaren Burley London in a McCarter hawkbill. Smoked 1/2 the bowl, leaving it to come back to later in the afternoon.


----------



## Stonedog

Max_Power said:


> Sounds like an awesome weekend! I did much the same a few weekends ago and it was great.
> 
> I hope you find some cigars from those samples that are agreeable.


I'm sure I will and I'll be starting in order... :biggrin1: To make matters worse I picked up a couple of Oliva G torpedoes at the local shop at lunch based on reviews I've read elsewhere. I've got the bug I'm afraid...


----------



## InsidiousTact

Good morning, everybody! I made myself the strongest coffee I could in my French press, and had part of a bowl of C&D Good Morning in my baraccini 1/4 (I think) bent. It's from a tin that I waited over a year to open, it was actually from like my second order and I just never got around to opening it. Boy, is it good!


----------



## Max_Power

Stonedog said:


> I'm sure I will and I'll be starting in order... :biggrin1: To make matters worse I picked up a couple of Oliva G torpedoes at the local shop at lunch based on reviews I've read elsewhere. I've got the bug I'm afraid...


Those Gs are pretty tasty. I'm sure you'll dig those as well.


----------



## freestoke

I'm breaking my Mayfair Reiner LGF dedication -- it seemed so perfect for an escudo of Escudo. One coin is just right! Yummy!


----------



## freestoke

Sir Walter Raleigh! The PA jar went empty yesterday, so I'm gonna finish this SWR that's been on my desk for forever. Doesn't stay lit as easily as PA, but it ain't bad. ipe: Maybe a smidge more Vitamin N than PA? (Not that either has much...)


----------



## bullofspadez

Since there is SOOO much craziness going on... Broke out the Sav Achilles Favorite and packed it full of some 90's era Balkan Sobranie 759. Just sitting back watching all the NEW stock of stuff sell out faster than free gold bars.


----------



## gahdzila

This morning, I had Prince Albert in a MM Country Gentleman cob with my morning coffee. The FOGs know what they're talking about. There's a reason this timeless combination has been around since the beginning.


----------



## freestoke

bullofspadez said:


> Since there is SOOO much craziness going on... Broke out the Sav Achilles Favorite and packed it full of some 90's era Balkan Sobranie 759. Just sitting back watching all the NEW stock of stuff sell out faster than free gold bars.


Just noticed that the tins of the new release of the BS Smoking Mixture has "Original Smoking Mixture" on the front. Why? Why wouldn't they just do the "original" art work with the current bigger black border to distinguish it from the "original"? I'm reminded of the troubling signage they put on Applebee's restaurants, that it's a "neighborhood bar". As opposed to what, a non-neighborhood bar, like it's somewhere else in reality? Like it makes it less of a chain somehow? If it's the "Original Mixture" why doesn't it say "Smoking Mixture", you know, like the "original" did? It makes it *NON ORIGINAL*! :anim_soapbox:

This SWR is apparently not sitting well with me. :???: I need some soothing Paper Plate Potpourri -- lots of PA and flake scraps in there. :tu


----------



## freestoke

Well, that SWR yesterday was annoying. Would NOT stay lit. :frown: It tasted okay, but what a botheration. Casting around for something to start the day, my eyes were glazing over. Then it hit me -- my PA jar is empty!! Refilled that sucker, loaded up the Savinelli 120 Anni, and here we are! ipe: I've hear some say they like like SWR better than PA, but I don't know why.


----------



## Nick S.

freestoke said:


> Well, that SWR yesterday was annoying. Would NOT stay lit. :frown: It tasted okay, but what a botheration. Casting around for something to start the day, my eyes were glazing over. Then it hit me -- my PA jar is empty!! Refilled that sucker, loaded up the Savinelli 120 Anni, and here we are! ipe: I've hear some say they like like SWR better than PA, but I don't know why.


Ok, I'm drawing a blank on this one, SWR?


----------



## gahdzila

Nick S. said:


> Ok, I'm drawing a blank on this one, SWR?


That would be Sir Walter Raleigh :mrgreen:


----------



## Wildone

Medium bowl of King Charles...


----------



## Nick S.

gahdzila said:


> That would be Sir Walter Raleigh :mrgreen:


OH, DUH! thanks...


----------



## karatekyle

Jim, I like SWR non-aro with some MacBaren's vanilla flake rubbed super-finely and mixed in. Try it sometime, it really makes for quite a smoke. Reminds me of praline or butter almond ice cream or something.

Not sure what I'll have first today. Maybe some uni flake.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Jim, I like SWR non-aro with some MacBaren's vanilla flake rubbed super-finely and mixed in. Try it sometime, it really makes for quite a smoke. Reminds me of praline or butter almond ice cream or something.


This is just the plain SWR. I dumped a little in the Serial Aromatics Pouch and some 1Q. Smokes a little better that way. Just ran out of Vanilla Creme Flake, but I liked putting that in other things in small amounts too. Doesn't take much, does it!? ipe:

On to some Old Gowrie on this fine fall day. :tu


----------



## kozzman555

Good Morning All! Just smoked a bowl of Maclelland's Blackwood Flake courtesy of jtree26's newbie sampler trade. I'm having a blast trying all these different blends


----------



## freestoke

The Szabo's finally going, having a late start this morning. PA with some coffee. Probably gonna hit the Lagonda in a while for the monthly review. Might finally get in some golf today! It was like an English winter last week.


----------



## Stonedog

Max_Power said:


> Sounds like an awesome weekend! I did much the same a few weekends ago and it was great.
> 
> I hope you find some cigars from those samples that are agreeable.


Morning All!

Well, it was an awesome weekend but I only managed one bowl of SL and one Puros Huerfanos (nice stick, btw). The state coordinator for the organization was at the shoot and while he is rabidly pro-liberty :usa: he is ironically very anti-smoking. :shocked:


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Morning All!
> ... while he is rabidly pro-liberty :usa: he is ironically very anti-smoking. :shocked:


Non sequitur. I think you'd find, digging a little deeper, he's rabidly pro-liberty only for people who agree with him. :lol: Can't imagine getting grief for smoking outside! :shock: What were you doing, messing up the aroma of the campfire and gun smoke?! :biglaugh:

On to the Lagonda! :tu


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Non sequitur. I think you'd find, digging a little deeper, he's rabidly pro-liberty only for people who agree with him. :lol: Can't imagine getting grief for smoking outside! :shock: What were you doing, messing up the aroma of the campfire and gun smoke?! :biglaugh:
> 
> On to the Lagonda! :tu


Good point regarding those who don't agree with him... On the plus side one of the other instructors (I was there as an instructor) is a RYO guy that uses pipe tobacco. I gave him a sample of Storm Front (burley/PA + cigar leaf) and a few flakes of LNF. Not sure either would be good in a RYO cigarette but it was fun spreading a little puff love.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> I gave him a sample of Storm Front (burley/PA + cigar leaf) and a few flakes of LNF. Not sure either would be good in a RYO cigarette but it was fun spreading the puff-love a little...


That Storm Front sounds like a great smoke! PA plus! How can you go wrong!? :lol: Four stars at tobakrevs, with only one dissenting opinion! Not sure what LNF would do in a cigarette, but it should rub out and roll pretty well, what with the thin threads. Not sure it's inhalable, though. :dunno:

This Lagonda is some pretty fine stuff! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

That cob of Lagonda went down well, so I thought I'd perk up some perique -- Louisiana flake. Love my LF. ipe:

Just checking "Best Bang for Your Buck Colleges"...I attended 20% of them! I am one fine college shopper, eh? :lol:


----------



## Xodar

Have been away from the thrtead a while but glad the routine is settling down. Soothing Tilbury in the danish egg and coffee the perfect color /nod. Tuesdays beat Mondays, albeit narrowly...


----------



## Hambone1

SG Kendal Cream Deluxe Flake in my Boswell Churchwarden on the way to work this morning. First time trying this tobacco, very nice! BTW, driving while smoking a churchwarden is a challenge!


----------



## freestoke

Hambone1 said:


> BTW, driving while smoking a churchwarden is a challenge!


 "I was turning the corner and my pipe got lodged between the steering wheel and the brake pedal, officer. There was nothing I could do! It was an ugly building anyway, so can we skip the ticket?"

After my Lagonda review, on to something more substantial -- University Flake in the 4Dot. Just tightened the stem fit this morning, first time I've smoked it in days. This UF is a little more down my alley! ipe:


----------



## Lord Voldemort

Morning everyone. I was going to smoke some christmas Cheer this morning on the way to work but I woke up late-ish. It'll just have to wait til I get home.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All, this morning I enjoyed another bowl of Squadron Leader. It is odd though, half way through the bowl the latakia disappeared and was replaced by what I can best describe as virginia and tar?? Maybe StoneDog needs to clean his pipe.


----------



## Nick S.

It isn't morning, but it is gonna be my first smoke... so Granger in a cob is up first with some Dark Twist on deck.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Still is morning here by 3 min, and I'm halfway through my first bowl of the day, Royal Yacht. Kentucky Kendal on deck, maybe outta the calabash.


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen.

Finally a day off work to relax! Morning coffee and some PA. For some reason, I grabbed my Dr Grabow Omega this morning. meh. I'm not sure what it is about the combo, but PA just doesn't feel right in this pipe. I'll go for the cob next time.

Up next is some Carter Hall. I've read a few postings of guys preferring CH to PA, so I figured it was worth a shot. Later on, I'll be puffing some more Lagonda and getting my review up.


----------



## Xodar

Wednesday, the coffee is dark and strong and the tobacco is somewhat lighter but equally strong. Bayou morning in the MM Washington, watching the rain from my desk. Just something about huddling inside with a pipe while it rains resonates with me.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Wednesday, the coffee is dark and strong and the tobacco is somewhat lighter but equally strong. Bayou morning in the MM Washington, watching the rain from my desk. Just something about huddling inside with a pipe while it rains resonates with me.


Just curious...I assume that's the bulk -- I have the flake version. You say "strong" and so do I! For some reason, tobakrevs lists it as "medium", but some reviewers rate it "very strong" and "overwhelming". They don't seem like wimpy reviewers, either. It's as strong as IF, if you ask me. How about you? Hmmm....it seems like the flake version is the one with all the extremely strong ratings, still winding up mysteriously as medium.

Anyhow, I'm on to some University Flake in the Country Gentleman after an opening salvo of PA.


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Just curious...I assume that's the bulk -- I have the flake version. You say "strong" and so do I! For some reason, tobakrevs lists it as "medium", but some reviewers rate it "very strong" and "overwhelming". They don't seem like wimpy reviewers, either. It's as strong as IF, if you ask me. How about you? Hmmm....it seems like the flake version is the one with all the extremely strong ratings, still winding up mysteriously as medium.
> 
> Anyhow, I'm on to some University Flake in the Country Gentleman after an opening salvo of PA.


Aye Jim, it is the bulk loose version. And the vitamin N content is right on par with IF. As far as taste goes though I find it smoother than a lot of other high nic blends. Straight IF can literally give me heartburn, whereas BM just makes me twinge a little at the beginnings of nicotine overdose if I smoke it on an empty stomach.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

Back to basics this morning with a MM Country Gentleman filled from a freshly opened pouch of Prince Albert. Life is good...


----------



## gahdzila

Good choice, Jon.

After smoking nothing but pipes for the last few days (and most of that GLP Lagonda to prep for the review), I found myself really craving a cigar this morning. Today it's a Flor de Oliva Toro.


----------



## freestoke

PA here too, in the 4Dot with its newly-tightened stem. So, does the coffee sometimes turn out better or do our taste buds work better sometimes? Maybe it's only the cold morning and the first frost, but the coffee tastes super! ipes:


----------



## asmartbull

Anni Kake in a Peterson.....
35 degrees, feels like Winter


----------



## Nachman

Had Royal Yacht in a Nording this morning. The sun is coming up later so I am sitting out in the dark for the first pipe of the day now.


----------



## Xodar

Aye, pausing an hour into the workday to watch the sun rise makes me feel like it's winter. Mixture Flake in the diplomat and espresso bean french press so strong it makes me shudder after every sip. Almost Friday...


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Aye, pausing an hour into the workday to watch the sun rise makes me feel like it's winter. Mixture Flake in the diplomat and espresso bean french press so strong it makes me shudder after every sip. Almost Friday...


Shiver me timbers, Laddybuck, there was frost on the punkin this mornin'! Had me some MF a while back, but it's long since set sail into the Finished listing -- very nice stuff seldom seen 'round these parts.

Thought I'd dig into this here FVF -- yum! ipe:

And an aside about "punkin", because the braindead spellchecker never heard of it. "Punkin" is the English word for that there big squash, while "pumpkin" is Dutch. I'm guessing we discarded punkin in favor of pumpkin to stick it to the Brits (along with changing spellings and such), back during the Revolution, but I'm too lazy to look it up. Just curious, do the British use "pumpkin" or do they stick with the old English word "punkin"?


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> ...
> 
> And an aside about "punkin", because the braindead spellchecker never heard of it. "Punkin" is the English word for that there big squash, while "pumpkin" is Dutch. *I'm guessing we discarded punkin in favor of pumpkin to stick it to the Brits (along with changing spellings and such), back during the Revolution*...


HUZZAH!!!


----------



## Xodar

It is Friday, and even the beginning of the 8 month rainy season here can't be too bad on Friday. MacB Mixture flake in the bent medico waiting to see the sun come up.


----------



## freestoke

What a fantastic weather package for the Columbus Day weekend! Amazing for these climes. The leaves are just starting to crank into high color. (This is THE place for leaf color, BTW. As good as Vermont, believe me. Possibly the best anywhere.)

Starting with the old PA/4Dot action, but I'll be movin' on up shortly.


----------



## Fuzzy

As I sit here on the first day the temps have been below 80, waiting to see if a leaf will turn or even fall, Ijust broke the seal on a jar of six year old Revelation.

If it gets any cooler, I will have to break out the long sleeve tees and the fur lined flip flops!


----------



## keen smoke

Having a great morning. Really enjoying a bowlful of MacBaren VA #1 that Nick S sent me. A sweet, tasty VA tobacco. Lovely.


----------



## bullofspadez

Started the day off with my first bowl of Bald Headed Teacher, in a freshly cleaned estate George Yale. It was a good match. That Yale had a ton of tar in the bottom of the chamber and inside the shank. Also did away with the stinger, I think this will be a great little smoker...


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen!

A lazy Sunday morning today. I poured up a couple of bowls of Froot Loops for the kids, and turned the TV to a Spongebob Squarepants marathon....that should keep 'em occupied for long enough for me to enjoy a pipe ;-)

My MM General was showing signs of impending burnout, so I trashed it. Of course, this set off a round of PAD. Lost one cob, ordered 3 cobs and a briar LOL. The briar isn't anything special, just a Dr Grabow Big Pipe. I've decided PA really does smoke better in a cob....alas, I've got this brand new pipe just dying to be smoked, and I'm in the mood for some PA today. So that's that. PA in the Big Pipe.

Big Pipe is the perfect name for this thing. It has quite a large bowl (though not nearly as large as the MM General, which was too large to sit down with on a regular basis), and also thick walls, a fat shank, and a heavy feel. Everything about it is big. Too heavy for me to clench comfortably, but I'm not a big clencher anyway. It's got a couple of obvious fills, but that's to be expected. The finish is smooth, and a very dark almost black stain. I'm liking it so far.

So.....bowls of cereal in front of the TV, kids are zombified. Awesome. Cup of coffee in one hand, paper matches and tamper in the other hand, and a Big Pipe stuffed with PA hanging from my jaw, I head out to the garage to my smoking chair. Two puffs into a great smoke, and my eldest comes out to fetch me: "Daddy? Sister spilled Froot Loops all over the carpet.". DRAT!!!


----------



## freestoke

Got some coffee, filled the 4Dot with PA, was set to start waking up and...had the renosa-d trojan. Couldn't do anything at all. Fortunately, Avast was able to locate it, delete it and the reboot seems to be okay. Paranoia strikes deep. It's supposed to do more damage, but I haven't detected it yet. Better back up the photos today! :shock:

Beautiful day today! They have the member-member today at the course we play, but one of the jerks there put the fixeroo on us. Because Audrey is such a good player, they decided that "women" (of which there is precisely one in the tournament, Audrey), have to play the white tees with the men. We'd have still won, but then they added the kicker: supposedly a "scramble", where the better shot is always taken after both players hit from wherever the chosen ball lies, they decided to force everybody to have to use two of their own tee shots each side, effectively giving us a 4 shot penalty against the field. Nice. We aren't playing in it. I love it when the rules are fixed so that the best players in the field can't win. Makes a lot of sense to have inferior golfers be the champions. Actually, we could probably win anyhow, but it's the principle of the thing.


----------



## freestoke

Okay, I'll overlook everybody's crushing indifference to my golf plight of yesterday. :lol: Got some Paper Plate Potpourri going for my first smoke, with some freshly opened coffee. Right now, the PPP consists of LF, SFA, Lagonda, Nightcap, 5100 and a few other things, with about 1/3 PA. Pretty decent! ipe:


----------



## quo155

Morning Pipe brothers. No pipe for me for a few weeks now...currently sick (smoking anything has been out of question) and a lot of weight on my shoulders...however I wanted to pop in and say, "Morning!"

Hopefully, I can snap out of everything and be back at it soon...

Have a good day y'all!


----------



## asmartbull

Some Chelsea Morning in a Stanwell.
I really love this stuff.....


----------



## Xodar

Ahh Monday, the rain is here, and in a mere five or six hours I'll be glad I got out of nbed this morning. Mixture flake in the diplomat, coffee, and quiet...


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Ahh Monday, the rain is here, and in a mere five or six hours I'll be glad I got out of nbed this morning. Mixture flake in the diplomat, coffee, and quiet...


So, exposure therapy doesn't seem to be working for your Mondayphobia? I requested an extra Monday for you for the next few months, so that when you return to normal workdays it won't seem so bad. (This prescription isn't covered under your current insurance plan, so it will be an additional $1500 a month.)

Smoking a little BBF to help me get a handle on how to proceed with John's neurosis.


----------



## freestoke

Continuing last night's run on Ennerdale this morning. Just two bowls left, so I'm finishing it up this morning with some coffee. ipe: Got it firing in the Szabo. Great! (People who just don't like Ennerdale, as opposed to those who are actually allergic to it, are like people who don't like spicy, piquant food because it's "too hot!"-- pitiable. :lol: )


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Continuing last night's run on Ennerdale this morning. Just two bowls left, so I'm finishing it up this morning with some coffee. ipe: Got it firing in the Szabo. Great! (People who just don't like Ennerdale, as opposed to those who are actually allergic to it, are like people who don't like spicy, piquant food because it's "too hot!"-- pitiable. :lol: )


Pitiable? Not enjoying dog grooming perfume in their tobacco is pitiable? If that is wrong then I Sir do not want to be right!!! 

I did not partake this morning, sadly, although the pouch of PA was calling to me.


----------



## karatekyle

Stonedog said:


> Pitiable? Not enjoying dog grooming perfume in their tobacco is pitiable? If that is wrong then I Sir do not want to be right!!!
> 
> I did not partake this morning, sadly, although the pouch of PA was calling to me.


Gosh I really need to try some Lakeland leaf. Dog pgrooming perfume? Stuff sounds interesting to say the least.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Pitiable? Not enjoying dog grooming perfume in their tobacco is pitiable? If that is wrong then I Sir do not want to be right!!!
> 
> I did not partake this morning, sadly, although the pouch of PA was calling to me.


Well, as long as you like PA I guess I can overlook your other failings. :lol: On to my second bowl of dog grooming products! Yummy! ipe: I prefer to musketball it, but it was a little dry for that so it's a rub out. If loving Ennerdale is wrong, I don't want to be right! :biglaugh:


----------



## Stonedog

An early start today bolstered by a Country Gentleman filled with PA. 

As I continue to enjoy PA I find myself wondering what CH, SWR and even Half and Half are like...


----------



## freestoke

Got my 4Dot with PA too, Jon. :tu I can't help you on the H&H, but CH is a slightly coarser cut and SWR rougher still, sort of a cube cut. PA-CH-SWR is pretty much the order of smoke time, too, with SWR burning the slowest. I think the SWR has a bit more PG last the other two, but some say the opposite -- I think it's the same order again, PA-CH-SWR. As for taste, they all taste like tobacco! :tu


----------



## Max_Power

Nothing yet today, but I'm taking out some Anni Kake right now to dry a bit and smoke later today, maybe at lunch break. Been on a bit of a VaPer kick recently.


----------



## gahdzila

Breaking in a new MM Great Dane Egg cob with some PA. It's a beautiful morning here! The air is cool and crisp (relatively speaking....I'm in swamp country, remember), the sun is warm, the birds are singing, and the coffee is hot and strong.


----------



## asmartbull

Penzance in a Stanwell.....


----------



## Xodar

asmartbull said:


> Penzance in a Stanwell.....


 That statement is elegance in simplicity. :biggrin1:

Little early for me to have any P though, I am enjoying this MacB mixture flake, it's a lot like navy with a little less topping. Have some of that in the egg, coffee, and saw a picture of the sun on the forecast today.


----------



## freestoke

Thinking I was going to finish up the Veermaster, I opened the jar to find -- Mac Baren Navy Flake! Guess I'll just have to suffer, huh? :lol: Stuffed a musketball into the Sasieni Canadian and should be good until lunch. Probably going to sprinkle on us a little at the course today, but I've seen years when golf was DONE this time of year! Some years back, it snowed 2 feet on Halloween and that was the end of bare ground until May. :frown: Gotta get out there while we can!


----------



## freestoke

Didn't actually suffer with that MB Navy Flake, but can't say it does much for me. I'm not a MacBaren fan, apparently. :dunno: Figured I'd better fire up some Dunhill Flake to restore my equanimity! ipe:


----------



## Stonedog

Squadron Leader in the Country Gentleman and I enjoyed every minute of it.

On an unrelated note, has anyone been able to track down Dale?


----------



## karatekyle

Stonedog said:


> Squadron Leader in the Country Gentleman and I enjoyed every minute of it.
> 
> On an unrelated note, has anyone been able to track down Dale?


Still MIA as far as I know ray: ray:


----------



## freestoke

What puzzles me is that those who appear to have given him something substantial to hold him over (judging from his last few posts) haven't tracked Dale down. One would think that negotiable instruments other than cash were involved (if was indeed money), requiring his name, but it seems nobody actually knows his last name. :dunno: There was a store he went to for PA -- what was the name of it? Anybody recall? I'd ring them up and ask if they knew anything if I could remember it...

Filling in for Dale this morning -- a bowl of PA in the Legend. ipe:


----------



## Hambone1

SG Kendal Cream in a Boswell Nose Warmer.... um good


----------



## asmartbull

Trying some Bob's Chocolate.......Not sure I am a fan.....

For chocolate, I may stick to English Chocolate.........






or
Swiss chocolate..


----------



## Xodar

A beautiful Thursday, Bayou morning in the bent medico, coffee is slightly above average, and swiftly approaching the best part of the week


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

I tried Penzance for the first time this morning (in my trusty Country Gentleman cob). I have to say, it didn't really live up to the hype. SL seems to have more flavor, both the Latakia and the VAs. Maybe this was just an "off" morning for me...


----------



## Xodar

It's friday, the birds are singing, the sky is brightening in east, and I have Dunhill flake in the diplomat. I am drinking coffee out of a paper cup, but that's the first mug I left on top of the car this month, so I am beating my average.


----------



## freestoke

After the standard PA/4Dot, moving on to -- what? I was looking at my cobs in the basket, responding to that cob thread we were on, comparing the size of the Dip with the CG and the CG was full of a fresh bowl of something. This is like a blind taste test. No telling how long it's been in there...ipe:...hmmmm...okay. It's my 5100+5105+perique mix! Pretty decent! ipe:


----------



## DanR

asmartbull said:


> Trying some Bob's Chocolate.......Not sure I am a fan.....
> 
> For chocolate, I may stick to English Chocolate.........


Interesting, I'm just the opposite. I have both, and I like the Bob's Chocolate so much better. I think it's the kiss of Latakia that I like...


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Interesting, I'm just the opposite. I have both, and I like the Bob's Chocolate so much better. I think it's the kiss of Latakia that I like...


Just ordered 250g of Bob's Chocolate. Hope I like it! Smokin' a little FVF in the Mayfair Prince right now, with beer. I think I can choke them both down, just give me a little time. ipe:

Hmmm...I guess it's morning somewhere, huh?


----------



## freestoke

Went to bed without finishing this bowl of Dunhill Flake last night, so it's a rare DGT to start the day, in the Bari Dana. Coffee tastes good this morning. No golf -- 53, rain with raging wind. If I'd been on the Ryder Cup last year, I would have asked to sit out.

It went out! So I've reloaded it with the last bowl in the tin of Dunhill Flake and we'll try it again...same pipe! We'll call it an injury time out. ipe:


----------



## bullofspadez

Cut a couple flakes of Jackknife Plug. Probably needed another flake-ish to fill the bowl. So far its running good, a few more than usual relights. But getting better as I tamp it down, I do enjoy watching this stuff "grow" as it lights, like its coming to life in the bowl.


----------



## freestoke

bullofspadez said:


> Cut a couple flakes of Jackknife Plug. Probably needed another flake-ish to fill the bowl. So far its running good, a few more than usual relights. But getting better as I tamp it down, I do enjoy watching this stuff "grow" as it lights, like its coming to life in the bowl.


I need some encouraging words on JP. I ordered 5 cans of it in anticipation of the November reviews! :lol:

On to the Paper Plate Potpourri! Tastes really good today in the Sasieni Canadian. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

And on to some PA Choice in the Country Gentleman! ipe:


----------



## bullofspadez

freestoke said:


> I need some encouraging words on JP. I ordered 5 cans of it in anticipation of the November reviews! :lol:


http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/284082-g-l-pease-jackknife-plug.html

I will say today was only a good day with it. Wasn't getting the level of sweetness I would like to get. Maybe it was a bad pipe choice, but I wanted a bigger bowl for running around on errands. It was still performing nice with what I get as tobacco flavor; toasty, nutty, caramelized grassy flavor. It was a bit rougher on the retro-hale at times. I still like it a lot, and glad I grabbed an 8oz can to store, well store until I need another chunk. I can't wait to see what it's like next year or the year after.


----------



## freestoke

Thanks for the link. :tu Starting today with some FVF. Was going to smoke it last night, but I was fading fast and afraid I wouldn't make it through, so I switched to a quick cob full of PA. This morning it's the Mayfair with last night's fill. Coffee's really nice and the the first sun in a few days is shining out there!


----------



## freestoke

Standard Monday with a 4Dot of PA. Got some sun this morning, so the leaves look great! Big winds the last few days have taken a toll, but still a lot left. Another high wind day, but hopefully leaf-peeper season will last a bit longer.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

This weekend my sample of 1776 Tavern showed up (incurring the wrath of Mrs StoneDog until I assured her it was a FREE sample. :behindsofa. So this morning I tried it in my trusty Country Gentleman. I have to say there is a lot going on in this "Tavern" from 1776. It is very good but I think it is a blend to savor and contemplate in quiet vs a blend to absently puff on during a long commute. I'm glad I have the sample and I have a feeling I'll be ordering a batch in the near future.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Morning All,
> 
> This weekend my sample of 1776 Tavern showed up (incurring the wrath of Mrs StoneDog until I assured her it was a FREE sample. :behindsofa.


:rofl:

1776 seems to be dominating the news these days. Must be a revolution in the works. :hippie: PA is dominating the morning, an Old School reload of the 4Dot with PA. ipe: Too much "good stuff" yesterday, apparently.


----------



## freestoke

Okay, enough of that. On to some nicotine! Nightcap in the Legend! ipe:


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

Enjoyed some H&H Virginia Spice in the Bertram this morning. My sample of this is almost gone and my stock in general is down to about 10 blends (especially after a little package I just put together). I think I'm finally settling on three or four "must have" tobaccos plus a small assortment of others to keep around for the times when I want something different.


----------



## freestoke

An unexpected golf opportunity today! The weather forecast was bleak a few days ago, but 61 with sun and not too much wind today. Gonna be really long out there after all this rain. :faint: Got the PA/4Dot going as usual. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

As I shifted over to some FVF, the UPS truck pulled up and delivered my JackKnife Plug and Ennerdale. Bought tins of Ennerdale this time, because they were actually cheaper than the bulk! Would you believe you can smell the Ennerdale through the can!! :shock: Now that's some potent Lakeland. :lol: (I understand they're negotiating with Nevada to start warehousing their Ennerdale at Yucca Mountain.)


----------



## freestoke

Wake up and smell the Nightcap, West Coast people! ipe: This stuff makes me feel like I should be working on a term paper. :lol: Or at least laying a solid nicotine base for the fraternity party. :beerchug:


----------



## freestoke

Really shaking things up this morning -- PA in the Szabo. ipe: No golf today. The accursed wind is threatening to finish off what would have been a truly glorious leaf peeper season. High winds most of the last week has left the trees a bit skimpy.

Here's a few shots from the course the other day. That's my TrulyFair I'm playing with. She's the 4 time Low Gross Women's Club Champion at Rome CC, btw. (I only won it once. ) This Mohawk Glenn GC, at the airbase. Very flat. You could land a plane on it! :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

Looks like you had a great day out on the course!

This morning was dismal commute thanks to heavy wind and rain not to mention a poor experience with StoneDog's Balkan Select Reserve (still working on the name). Maybe I should shorten it to Balkan Select (aka B.S.) because that's what it tasted like.

BUT, I did manage to get in back-to-back bowls of PA last night. I don't care what anyone says about cobs not ghosting, my Country Gentleman cob is definitely haunted by latakia from SL and 1776 Tavern.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> I don't care what anyone says about cobs not ghosting, my Country Gentleman cob is definitely haunted by latakia from SL and 1776 Tavern.


It was a great day out there! The trees would have been prettier with a little sun, though.

I don't know about that either. I guess they keep you from ghosting your briars. :lol: I mean, why *wouldn't* it get in the cake (they do cake, too!) and the stem? I think it's a myth. Maybe it's "light" ghosting, because it doesn't soak in past that coating in the bowl.

On to some FVF! ipe:


----------



## DanR

Wow, great pictures. It sure looks beautiful up there Jim. Except, I see that you are wearing sweaters already. Must've been chilly...


----------



## dj1340

Nice pictures Jim, love this time of year for golf if the weather plays nice.
Enjoyed a nice bowl of McClelland's Legend on the way to work. Dried this stuff to no
end but still very hard to get it to stay lit, takes 4 to 5 relights. Very tasty though.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Wow, great pictures. It sure looks beautiful up there Jim. Except, I see that you are wearing sweaters already. Must've been chilly...


Already!? :biglaugh: We wear sweaters around here in July sometimes. :help: The standard joke is that are two seasons: Winter and July 4th.

This is Southern Great White North. A few years back, it snowed 2 or 3 feet on Halloween and we never saw the ground again until May. :shock:

Actually, wasn't bad at all out there, low 60s. Golf could end any day now, but sometimes we can keep going out once and a while into December. Up here, we're pulling for a *Green* Xmas!


----------



## quo155

*Morning fellows!*

i just wanted to drop in and tell you all that I hope you have a good day today! The weather is beginning to change around here in East Texas...looking forward to our trees to begin changing colors...and more time out for a great smoke!


----------



## karatekyle

Looks beautiful out there Jim. Wish we still had leaves. South Dakota's two seasons are winter and road contruction. We just finished road construction, all our leaves are long gone, the trees went barren about 2 weeks ago. Looking forward to going out and lighting up a bowl of something from Dan today!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Looks beautiful out there Jim. Wish we still had leaves. *South Dakota's two seasons are winter and road contruction*.


:rofl:

Hell, I didn't know SDak even had trees! :shock:

On to some Escudo! ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> :rofl:
> 
> Hell, I didn't know SDak even had trees! :shock:
> 
> On to some Escudo! ipe:


They're usually buried in the snow somewhere. We don't see them until summer when our high of 65*F melts down the snow to a measly 4.5 feet :lol:


----------



## Firedawg

Good morning all! Warming up with a nice cup of Doughnut Shop blend Coffee in my new K Cup maker (best money I spent since picking up the pipe!) Have a bowl that was packed last night of Peter Stokkebye LTF in my 01 Peterson Aran. Might have to go with some Lancer slices a wonderful botl sent me a while back as I walk the mutt.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning all. This morning I left my pipe at home but, on a whim, picked up some Backwoods "cigars" at the Chevron. I can now say I've tried a Backwoods "cigar" and I will leave it at that.

Firedawg, have you tried SL and if so how do the Lancer's Slices compare?


----------



## freestoke

DGTing a bowl of Scotch Flake Aromatic from last night that I was too tired to finish...nope, changed my mind. I dumped it after a couple puffs. Ashy.

Paper Plate Potpourri! As the commercials aimed at beautiful women say, "I'm *worth it!*" ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> DGTing a bowl of Scotch Flake Aromatic from last night that I was too tired to finish...nope, changed my mind. I dumped it after a couple puffs. Ashy.
> 
> Paper Plate Potpourri! As the commercials aimed at beautiful women say, "I'm *worth it!*" ipe:


You're the prettiest of them all, Jim :lol:

Not smoking yet. But I've got a lab report to write, might have to break into some irish oak.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> You're the prettiest of them all, Jim :lol:


And *I'm worth it*! :lol:

Man, this big bowl of Scotch Flake Aromatic is taking FOREVER to finish! Loaded up the Savinelli Anni 120 with it 2 hours ago and it's still going! :shock: Not all bad though! ipe: Oops. It just went out!


----------



## Firedawg

Stonedog said:


> Morning all. This morning I left my pipe at home but, on a whim, picked up some Backwoods "cigars" at the Chevron. I can now say I've tried a Backwoods "cigar" and I will leave it at that.
> 
> Firedawg, have you tried SL and if so how do the Lancer's Slices compare?


Now I am not a big fan of latakia however the Lancer slices just works for me and actually is stronger than SL. I would suggest it is worth try and can be found at Jon's Online Pipeshop Store Front I am not sure they have it in stock at the moment. I have maybe 1 oz left myself but if you cannot find it I will send you mine.


----------



## Stubby

First time I have ever fired up a pipe on the way to my teaching gig. Was a little on the stressed out side this morning so I smoked a full bowl of Sam Gawith Skiff Mixture on the way here. That stuff really makes some billowing clouds of smoke. My car looked like a class IV EPA disaster zone. 

Feel a little more relaxed but I've got so much going on right now that I'm driving myself crazy.

40 Hours a week teaching
20 hours a week working at a cigar shop
3 hour night class on Wednesdays
and to top it all off I'm in the middle of planning a wedding!


----------



## Stonedog

Morning all,

A bowl full of Squadron Leader this morning and memories of yesterday's tobacco _experience_ are swept away.

Squadron Leader is really growing on me. I'm second guessing my decision to trade off so much of it over the last few months. It is interesting (and frustrating!) how tastes and preferences can change...



Firedawg said:


> Now I am not a big fan of latakia however the Lancer slices just works for me and actually is stronger than SL. I would suggest it is worth try and can be found at Jon's Online Pipeshop Store Front I am not sure they have it in stock at the moment. I have maybe 1 oz left myself but if you cannot find it I will send you mine.


Appreciate the offer Todd but I'll hold off until my next order. I'm thinking I'll place a big LNF & SL order in the next couple of weeks (assuming I can find SL). I might throw in a tin of LGF or Wessex Brigade Campaign too. And maybe a MM General for the heck of it... Crap, TAD relapse, hopefully my CBid cigars will be delivered today and I'll forget about pipe tobacco for a few days.


----------



## freestoke

Stubby said:


> 40 Hours a week teaching
> 20 hours a week working at a cigar shop
> 3 hour night class on Wednesdays
> and to top it all off I'm in the middle of planning a wedding!


Ouch! (I'm not sure I'm counting the cigar shop, though. :lol: )

Casting about for some nicotine to bolster that first pipe of PA earlier, I saw the Bayou Morning Flake! Got the right name for a morning smoke for sure. I done been wondering where dat got itself to. :dunno: Gonna done brought myself some Vitamin N to da Sasieni Canadian. ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

Its finally friday. After back to back Chemistry, Philosophy and Ecology lectures and the completion of a lab report, I'm headed home to see my mom and dad and also my grandma and grandpa on dad's side. Looking forward to showing off my pipes to the man that got me so interested!


----------



## freestoke

Just opened my new TAD medications that arrived yesterday, which included Chocolate Flake. Had to have a flake (nice big flakes!) to see what it was before cellaring it all -- way too much stuff open right now. Excellent! ipe:


----------



## Stubby

freestoke said:


> Ouch! (I'm not sure I'm counting the cigar shop, though. :lol: )
> 
> Casting about for some nicotine to bolster that first pipe of PA earlier, I saw the Bayou Morning Flake! Got the right name for a morning smoke for sure. I done been wondering where dat got itself to. :dunno: Gonna done brought myself some Vitamin N to da Sasieni Canadian. ipe:


Yah the Cigar Shop really doesn't count, but it takes away my whole weekend which kind of sucks in a way, but I really do need the money.


----------



## freestoke

Man, this paper plate must be creating tobacco somehow. I keep smoking from the pile and it never gets any smaller! :dunno: Tastes pretty good, though. I guess I shouldn't complain, huh? 4Dot's getting the action this morning.


----------



## The Mad Professor

freestoke said:


> Man, this paper plate must be creating tobacco somehow. I keep smoking from the pile and it never gets any smaller! :dunno: Tastes pretty good, though. I guess I shouldn't complain, huh? 4Dot's getting the action this morning.


Similarly, at the end of my scrap ziplock... it didn't seem to multiply like yours. You must buy looser blends. 
Got the last of a little Happy Bogie with end of some Kendal Kentucy, with a touch of my B&M's Black-cav/cherry/perique thrown in for room note. Who needs coffee?


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> Similarly, at the end of my scrap ziplock... it didn't seem to multiply like yours. You must buy looser blends.


I'm a careless filler. I drop a lot, even filling the 4Dot with PA -- like just now. ipe: I smoke more flake than anything else, though. When I musketball, sometimes it's a skosh too tight, so I pull a little out of the middle and it goes on the plate, since I've usually already closed the jar. I also lose a little rolling the musketball as a rule. If there's an insufficient amount left in a jar to make a bowl, it gets dumped on the plate, so it builds up fast.


----------



## karatekyle

Thinking I might go out for some Irish Oak. I need a little jump, I'm dragging this morning.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Well thanks to CWL (http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-tobacco-bombs/300636-thank-you-cwl.html) I don't know what the heck I'm going to start my day with. Ended the night with some Anni Kake and Penzance, so it's on to the other stuff today... I kinda want to light up that FVF and SH, but I think I should build my way up to it. Probably start with the Solani Aged Burley Flake, than maybe some of that GH&co Coniston Cut Plug? Then later to 1792 and SJF?

Oooo, it's so nice to have these choices! :dance:


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> Oooo, it's so nice to have these choices! :dance:


:shock: Wow! Carpet bombing with high yield ordnance at its finest, Giuseppe! :lol:

I'm DGTing some Glengarry Flake from last night. Rather good, actually! ipe:


----------



## DanR

Bobs Chocolate Flake with my coffee this morning. For my tastes, these two just seem to go together perfectly!

Marlin Flake drying on the paper plate for later!


----------



## freestoke

I just filled an MM Diplomat from the paper plate potpourri, looked back and I swear there was more there than when I started. :ask: My only complaint is that it's filling it back up with Paper Plate Potpourri instead of FVF or Stonehaven. Oh well...ipe:


----------



## Firedawg

Goodmorning all! Sitting here at the keyboard sipping on a great cup of coffee and enjoying the roomnote of annicake in a 2007 x220 St Patricks day Peterson pipe. Doubt I will even finish this bowl this morning its so deep.


----------



## Stonedog

This morning's selection was LNF in my Bjarne Viking Classic. Some frustrating traffic prompted the decision to take the "scenic" route which extends the commute by 15 minutes. Oh well, more time to enjoy Stokkebye's excellent VaPer.


----------



## freestoke

Giving the 4Dot a bit of excitement this morning with some 5100+5105+perique. There are worse VaPers -- actually, I like it a lot! Not a lot of firepower, but tasty and mildly snorky. ipe:

Might be it for the golf this year. Never know when a warm front might creep in from the south, but the last truly playable day of 2011 could be upon us. I'm not one of those guys who plays in the snow, having learned my golf down south where you can play all year round. I've never been much for golf once it hits the low 50s. But we're playing today! (Come on, everybody, sing along! 'I'm dreaming of a *green* Xmas.") :drinking:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Giving the 4Dot a bit of excitement this morning with some 5100+5105+perique. There are worse VaPers -- actually, I like it a lot! Not a lot of firepower, but tasty and mildly snorky. ipe:
> 
> Might be it for the golf this year. Never know when a warm front might creep in from the south, but the last truly playable day of 2011 could be upon us. I'm not one of those guys who plays in the snow, having learned my golf down south where you can play all year round. I've never been much for golf once it hits the low 50s. But we're playing today! (Come on, everybody, sing along! 'I'm dreaming of a *green* Xmas.") :drinking:


I'm singing with you, Jim! I want a green Halloween at least!

Grabbing some 1:1 SWR and vanilla flake as I head out the door. Just a touch of nicotine to get the brain pumping.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I'm singing with you, Jim! I want a green Halloween at least!


Looking halfway decent for Halloween -- but that could change at any point, depending on what horrific stuff might roll in from SD. Got me some Lagonda in the Diplomat going. Right nice! ipe:


----------



## DanR

You guys could come on down to San Antonio for the holidays. I was wearing shorts napping in the hammock after Thanksgiving dinner last year. About 80 degrees and sunny today, and since we finally got some rain the greens have perked up nicely!

I'm having some Half and Half after lunch today, but I'm regretting my decision. It is getting better as the bowl progresses, but I wish I had picked something a little more lively tasting.


----------



## Stonedog

This morning it was a bowl full of Angler's Dream in my favorite cob.


----------



## karatekyle

Am I up before old man Jim today? :lol:

Looking outside at the frost. Gunna be a cold one, folks. Wish me luck!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Am I up before old man Jim today? :lol:


Probably. Doesn' take much! I am not a "morning person". :lol: No frost, but they're calling for snow Thursday. sigh. It'll melt -- this time. Got some *fresh *PA going! Opened a new jar yesterday or the day before. The jar I finished was getting a little stale I think, because this tastes better. :tu

Looks like yesterday might have been it for the golf, but it worked out perfect! We went out early, at 1:30 instead of our usual 2:30. A few sprinkles the first couple of holes, but no wind at all and actually had a couple of peeks at the sun the rest of the way in (9 holes). The wind picked up a fraction on the last hole, had started to blow in earnest while I was putting the clubs in the car and 10 minutes later it was howling with a driving rain! At our normal tee time, we'd have been as far away from the clubhouse as we could get when it hit and we would have been :frown:.


----------



## Xodar

First time we see frost on the ground here this year. Coffee is hot and a recent TAD fit yielded results yesterday, my supplies of Tilbury and MacB NF have been thoroughly replenished and starting to burn the corn off a new diplomat. I am cautiously optimistic for a Tuesday.


----------



## karatekyle

Xodar said:


> First time we see frost on the ground here this year. Coffee is hot and a recent TAD fit yielded results yesterday, my supplies of Tilbury and MacB NF have been thoroughly replenished and starting to burn the corn off a new diplomat. I am cautiously optimistic for a Tuesday.


What are your opinions of navy flake?


----------



## Xodar

karatekyle said:


> What are your opinions of navy flake?


I smoke quite a bit of three different navy flakes, but all 3 are different.

MacB NF is a VaBurCav, smokes cool and smooth, adequate nic hit, topping is slightly rummy but very light. Folds and stuffs well, I hardly ever rub it out. 90% of the time this is my first bowl of the day. It was really F&%^ing with my routine to run out, but I was reluctant to pop a tin with the 1-lb. brick in transit.

PS Lux NF is a VaPer, although on the light side of the perique end of things. Definitely VA dominant, little grassy, just a hint of pepper. Flakes are uniform but a little thick, I tend to rub this out unless I am on the go. This is a regular "keep the table jar full" blend.

Sam Gawith NF is completely different than the other two. It's a latakia flake to start with, with strong dark VA's. The run smell is way more pronounced, and akin to captain morgan's oddly. Spicey and delicious the whole bowl through. Fairly strong, I smoke this in the evenings, and not as much as I might if it were easier to get. Rewards both crispy dried fold and stuff and a rub out.

Hmmm, now I may have to rub all 3 out together for some "Fleet Flake"


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Hmmm, now I may have to rub all 3 out together for some "Fleet Flake"


At least a Flake Convoy. :lol:

I'm on to the Reiner LGF in the Mayfair. One of my favorites! ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

Xodar said:


> I smoke quite a bit of three different navy flakes, but all 3 are different.
> 
> MacB NF is a VaBurCav, smokes cool and smooth, adequate nic hit, topping is slightly rummy but very light. Folds and stuffs well, I hardly ever rub it out. 90% of the time this is my first bowl of the day. It was really F&%^ing with my routine to run out, but I was reluctant to pop a tin with the 1-lb. brick in transit.
> 
> PS Lux NF is a VaPer, although on the light side of the perique end of things. Definitely VA dominant, little grassy, just a hint of pepper. Flakes are uniform but a little thick, I tend to rub this out unless I am on the go. This is a regular "keep the table jar full" blend.
> 
> Sam Gawith NF is completely different than the other two. It's a latakia flake to start with, with strong dark VA's. The run smell is way more pronounced, and akin to captain morgan's oddly. Spicey and delicious the whole bowl through. Fairly strong, I smoke this in the evenings, and not as much as I might if it were easier to get. Rewards both crispy dried fold and stuff and a rub out.
> 
> Hmmm, now I may have to rub all 3 out together for some "Fleet Flake"


Ah okay, thanks! I've smoked through everything but the Gawith. MacB, I can't stand. Stokkebye is really good though.


----------



## DanR

Two Friends English Chocolate in my Peterson Bent Apple Christmas pipe. Another glorious day here in San Antonio - currently 82 with a gentle breeze. Im taking a break outside in the garden before heading back to work. This light chocolate tobacco is perfect for my relaxed mood...


----------



## karatekyle

DanR said:


> Two Friends English Chocolate in my Peterson Bent Apple Christmas pipe. Another glorious day here in San Antonio - currently 82 with a gentle breeze. Im taking a break outside in the garden before heading back to work. This light chocolate tobacco is perfect for my relaxed mood...


My girlfriend thinks your "Just Smoked: Yes, I just smoked" is hilarious.


----------



## DanR

karatekyle said:


> My girlfriend thinks your "Just Smoked: Yes, I just smoked" is hilarious.


Thanks. I tend to smoke something different every time, and got tired of trying to update it. :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Thanks. I tend to smoke something different every time, and got tired of trying to update it. :biggrin:


I'm "present tense" in general, ie, "Now smoking" instead of "Just smoked". I'm actually fairly diligent about it, for no good reason whatsoever. Going to my "Edit Details", I catch it on the first page load with a "page down", which takes me directly to the "Just smoked" entry. One character pulls up the list of previously entered tobaccos and two mouseclicks later I'm at the User Controls with the subscribed list, PMs, etc. So, it's two keystrokes and four (including the double click highlight) mouseclicks to get where I would be without entering it. Part of my "entertainment factor". I just wish there was a "Smoking History" to make it a little more interesting, one you could make public so that we could see the list of tobaccos we each smoked recently (assuming they opted for the publicly visible smoking history).

So -- I'll be puffing on some Reiner LGF as soon as I send this off! ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen.

Its pleasant this morning, around 60 degrees, and foggy. The squirrels are hopping from branch to branch in the trees across the street. 

Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. It's my day off from work, kids are in school, wife is gone to work, and it's early enough in the week that the chores aren't piling up yet.....so I'm home alone, and really can spend some time relaxing.

Last night, I tried my sample of Hearth and Home Angler's Dream. It's Russ's take on an OTC drug store blend. Personally, I wasn't really crazy about it. The cinnamon topping was too heavy and I really didn't taste anything but hot spicy cinnamon. This morning, I thought I'd try a little Angler's Dream mixed half and half with Carter Hall, and it's a much more pleasant experience. Still, I don't see Angler's Dream making it's way into my rotation.


----------



## Hambone1

Some Bald Headed Teacher in my Boswell Nose Warmer this morning.


----------



## Xodar

Brrrr, right at freezing here this morning. Espresso bean coffee and MacB NF in the new diplomat I spent yesterday smoking the corn sugar and glue off. Not bad for a wednesday.

...as far as updating the smoked, I change it periodically but just try to keep it on what is disappearing the fastest from the vast sea of jars, lol.


----------



## asmartbull

EMP in a Meer.....I almost forgot how much I enjoy this stuff


----------



## Stonedog

Morning all,

I skipped the pipe this morning in favor a smallish "Maker's Choice" cigar. Now I'm looking forward to a bowl full of 1776 Tavern tonight.


----------



## karatekyle

I'm dragging today. Walked off to class with my heavy winter parka on. El parka no tienes un pipe. All this coffee and no Louisiana Red to go with it 

Looking forward to getting my first shipment of toque snuff. I'll drop a couple 10g tins in each coat for when I forget to bring pipes!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I'm dragging today. Walked off to class with my heavy winter parka on. El parka no tienes un pipe. All this coffee and no Louisiana Red to go with it


Bummer. One of the things I hate about having all the "affordable" parkas made in climes where parkas are unknown is that one can no longer get a good one! Especially the stinking hoods! I had a GREAT parka when I was in the service and wore it for 10 years afterward before it was stolen in a bar. sigh. (I won it on the golf course from the base quartermaster, whose high opinion of his game never quite seemed to meet with reality. Wasn't part of "standard issue" for my assignment, but he put through the paperwork anyhow! :spy: I think the statute of limitations has run out after 44 years, though.) Wolf fur around the hood, a fanTASTIC hood liner -- possibly mink, leather pocket edging -- a real work of art. Was distressed when I went to Germany in the winter of '86 on business to see that our troops were wearing cheapo parkas. Pitiful and embarrassing, looking at the BEAUTIFUL German troops' winter gear. I have a pretty nice one now, but it's WAY too big for me. I have to roll up the sleeves and the hood requires a hat size of 9! All I could get, though, even after searching the net for five years or so.

All that for a lead in to Paper Plate Potpourri. :lol:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Bummer. One of the things I hate about having all the "affordable" parkas made in climes where parkas are unknown is that one can no longer get a good one! Especially the stinking hoods! I had a GREAT parka when I was in the service and wore it for 10 years afterward before it was stolen in a bar. sigh. (I won it on the golf course from the base quartermaster, whose high opinion of his game never quite seemed to meet with reality. Wasn't part of "standard issue" for my assignment, but he put through the paperwork anyhow! :spy: I think the statute of limitations has run out after 44 years, though.) Wolf fur around the hood, a fanTASTIC hood liner -- possibly mink, leather pocket edging -- a real work of art. Was distressed when I went to Germany in the winter of '86 on business to see that our troops were wearing cheapo parkas. Pitiful and embarrassing, looking at the BEAUTIFUL German troops' winter gear. I have a pretty nice one now, but it's WAY too big for me. I have to roll up the sleeves! All I could get, though, even after searching the net for five years or so.
> 
> All that for a lead in to Paper Plate Potpourri. :lol:


I've got a nice heavy one but high quality heavy coats are pretty easy to find in SoDak. High supply per the high demand!

The german military sure does place a lot of stock in the look of its gear. Had they been a little more worried about functionality, they might not have lost a quarter of their troops in the 40-below Russian winter of the early '40s!

I generally don't have the problem of needing to roll up sleeves. My long and proud Norwegian heritage has cursed me with long, gangly arms :lol:


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gents!

It's pleasant this morning, mid 60's. Clear and no fog, but it feels much more humid outside. Just checked weather.com and they say it's 92%. Hey, its Louisiana. That's the breaks.

I'm starting out with PA in a Dr Grabow Omega. Up next is GLP Lagonda.


----------



## freestoke

Pretty bleak here. Possibly a little snow today and tonight, but not enough to matter. Dark and dank and dreary. 

I smoked NO PA yesterday! :shock: Can't remember when that last happened. Remedying that with my regular PA/4Dot action right now. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Escudo was calling me. Got the Mayfair happily smokin' along with my third cup of coffee. ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

Abusing coffee until our pipe club meeting tonight. Not sure what I'll be smoking. Maybe a hunk of bullseye. That sounds pretty good right now, sitting in my pete killarney.


----------



## Xodar

Busy Thursday for me this morning. Started with MacB NF, but on to Tilbury in the washington now, and some night train on deck. Nicotine + caffeine = productivity (at least that's what I would tell OSHA)


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Nicotine + caffeine = productivity (at least that's what I would tell OSHA)


And an afternoon nap, of course!

I need a nicotine boost! Think I'll delve into a bit of Nightcap for a change of pace. ipe:


----------



## Stonedog

Early start this morning but I managed to grab the Viking and my jar of VA Spice. Enjoyed it so much I took the _extra_ scenic route...


----------



## gahdzila

An afternoon nap yesterday and a late cup of coffee made for a restless night. It's gonna be a long day. Starting my 3rd cup of coffee now.

PA and a few leftover scraps from the paper plate from yesterday in a MM Great Dane Egg.


----------



## freestoke

First freeze last night. Still only 30 out there and a heavy frost is on the grass. I've got a musketball of Glengarry Flake burning in the 4Dot this morning to go with the coffee. It occurred to me I that I haven't smoked a GH&Co. in a while. ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

Chemistry test today. Coffee and a pipe on the way to class.


----------



## Xodar

Beautiful Friday, LTF in the diplomat this morning and a full thermos, life can't be all bad.


----------



## freestoke

Going for the Nightcap again. How is it that I like Nightcap in the morning all of a sudden? :dunno: This is what I used to smoke when I pulled all-nighters in college. Seemed appropriate at the time. :lol:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Going for the Nightcap again. How is it that I like Nightcap in the morning all of a sudden? :dunno: This is what I used to smoke when I pulled all-nighters in college. Seemed appropriate at the time. :lol:


I'm an irish oak kind of guy. Plus a hint more perique from something else. That keeps me wide awake. Not the worlds biggest fan of nightcap, though.


----------



## Katharsis

Stonehaven in the new Altinok Meer. Sooo good. Stonehaven is becoming a morning smoke for me. I'm not sure why, but I find it to be a very _light_ dark VA. Fantastic stuff.


----------



## freestoke

Katharsis said:


> I'm not sure why, but I find it to be a very _light_ dark VA. Fantastic stuff.


Maybe it's the burley?

A reasonably nice day on tap. One of those schadenfreude days, with the storm tracking south and east of here. Normally, we get hammered with a couple of feet of wrap-around lake effect while the people in NYC beg for sympathy on the national news because it's raining. A little PA/4Dot and coffee.


----------



## asmartbull

Chelsea Morning in a Stanwell.

I love this stuff with my morning coffee !


----------



## jfserama

Had planned on smoking quite a few pipes during the snow we are supposed to receive today, but I got called into work. So it looks like it's going to be a pipe of Escudo on the drive in. Haven't tried it yet, but have heard great things about it. Im excited!


----------



## HWiebe

I got a sample of Escudo from Pugsley a while back and it was fantastic. I smoked it all rapid succession. One of my favs thus far.


----------



## freestoke

HWiebe said:


> I got a sample of Escudo from Pugsley a while back and it was fantastic. I smoked it all rapid succession. One of my favs thus far.


Most excellent stuff, to be sure. :tu

Trying out a little SWR half and half with BCA in a Pride. ipe: Quite nice. Honest, it isn't bad! :lol: I think it's better than either one individually.


----------



## freestoke

*STONEHAVEN*! My last flake. Really nice! ipe:


----------



## jfserama

HWiebe said:


> I got a sample of Escudo from Pugsley a while back and it was fantastic. I smoked it all rapid succession. One of my favs thus far.


Turns out I don't have to work, so I was able to enjoy a bowl of this fine tobacco. I must say, despite the cold weather and numbing fingers, it was a very enjoyable smoke. I might have to smoke another bowl later tonight as well&#8230; ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Watching *Godzilla, King of the Monsters*, while smoking some grade B flick fare --Paper Plate Potpouri+1Q. I've seen a few lists of "pipe smoking in the movies", but I don't recall seeing this one. Raymond Burr is the lead and smokes a pipe -- everywhere! Carries it in the handkerchief pocket of his suit jacket, stem down. :lol: REALLY good clencher! (Clenches left, throws right.) ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Perry Mason --er -- Steve Martin reports from Tokyo! "Tokyo is in flames." Godzilla is stomping trains, buildings and cars right and left! This is exciting! :shock: On my second bowl of PPP+1Q, with a glass of Old Milwaukee.! ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

LOL. There are better cheap beers out there, Jim! Try a Pabst Blue Ribbon next time!

Have you seen the original Japanese non-Americanized Godzilla? It's actually a really good film IMO, much better than the Raymond Burr version.


----------



## jsnake

Smoked some McClelland Holiday Spirit 2010 as I watched the end of the Missouri and Texas A&M game. I think my pipe smoking brought the win home for Missouri. Maybe I have a new tradition?


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> LOL. There are better cheap beers out there, Jim! Try a Pabst Blue Ribbon next time!
> 
> Have you seen the original Japanese non-Americanized Godzilla? It's actually a really good film IMO, much better than the Raymond Burr version.


I'm sure you're correct about the movie. You should know! :biglaugh: I might have seen the original before, but not this one, oddly enough.

They're probably both just Stroh's in a different can. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Did you know that Raymond Burr was in 90 movies before he became Perry Mason in 1957? :shock: His first movie was in 1940, but he didn't make another one until 1946, because he was in the navy. Just something I found out while watching the Godzilla flick yesterday. Smokin' some PA in the Szabo this morning. ipe:


----------



## Xodar

Sunday and wet and not doing anything nearly as cool as watching Gojira. Finishing up some work for tomorrow, and not for the first time laughing at the similarities between my cad submittals and the castle my nephew made with MS Paint... frankly his has more detail, but at least mine is to scale. Tilbury in the Diplomat and coffee light and sweet, I'll feel human here shortly.


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Sunday and wet and not doing anything nearly as cool as watching Gojira.


It's a tough act to follow, for sure. 11 stars all the way. The special effects were awesome.

Mixing some BF#1 and BCA about 50/50, to take care of this little bit of BCA I had left. It really isn't bad at all!

Which leads me to wonder why there isn't anything like this is in the OTC world, at least not anything I know of. (There are some stronger aromatics in the frufrutobak world, just not any OTCs.) The room note is pretty much the same as straight BCA, actually, so you can sneak it by the non pipe smokers. It has a legitimate nicotine hit and some tobacco taste too. Like I said, not bad. Middleton ought to put something out there -- *Heaviside*.


----------



## gahdzila

I admit it - I'm a total wimp when it comes to cold weather. I despise it. Being cold makes me absolutely miserable. I've already declared (since moving from Central Louisiana to Northern Louisiana) to my wife and anyone else who will listen that if I ever move again, the only direction I will be moving is SOUTH. 

It's 40 degrees this morning. COLD. Not to mention, it's Monday. Today's Monday isn't quite as dreary for me, as today is day 4 of my 5 day work week. Still, work always sucks on Mondays.

Bundled up in a ski jacket and a wool hat for coffee and a cob full of Carter Hall.


----------



## karatekyle

gahdzila said:


> It's 40 degrees this morning. COLD. Not to mention, it's Monday. Today's Monday isn't quite as dreary for me, as today is day 4 of my 5 day work week. Still, work always sucks on Mondays.


:lol:

I'll be enjoying a pipe on the way to breakfast this morning, outside where its 27 degrees with 91% RH. A BEAUTIFUL morning in Dakotaland!


----------



## Nachman

Due to the cold I smoked inside this morning. Anglers Dream in a Patriot cob. I thought it would be easier on my wife's olfactory nerves than my usual Royal Yacht. She squealed like a hog under a gate. I guess I might as well smoke what I like. The results are the same.


----------



## Xodar

Monday, Halloween, and freaking cold. Doing my best to absorb enough coffee and navy flake to make me want to head out in this.


----------



## asmartbull

EMP in a Meer......consistently awesome with my morning coffee


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> It's 40 degrees this morning. COLD. Not to mention, it's Monday. Today's Monday isn't quite as dreary for me, as today is day 4 of my 5 day work week. Still, work always sucks on Mondays.


All I can think about, with the heavy frost on the ground this morning, is how it'll feel like tee shirt weather next March when it finally hits 40 again! :lol: Right now, 40 is damn cold -- actually, it's only 37 right now, but it might actually be warm enough for golf the rest of the week!

Been looking at the green one for a couple of weeks now. Nobody's home, so I gotta do it. Filling the Country Gent with *ENNERDALE!
*


----------



## freestoke

That fresh Ennerdale was really good! Luckily, I was able to stuff in a mason jar before it permeated the house. The room note is somewhat less vile, fortunately. A little PA now to reset the taste buds. ipe:


----------



## Stonedog

I enjoyed a bowl full of 1776 Tavern this morning. While it has less latakia than Squadron Leader (I was hoping for more latakia the first time I tried it) I'm finding the flavors integrate into a unique and complex blend that stands out as one of the more enjoyable I've tried.


----------



## karatekyle

Its Hobo Day this friday so thus begins Hobo week (SoDak State's homecoming, for all practical purposes). Gotta break out the yellow and blue hobo cob. Not sure what I'll throw in it.


----------



## Katharsis

asmartbull said:


> Chelsea Morning in a Stanwell.
> 
> I love this stuff with my morning coffee !


Ditto. I have yet to find a blend that goes as well with coffee as CM does.


----------



## freestoke

After an opening PA/4Dot salvo, proceeding to my first taste of Frog Morton. Wow, is this stuff schmyoothe! :tu (Thanks, Sather!)


----------



## Xodar

Frost on the ground this morning, and the pumpkins frozen. Fighting the cold with MacB NF in the diplomat and coffee so strong I twitch every time I take a sip.


----------



## karatekyle

A mug of coffee and a pinch of toque espresso to start my day. Not impressed with this snuff. Not very espresso-y. I think I'll have a pinch of christmas pudding as my consolation prize then finish my microbiology report. _Pseudomonas fluorescens_, its been fun.

I'll be grabbing my hobo pipe later for a re-do. Tried to smoke it last night and didn't have a very favorable experience. I just don't think I'm a cob guy. Anyone else feel this way? I feel like if I would've gone with the budget PA+MM cob starter kit, I wouldn't be a piper today.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I'll be grabbing my hobo pipe later for a re-do. Tried to smoke it last night and didn't have a very favorable experience. I just don't think I'm a cob guy. Anyone else feel this way? I feel like if I would've gone with the budget PA+MM cob starter kit, I wouldn't be a piper today.


How many bowls have you smoked in it? Takes about 10 bowls before the turpentine boils off the stem. And don't keep smoking it down to the dottle, like a briar. At the first sign of turpentine, dump it. It'll gradually char down to the stem and you can burn all the tobacco, but don't rush it! And take the damn filter out of it. (Makes practically anything taste like newspaper if you ask me.)

More Ennerdale! Delicious. (And yes, Kyle, it's in a Country Gentleman. :lol I think I just drove one of the cats out of the room! :biglaugh:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> How many bowls have you smoked in it? Takes about 10 bowls before the turpentine boils off the stem. And don't keep smoking it down to the dottle, like a briar. At the first sign of turpentine, dump it. It'll gradually char down to the stem and you can burn all the tobacco, but don't rush it! And take the damn filter out of it. (Makes practically anything taste like newspaper if you ask me.)
> 
> More Ennerdale! Delicious. (And yes, Kyle, it's in a Country Gentleman. :lol I think I just drove one of the cats out of the room! :biglaugh:


What if you smoke the bowls all the way down? Would that char it quicker or cause problems? I don't really have the patience to dump 3/4 bowls of tobacco haha.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> What if you smoke the bowls all the way down? Would that char it quicker or cause problems? I don't really have the patience to dump 3/4 bowls of tobacco haha.


You might dump the first two or three pretty early, I'd guess a little more than halfway, but after five or so, you can burn most of it and leave just a little dottle without tasting much paint thinner. :lol: The turpentine boils off pretty fast. I wouldn't burn it all the way down right off the bat, because it's better to season that pine shank that sticks into the chamber first. Gradually, that will char up and the heel will fill in and eventually get pretty much like a briar at the bottom. Don't use a pipe tool to get stuff out, though, since everything is kinda fragile. Just push a pipe cleaner through to loosen whatever might be on that shank and knock out the loose stuff against your palm.

Anyhow, don't give up on the cob just yet! Lotsa cob smokers out there, me included.

Got me some Reiner LGF goin' in the Mayfair. ipe: I do NOT smoke Reiner LGF in a cob. I do have SOME standards! :lol:


----------



## The Mad Professor

@Kyle - I'm the opposite. way. I was first gifted a briar first, but had so many problems smoking it (packing, moisture, etc) I nearly quit. When I finally tried a cob with something other than CB, things clicked and I realized that pipe smoking wasn't so difficult and that I was better at it than I thought.

Actually I think yesterday might have been the first day since I started smoking cobs that I haven't smoked one. All briars yesterday, went with my costume.

Oh yeah, and I'm finishing my first bowl of 1792 (thanks CWL!!!) that I dozed off halfway through smoking last night... but I won't finish the half glass of whiskey sitting next to it. :lol:


----------



## Xodar

Having gotten a bit of experience at cob break in now, it's not too bad. I smoke one bowl of VA's on the hot side to burn all the sugar off. After that the taste is minimally affected with further bowls. Go with Jim's advice on the shank, it's pine and after smoking a hot ash down to it a few times and dumping it will end up taste neutral as well. From that point you have a great smoker and the nooks and crannies around the shank will fill in with carbon and tobacco residue as you smoke more. My most used cobs almost look like the inside of a briar, carbon everywhere and the side walls of the shank nearly gone.


----------



## freestoke

Good morning, Hawaii? neh...Good morning, Viet Nam! In the "things found looking up other things" category, I stumbled onto a picture of my morning 4Dot/PA pipe.










And right now it's filled with 1Q+SWR, fifty fifty. Normally, I'm drinking coffee on this thread, but at the moment it's a top shelf Old Milwaukee. This pipe can tolerate ANYTHING! :lol: I think it might be my best smoker. Love the wide stem.


----------



## T-Bacco

It's always morning for me. Smoked some MacBaren Dark Twist outside tonight er I mean, this morning. It's getting mighty chilly.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> In the "things found looking up other things" category, I stumbled onto a picture of...


A fantastic excuse from my time spent in puberty.


----------



## Stonedog

Smoked some PA in my CG cob this morning trying to somehow get rid of the cinnamon ghost.


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen.

My 4 year old has a gigantenormous cavity. Our regular dentist wanted us to see a pediatric dentist, so she and I are headed there in a bit. Incidentally, I cringed when I caught her smacking her lips on some candy from her Halloween bucket this morning. I hurriedly threw together a bowl of cereal for her. Then I realized what I had done - I replaced chocolate with sugar coated cereal.....not much of an improvement there LOL.

While she's planted firmly in front of the TV watching Max & Ruby and quietly munching Froot Loops, I took the opportunity to sneak out for a little smoke. H&H Angler's Dream mixed 50:50 with PA, in a MM Hardwood.


----------



## freestoke

The 4Dot/PA back in action.

Seems like a good morning to kvetch about the unread thread highlighting. I can make no sense of it whatsoever. When I logged in, I had *FIVE* unread subscribed threads on my screen. I read one of them. When I reloaded, a minute later, I had NONE! It has nothing to do with my profile preferences, it's just the way they've set it up. THEY dictate when threads are "old", not you. (I'm talking about whether they are in bold or on your unread list if you haven't read them, not whether or not they are in the general display.) Weird.

Another beautiful day for November and golf is on tap for later! Yesterday was a GREAT day to play. Shot an absurd 41, with the equivalent of a four putt at two and another three putt at 4, but I hit some nice shots.


----------



## freestoke

More Ennerdale! This time in the Szabo, to hell with the Lakeland ghost! GH&Co.'s number one blend! Great stuff! ipe: (I won't make you smoke Ennerdale if you don't make me eat liver. Fair enough? :lol


----------



## freestoke

After warming up with the some PA in the 4Dot, moved on to Ennerdale again. I really like Ennerdale. Ground me some fresh Columbian this morning and the coffee is superior this morning! ipe:


----------



## The Mad Professor

freestoke said:


> I really like Ennerdale.


Me too. I just bought 4 oz but haven't touched it yet. I think some RY is in order thing this morning, to be followed by a bowl of this fresh batch of Ennerdale.


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> Me too. I just bought 4 oz but haven't touched it yet. I think some RY is in order thing this morning, to be followed by a bowl of this fresh batch of Ennerdale.


Be sure to get it into a mason jar _tout suite_, so as to preserve the "bouquet". :lol:


----------



## karatekyle

Its 18*F outside right now, probably will stay sub-30 until noonish. This week will probably be the last bit of smoking weather before late Fall really starts setting in. Might puff a bit of LTF for the first time.


----------



## The Mad Professor

freestoke said:


> Be sure to get it into a mason jar _tout suite_, so as to preserve the "bouquet". :lol:


Oh yeah, its jarred. This is only my second order of Ennerdale (only got 1oz before) and I was amazed with the aroma from the larger batch. It didn't smell floral, it was so strong it smelled like bubble gum flavoring! This is probably good though because the floral scent was gone by the end of that first ounce.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning pipers! The other half of last night's royal yacht and a Dr Pepper. And make it snappy, I'm in a g--d--- hurry.

Smokey and the Bandit anyone?


----------



## freestoke

Dr. Pepper! :tu (Well, before Coca Cola bought 'em out anyhow. :frown: ) My mother took over as president of the Dr. Pepper Bottling Plant after my father died when I was seven, the Newport News location. Needless to say I was well fixed for -- for WHAT!? :shock: I can't remember what we called soda pop back then! Not soda. Not soft drinks (for sure). sheesh.  Ah! It WAS sodapop! We bottled Brownie, Pal, Suncrest, Nehi, Grapette and Dr. Pepper. Always plenty of everything on hand! I was very popular with the neighborhood kids. :lol: I quit drinking them completely when I got to college and still don't "indulge" very often. 

Following up the PA/4Dot morning bracer and now have a Diplomat going with some Bayou Morning Flake to fill the nicotine reserve tank. Low vitamin N levels are hazardous to your health! ipe:

What the hell...a rant about high fructose corn syrup in soft drinks: Yuck. :yuck:


----------



## gahdzila

Lazy day off for both the wife and I. She was kind enough to get the kids off to school this morning and let me sleep late for the first time in....well, I can't remember.

I started off with coffee and PA in my Dr Grabow Big Pipe, and set out some GLP Lagonda to dry for my next smoke. Low and behold, less than a third into my PA, the mailman shows up with the clay pipes I ordered. Giddy as a kid on Christmas, I put down the PA and rushed inside to rip open the package, and packed the 8" clay tavern with Lagonda. Wow, I'm impressed! The smoke is VERY dry and cool and "clean" tasting. Yeah, the bowl gets hot, but it actually doesn't seem as hot as the warnings I've read. Still, you can't comfortably hold it by the bowl. VERY thin and fragile, so this will probably be a sit-at-home only pipe.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Yeah, the bowl gets hot, but it actually doesn't seem as hot as the warnings I've read. Still, you can't comfortably hold it by the bowl. VERY thin and fragile, so this will probably be a sit-at-home only pipe.


Cool! ...uh...HOT! :tu Where'd you order it?


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

PA in my CG cob. Now I'm contemplating picking up a pouch of CB White later today.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Cool! ...uh...HOT! :tu Where'd you order it?


Pipeshoppe.com Clay Pipes

I ordered the combo that included the 8" tavern, the 7" gouda, and the 4" elizabethan. They arrived very carefully packaged with "FRAGILE!" stickers all over the box, and a personal hand signed letter from the vendor. So I can definitely recommend buying from these guys.

The 4" is even tinier than I expected. I can barely fit the tip of my pinky finger in the bowl. My first thought when seeing it was that it wouldn't be very useful. But when I finished that bowl of Lagonda in the 8", I packed the 4" and lit it up - and guess what? It actually smokes great. I'm now glad I got it. This little guy will be great for quick smokes when I only have a few minutes to indulge, and to quickly try out a little taste of new blends. I need to poke around and find a nail or something to use as a tamper, though, as a czech tool tamper won't go down very far into it LOL.

Hey! Just noticed this is post #2000 for me!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Pipeshoppe.com Clay Pipes
> 
> I ordered the combo that included the 8" tavern, the 7" gouda, and the 4" elizabethan. They arrived very carefully packaged with "FRAGILE!" stickers all over the box, and a personal hand signed letter from the vendor. So I can definitely recommend buying from these guys.


Congrats! eace:

That's weird. I did a quick search, picked the most interesting looking link and that was the one! :clap2: I'm really thinking of getting a couple. Thanks!

Oh...I'm smoking some Tilbury right now. ipe:


----------



## Xodar

Some semi-emergency dental work this morning delayed the first pipe, but enjoying a cocktail of coffee, vicodin, and some night train in the diplomat now. Glad it's Friday!


----------



## The Mad Professor

gahdzila said:


> The 4" is even tinier than I expected. I can barely fit the tip of my pinky finger in the bowl...This little guy will be great for quick smokes when I only have a few minutes to indulge, and to quickly try out a little taste of new blends.


I like my 7" gouda alright for sampling, but that 4" one does sound better for it. Might have to splurge soon and get one too. :lol:

Walked to campus last night in my coat, hat, and pipe to catch a lecture. Usually I ride my motorcycle which precludes those things. I packed two pipes last night with some Kendal Kentucky and a little McC bulk aro for room note, and now I'm finishing off the second one.

Dunno what's on deck, probably Ennerdale or - oooh, I forgot I opened that C&D Sunday Picnic but never tried it. That's next.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Dr. Pepper! :tu (Well, before Coca Cola bought 'em out anyhow. :frown: ) My mother took over as president of the Dr. Pepper Bottling Plant after my father died when I was seven, the Newport News location. Needless to say I was well fixed for -- for WHAT!? :shock: I can't remember what we called soda pop back then! Not soda. Not soft drinks (for sure). sheesh.  Ah! It WAS sodapop! We bottled Brownie, Pal, Suncrest, Nehi, Grapette and Dr. Pepper. Always plenty of everything on hand! I was very popular with the neighborhood kids. :lol: I quit drinking them completely when I got to college and still don't "indulge" very often.
> 
> Following up the PA/4Dot morning bracer and now have a Diplomat going with some Bayou Morning Flake to fill the nicotine reserve tank. Low vitamin N levels are hazardous to your health! ipe:
> 
> What the hell...a rant about high fructose corn syrup in soft drinks: Yuck. :yuck:


Thats freaking awesome! I've been a Dr Pepper fanboy since fourth grade. Its the only pop I drink, love that stuff.


----------



## karatekyle

An early one for me. Coffee and a pipe at 6:30. This week has been all long days and short nights!


----------



## freestoke

I'm sure there are some who fail to see why I would smoke PA first thing every morning. It's because it stays lit and I don't have to futz with it. I can't face hassles in the morning. ipe:

Nice day on tap, so it's the links ahead. No wind today, supposedly, which is different. Playing in the wind around here is much harder than say Kansas or Texas. It's generally a stronger wind there, but it's constant -- 20 mph from the west or whatever. Here, it continually shifts direction and changes speed. Can be InFURiating!


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good Morning Brothers .

Well, its gonna be a long day today.. 
Errands to run later this morning, and a trip to see a Led Zep Tribute band tonight.. ( Get the Led Out ) at Penns Peak.

I figured I might as well start the day off right with a nice bowl of
Solani - Black and White in a Pioneer Meer... and a few cups of home brewed DunkinDo coffee?

I hope you all have a great day today .. I'm sure going to try 

Peace and God Bless.

Vin


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> I'm sure there are some who fail to see why I would smoke PA first thing every morning.


Not I!

PA (with a pinch of C&D BF #1 to add some oomph) in the Big Pipe with coffee.


----------



## freestoke

The low nicotine warning light was glowing, so I pulled into the tobacco station and filled up with Bayou Morning Flake. Should be good until noon.


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> The low nicotine warning light was glowing, so I pulled into the tobacco station and filled up with Bayou Morning Flake. Should be good until noon.


Hehe, that is indeed the high test. Watching Bugs Bunny with 2 of the nephews this morning, amazed how well they stood up. All three of us laughing. Loading the diplomat up with MacB NF and preparing to *shudder* go outside to smoke due to my sister's villanous offspring. She firmly told me that excessive candy and late night R movies are an uncle's privilige... Hooking the 10 year old up with a fresh cob and a mason jar full are not. F*&^, all these rules...


----------



## DanR

I've been traveling like a madman lately, and I'm finally home for a while. Time to get back to the pipes (and some relaxation)!

HV in BC calabash with a fresh cup o joe. It's 65 degrees and the sun is shining on my bald head. All is well!

Cheers!


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> Hooking the 10 year old up with a fresh cob and a mason jar full are not. F*&^, all these rules...


Reminds me of a guy I used to play golf with about 20 years ago. "My parents' idea of discipline was no heroin in the living room." :lol: Good to see you're giving them a solid grounding in Looney Tunes, the basis of modern Western Civilization. Bugs was great playing Brunhilde, wasn't he? Always a fine cross-dresser. And what a glorious voice, eh?

A little after-lunch PA. Not in the mood for complexities. ipe:


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> Reminds me of a guy I used to play golf with about 20 years ago. "My parents' idea of discipline was no heroin in the living room." :lol: Good to see you're giving them a solid grounding in Looney Tunes, the basis of modern Western Civilization. Bugs was great playing Brunhilde, wasn't he? Always a fine cross-dresser. And what a glorious voice, eh?
> 
> A little after-lunch PA. Not in the mood for complexities. ipe:


 Having refreshed my Looney-Tunes reference this morning, I can honestly say I believe they are funnier now than when I was a wee delinquent in the making.

But /mourn the loss of Yosemite Sam in the modern era... While the varmints are still around it is no longer kosher to have a rootin' tootin' shootin' good time :frown: Yet they were already familiar with Pepe le Pew, who is frankly a rapist. Strange times these. While I'm babysitting we may also go for a solid grounding in He-Man, Voltron (lions Voltron, not trailer park Voltron), and the Thundercats, vicarious age regression for the win.


----------



## freestoke

For my second bowl of the day, Chipman Hill. Not usually into Latakia so early on, but it sounded good for some reason and the little baby food jar I have it in is almost empty. Gonna try to finish it up the next couple of days, to get it off the desk. Certainly a very acceptable mixture. ipe:


----------



## Nick S.

Fixin' to have a bowl of Brown Bogie...


----------



## freestoke

Post-Pa, decided to exercise the Sasieni Canadian with some Bayou Morning Flake. This is such a fine smoking pipe, that I can't fathom why I don't smoke it more often. ipe:


----------



## Troutman22

Petersons Summertime Blend 2010 in a cob. I had to shovel my deck yesterday and figured I would try to bring back summer for another week.


----------



## asmartbull

Virginia Woods in a cob
I really enjoy this combination.....
Perfect for a "frost on the punpkin"morning...


----------



## The Mad Professor

Finishing off some Royal Yacht in my little mutant rhodesian, left over from yesterday, while deciding what I shall wear to class today. Its been unseasonably chilly here, so I get to break out the sweaters! Alumni sweater today, overcoat and turtle neck for night class tomorrow, cardigan on wednesday...

Stonehaven on deck. Let's make this a good week!


----------



## karatekyle

The Mad Professor said:


> Finishing off some Royal Yacht in my little mutant rhodesian, left over from yesterday, while deciding what I shall wear to class today. Its been unseasonably chilly here, so I get to break out the sweaters! Alumni sweater today, overcoat and turtle neck for night class tomorrow, cardigan on wednesday...
> 
> Stonehaven on deck. Let's make this a good week!


I like a man that plans his clothing. Are we talking a Daniel Tosh-esque cardigan?


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

1776 Tavern again, this time in my VA-dedicated Bertram pipe. The Bertram is my favorite pipe and it seemed like a waste to have it sit in the rack unused while I focus on latakia-based blends.

Interesting to note that in this pipe the 1776 Tavern was a little rough on my tongue (not bite, not sure how to describe it). I've not noticed this with the CG cob...


----------



## asmartbull

Chelsea Morning....in a Peterson.....make my coffee taste so much better..

Enjoy the day gents


----------



## freestoke

A high of 63 forecast with light winds and even warmer tomorrow. An unexpected golf treat! Had high hopes yesterday. Sunday, I had a 35 that could have easily been a stroke or two better, so yesterday I was thinking I could even shoot my age. With a majestic second into the first hole, I was hoping a quick start would produce a 33! sigh. It went long into the back fringe -- a sloppy chip, weak putt and a quick bogey. sigh. Oh well. Maybe today and tomorrow! 

Starting with some Bayou Morning Flake. Perky! ipe:


----------



## dj1340

freestoke said:


> A high of 63 forecast with light winds and even warmer tomorrow. An unexpected golf treat! Had high hopes yesterday. Sunday, I had a 35 that could have easily been a stroke or two better, so yesterday I was thinking I could even shoot my age. With a majestic second into the first hole, I was hoping a quick start would produce a 33! sigh. It went long into the back fringe -- a sloppy chip, weak putt and a quick bogey. sigh. Oh well. Maybe today and tomorrow!
> 
> Starting with some Bayou Morning Flake. Perky! ipe:


Nice round Jim, we'll be seeing you on the Senior Tour before very long if you keep those scores up!!

Enjoying a bowl of Penzance in my Karl Eric.


----------



## freestoke

dj1340 said:


> Nice round Jim, we'll be seeing you on the Senior Tour before very long if you keep those scores up!!


The Super Seniors maybe. Maybe when they've got an over 80 tour. I'll have some time to work on my putting. :lol: I probably would have given the regular tour a shot back in 1966 after college, but had to go in the service. Never quite got that kind of game back again, though. :frown:

Gotta slow down here with some PA. "My hands are shaky and my knees are weak..." after that BMF. That Canadian has a big bowl! :faint:


----------



## karatekyle

Didn't know you were such a good golfer, Jim! Thats pretty cool. Just finished our second microbiology lecture exam. Wasn't too tough (I hope). I don't know if I'll do anything inside today, it is a heavenly day in Dakotaland. 27 degrees right now, rapidly warming to mid/upper 40s. About time I took a flame to some of the IF I just bought, I think. With lab hours at 1, I believe I shall do just that. Time to brew some more coffee!


----------



## The Mad Professor

karatekyle said:


> I like a man that plans his clothing. Are we talking a Daniel Tosh-esque cardigan?


:lol: I never really realized he wears so many sweaters! No, its a zippered cardigan with a high collar, knit. I just bought a grey one and a tan one... actually same day I got that watch-plaid suit I mentioned in your blog post.

Something like this, but knit. I just google searched it quick.

Everyone keeps saying "Mr Rogers" but he wore a red zippered one with no collar, dammit. I'm going to carry a picture of Mr Rogers just to show people when they comment. :mad2:

Oh yes, having some Anni Kake out of the churchwarden. Then off to the barber for a trim!


----------



## MarkC

Having a bowl of Golden Sliced while doing the laundry on what is my normal "Sunday morning".


----------



## karatekyle

The Mad Professor said:


> :lol: I never really realized he wears so many sweaters! No, its a zippered cardigan with a high collar, knit. I just bought a grey one and a tan one... actually same day I got that watch-plaid suit I mentioned in your blog post.
> 
> Something like this, but knit. I just google searched it quick.
> 
> Everyone keeps saying "Mr Rogers" but he wore a red zippered one with no collar, dammit. I'm going to carry a picture of Mr Rogers just to show people when they comment. :mad2:
> 
> Oh yes, having some Anni Kake out of the churchwarden. Then off to the barber for a trim!


Thats sharp. I'm going to grab a few decent sweaters here soon, its starting to chill down outside.


----------



## The Mad Professor

karatekyle said:


> Thats sharp. I'm going to grab a few decent sweaters here soon, its starting to chill down outside.


Something I thought even just 2 years ago I'd NEVER say in my life: I need a sweater vest. :lol:


----------



## karatekyle

The Mad Professor said:


> Something I thought even just 2 years ago I'd NEVER say in my life: I need a sweater vest. :lol:


You'd think ripping the sleeves off a sweater would make it less manly. Not so...


----------



## freestoke

You guys are so _haute couture_! It's the cashmere turtle neck for me when I want to keep warm in the wind. I'm also partial to V-necks; I'm never without a sweater except in the middle of the summer. (And around here, sometimes even then a sweater is required.) I learned this trick in college -- you don't have to iron your shirts.

Smoking the end of the jar of 5100+5105+perique I mixed up some weeks back. Ya know, I've smoked a lot worse. Got the "Family Era" FourDot pot finishing up the action. Excellent, actually. ipe:


----------



## Sharadeth

I never could really get into sweater vest. In MD its always way to warm or cold enough to wear a top coat. 

P.S just got a tin of Christmas Cheer that I'm 'bout to crack open to get a quick smoke before class or maybe even fencing depending on how my day goes :fencing:


----------



## asmartbull

Chelsea Morning in a Stanwell.

I screwed the pooch packing this one.....Reminds me that I will probably be
a Noob for a yr.....


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gents.

I've been on more of a cigar kick the last few days. I had an est 1844 last night - an A J Fernandez blend, a beautiful figurado, fantastic medium-full bodied treat....and they're only $49 a box! I'll be picking up more of those.

I wanted something a little sweet this morning. I have 14 open jars right now, and will be opening the tin of OGS when it arrives, so I'm hesitant to open something else, but that sealed jar of Sterling Millionaire Blend was calling my name. I'm glad I gave in to temptation. This stuff is definitely one of my favs, and I haven't had any in about two weeks. Smoking it in a clay with morning coffee.


----------



## karatekyle

Sharadeth said:


> I never could really get into sweater vest. In MD its always way to warm or cold enough to wear a top coat.
> 
> P.S just got a tin of Christmas Cheer that I'm 'bout to crack open to get a quick smoke before class or maybe even fencing depending on how my day goes :fencing:


I'm such a sweater vest fanboy. I need some full sweaters for looking good this winter though, otherwise I'll be stuck in hoodies!


----------



## Stonedog

Howdy Y'all,

This morning I enjoyed a big bowl full of PA while pondering my great lack of sweaters. Does this make me less of pipe smoker? Do I dress like bum? What kind of sweaters would I wear if had a choice? What happened to the "Mr Rogers" sweater I used to keep in my office?!

First pipes, then cigars, now sweaters?! This site is dangerous.


----------



## karatekyle

Stonedog said:


> Howdy Y'all,
> 
> This morning I enjoyed a big bowl full of PA while pondering my great lack of sweaters. Does this make me less of pipe smoker? Do I dress like bum? What kind of sweaters would I wear if had a choice? What happened to the "Mr Rogers" sweater I used to keep in my office?!
> 
> First pipes, then cigars, now sweaters?! This site is dangerous.


Two words: Nasal snuff.

I'll let that sink in :lol:

I think I need a few argyle ones and a few solid colors. Two of each, I'll match them to a few dress shirts! Speaking of clothing, I need a brown themed tie too. Might have to put that on the list as well.


----------



## Stonedog

karatekyle said:


> Two words: *Nasal snuff*.
> 
> I'll let that sink in :lol:
> 
> I think I need a few argyle ones and a few solid colors. Two of each, I'll match them to a few dress shirts! Speaking of clothing, I need a brown themed tie too. Might have to put that on the list as well.


I've considered this, but I've never seen snuff in person. I was following the thread from a few weeks ago but the "increased nasal discharge" side effect concerns me.


----------



## KBibbs

All this talk of sweaters, and to think that just yesterday I picked a new one up. What are the odds? Have to love Costco for having a nice knit 1/4 zip Calvin Klein sweater for only $25... Pairs up nicely with a blazer, or I can wear it under my tweed top coat. Then I just don a flat cap or one of my felt fedoras, and a scarf, and I'm ready for anything!


----------



## gahdzila

I was a bum before I started smoking pipes. About the only fashion change I've made is I've grown a full beard out.....and it's getting cold, so that wasn't entirely a pipe-smoking induced change.

Jeans and tshirts and hoodies FTW!


----------



## karatekyle

KBibbs said:


> All this talk of sweaters, and to think that just yesterday I picked a new one up. What are the odds? Have to love Costco for having a nice knit 1/4 zip Calvin Klein sweater for only $25... Pairs up nicely with a blazer, or I can wear it under my tweed top coat. Then I just don a flat cap or one of my felt fedoras, and a scarf, and I'm ready for anything!


Oh great, now you'll get everyone started on flat caps and fedoras :lol:

I think I'll toss my flat cap on today. With a grey peacoat and trousers, argyle sweater and hatchwork shirt. Should grab my fedora but I don't want to look too Mad Men-ish.


----------



## gahdzila

Brrrr. 43 degrees here. 

I'm on my second cup of coffee - 8 o'clock French roast. Orlik Golden Sliced in the pipe. Good stuff!


----------



## karatekyle

Enjoying my first unbusy day. Had a bowl of IF last night with a dessert of cherrybomb. The only time I can smoke that stuff straight is after something strong. Gotta desensatize the tongue. Morning folks.


----------



## freestoke

After clearing my morning fog with some PA, I think I'm heading for the Bayou Morning Flake with a scrap or two of BCA thrown in for some room note of note. ipe: Columbian fresh ground this morning! :cf (Warmer here than Louisiana!? :ask


----------



## gahdzila

Holy smokes! Puff was gone for 24 hours! What the hell did I ever used to do with my time? 

Orlik Golden Sliced in a MM Hardwood today! Yummers!


----------



## Stonedog

AAAAaaannd we're back! 

PA in my Bjarne Viking this morning. Tonight I plan to enjoy some Uni Flake mixed with PA. Straight it is still a bit too strong for me.

EDIT: hmmm, did RG and trader ratings go away?


----------



## asmartbull

Chelsea Morning...Again.....I do enjoy this with coffee


----------



## Xodar

First day back in the office, and it's cold enough to make me appreciate the coffee. First bowl was MacB NF, but on to FVF in the diplomat now.

And pipes and sweaters? I can't be the only one that has flow-through hoodie pockets due to my habit of tucking the lit pipe in there when I duck inside somewhere.


----------



## karatekyle

Were back! Finally figured out how to find my subscribed threads. Hope everyones doing well.


----------



## freestoke

Good Mornin', Australia! (I think...) Bayou Morning Flake + 1Q in a Diplomat. A little 1Q stretches the good stuff and improves the room note a lot. ipe:

Man, I had the weirdest dream...:shock:...oh dear.


----------



## freestoke

Wow. Nobody home today? I have no complaints against the new site save one...it's really slow for me, but I don't know why. I seem to be the only one. sigh. I feel put upon. :sad: Lots of reconnects, which is why I haven't been here yet today. Hard and slow, with editor weirdness. Nobody believes me. sigh. Probably my antivirus software can't deal with all the new advertisers or something. 

On about my fifth pipe, including a couple of OGSs for reviewing. Really good stuff! But I'm smoking Paper Plate Potpourri right now. ipe: (Also really good stuff! I'm an easy grader, huh?) And my standard "Australian morning" drink, Old Milwaukee, raw, straight from the can like a man.


----------



## karatekyle

Its been pretty slow for me too, Jim. I'm at home for the weekend which means two days of working on pipes without smoking them.


----------



## freestoke

Mine's back to normal speed this morning. Not sure what was going on yesterday. Maybe just an overload and I was too far from the puff server. I think I remember something about networks winding up with "dead zones", where some routers in the chain start spending more time handshaking than transmitting content -- I did a lot of sysadmin dealing with the routing tables and sendmail and what have you, but routers are hard/firmware weirdness I don't know much about.

Whatever, I'm smoking some PA now, after sleeping late. Lifted a heavy chair the other day and my back is destroyed. :faint: Probably some golf later. Sometimes swinging the club fixes it! :tu


----------



## asmartbull

Reading this thread reminds me that it is time for breakfast.
English Chocolate in a Cob.....
Coffee black....

Enjoy the day gents..


----------



## DanR

I'm being a copy-cat this morning. I read bull's post about English Chocolate and my mind was made up. Packed some in my Boswell bent sitter and I'm sitting outside enjoying the beautiful day that's been granted to us here in San Antonio. Mid 70's with a blue sky and a gentle breeze. This can't be November?!?


----------



## freestoke

Got some Paper Plate Potpourri in a little Gouda clay. Quite good. Sauerbraten on the way! I LOVE sauerbraten. :smile:


----------



## freestoke

No golf yesterday, but at least got in a walk with some Ennerdale. I* HAVE* to play tomorrow, bad back and all. No matter what. The wind is supposed to be calm in the afternoon with sun. My crumby lower back has been good for years now, so I guess I was overdue for a "spinalquake". Won the member/guest one year in this condition, so it CAN be done! I can hit a golf ball, I just can't wash dishes! (True!) :lol:

Coming to the end of this PA/4Dot, with the Sasieni Canadian packed with Glengarry Flake I never lit up last night. ipe:


----------



## Sherlocke

freestoke said:


> Got some Paper Plate Potpourri in a little Gouda clay. Quite good. Sauerbraten on the way! I LOVE sauerbraten. :smile:


"Paper Plate Potpourri" - Classic!


----------



## freestoke

Trying a musketball of Ennerdale in a clay Gouda. So far, so good! :tu


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gents.

Last day of my work week. Hooray! Tomorrow, I vow to sleep late and do nothing but drink coffee and smoke all day!

But for today, it's Orlik Golden Sliced in a cob before I head out to bring home the bacon.


----------



## karatekyle

Hopefully in between classes I can get a bit of laundry done and a video put up on the blog. Maybe I'll even be smoking while I do it!


----------



## asmartbull

Across the pond in a Meer.....I love this stuff


----------



## freestoke

After last night's Escudo ordeal in the Tim West, I'm going plain PA this morning. Not much time this morning, since I have a doctor's appointment at 11:30, so maybe a small bowl of some Ennerdale to get the blood pressure up! :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Lagonda in the MM Diplomat after the PA/4Dot sunrise ceremony. President's Cup tonight! :tu I actually hope the International team wins. I'm starting to feel sorry for them. :sad:


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen!

It's nice to finally have a day off! I slept until 9:00, which was a nice treat. I picked up my iPhone and found that my boss texted me an hour ago to ask if I would come in extra to do a night shift tonight. Yeah, right! LOL. Sorry, brother, it ain't happening. We've been crazy busy, so I really need some R&R time and I don't really care for working nights. Plus, with all the budget cutbacks lately, they're not paying us for overtime, we just get comp time. Work a 12 hour night shift for free with a promise of a day off with pay sometime in the future (staffing permitting, of course)? No, thank you!

By coincidence, I chose the same baccy as you, Jim. GLP Lagonda in a MM Country Gentleman. This is my first run with this baccy as my first pipe of the day with morning coffee. I think I like it a little better as a morning smoke, but I'm still not crazy about it. I read some posts on tobaccoreviews.com about it, and they seemed to like it a lot. I agree with their reasons, too. It's good tobacco, its flavors are melded, it is harmonious. I think that's why I dont really care for it - it's very homogenous, it doesn't change at all while I smoke it, it's simple and (IMO) rather boring.


----------



## The Mad Professor

As said last night, I am firing up a bowl of Dark Birdseye, thanks to Freestoke!. It is lighter than the heavy tobaccies I've ben smoking lately, so I wanted to try it out first thing in the morning. I must say, it is quite enjoyable and has a better kick and flavor when smoked first in the morning, not last at night. 

I'm surprised that it is so strong with nicotine when it has such a light taste to it.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

PA in my cheap Italian seconds after a 3 day hiatus. This weekend I'm taking the family up to Asheville and with any luck I'll find a decent tobacco/pipe shop up there.


----------



## freestoke

The air is thick with PA this morning. :lol: In the 4Dot as usual. I think I like this 4Dot for my morning smoke because of the wide stem and 1/4 bend (1/8 bend?) which make it easily clenchable as I poke in my morning replies. I tend to smoke my most clenchable pipes at the computer, it seems, which includes the cobs, and the larger pipes watching the tube. Not much happening today. No golf -- except for the end of the President's Cup that I recorded last night. I see a lot of HHMV on the horizon. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

As I shift into some HHMV in the CGentleman, I am hurling a curse at Kyle. Just saw the weather forecast. Tonight and tomorrow, 7 inches of lake effect possible. It's all Kyle's fault, for posting that picture of half an inch of nothing in SD. New York says it can do better! They got 66 inches in 24 hours here once, right before I moved to Rome. Three feet of lake effect is common, so I shouldn't complain about a few inches. Gonna have to crank up the snow blower this morning, just for drill to make sure it's functioning. PITA. :frown:


----------



## gahdzila

Got up early, got the kids off to school, and did a little shopping before coming home for my morning smoke. It's cold outside, and I don't feel like bundling up and shivering, so I had to get the kids out of the house first so I could smoke in the living room. It's only an occasional indulgence to smoke in the house. Don't tell my wife :mrgreen:

OGS in a MM Great Dane Egg. Nearing the bottom of the tin now. I'll definitely be ordering more! Gorgeous flakes, cheap, tastes great, just enough nicotine to keep the monkey off my back, but mild enough to enjoy with morning coffee (or even all day). I love this stuff.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> As I shift into some HHMV in the CGentleman, I am hurling a curse at Kyle. Just saw the weather forecast. Tonight and tomorrow, 7 inches of lake effect possible. It's all Kyle's fault, for posting that picture of half an inch of nothing in SD. New York says it can do better! They got 66 inches in 24 hours here once, right before I moved to Rome. Three feet of lake effect is common, so I shouldn't complain about a few inches. Gonna have to crank up the snow blower this morning, just for drill to make sure it's functioning. PITA. :frown:


Haha sorry Jim! That half inch of nothing had a half inch of black ice under it. But I won't say anything about that, I'd hate for NY to start getting icy too! :lol:

Two years ago we had a terrible winter, we didn't get 66 in 24 but we got almost 30 a day for 3 days in a row. Made me want to take a trip to the dark side of the moon to warm up.


----------



## PiperPilot

Jim,
My father in law who lives out in the backwoods of NH is some sort of weather clairvoyant. He uses acorns to conjure up predictions and assures me it will be a mild winter. He claims to have an incredible record. Let's hope.


----------



## karatekyle

PiperPilot said:


> Jim,
> My father in law who lives out in the backwoods of NH is some sort of weather clairvoyant. He uses acorns to conjure up predictions and assures me it will be a mild winter. He claims to have an incredible record. Let's hope.


:lol: I'll back anyone that says winter will be mild.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Haha sorry Jim! That half inch of nothing had a half inch of black ice under it. But I won't say anything about that, I'd hate for NY to start getting icy too! :lol:
> 
> Two years ago we had a terrible winter, we didn't get 66 in 24 but we got almost 30 a day for 3 days in a row. Made me want to take a trip to the dark side of the moon to warm up.


We use salt around here. :lol: Yeah, we get the ice too and salt doesn't always cut through it. Nasty. Here, we have trees...maybe you've seen pictures?  They fall over or the branches break and knock down the power lines.

Giving this gigundo Tim West another spin as I watch the golf. Once again, it plugged up early, but I pulled out the reamer drill and all is well for the moment. Almost impossible to get a pipe cleaner in there, even with the stem off. The drill in the bowl is fine, but I can't get a pipe cleaner in there! :frown: Puzzling. Pretty much cleans the plate with the Paper Plate Potpouri!


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> We use salt around here. :lol: Yeah, we get the ice too and salt doesn't always cut through it. Nasty. Here, we have trees...maybe you've seen pictures? They fall over or the branches break and knock down the power lines.


ound:

Yeah, here in the tundra, it's mostly scrub brush and thorny bushes :lol:


----------



## HWiebe

It's not the AM but I am sitting down in my shop enjoying a bowl of Union Square in my Savinelli Florence. Love the flavour of this baccy.


----------



## gahdzila

HWiebe said:


> It's not the AM but I am sitting down in my shop enjoying a bowl of Union Square in my Savinelli Florence. Love the flavour of this baccy.


Sounds good!

FYI - there's also a "what are you smoking tonight" thread here: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/128281-tonights-smoke-ii-pipes.html


----------



## freestoke

Just looking out the window makes me want to cry. 5-7 inches turned into 10. I thought I'd be able to ignore it, drive through it, warm weather this weekend would make it go away effortlessly. The plow just went by again. There's a 2 foot wall at the end of the driveway. :sad:

Normally, it's a matter of hauling in the usual suspects -- Canada for lake effect and the Gulf states for nor'easters. But we know where to look this time -- South Dakota. As I puff on this PA, contemplating clearing off the cars and the driveway, I can't help but ask -- how can you be so irresponsible, Kyle? You know what a competitive state this is. You should have known it would try and "get it the game". sigh.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Just looking out the window makes me want to cry. 5-7 inches turned into 10. I thought I'd be able to ignore it, drive through it, warm weather this weekend would make it go away effortlessly. The plow just went by again. There's a 2 foot wall at the end of the driveway. :sad:
> 
> Normally, it's a matter of hauling in the usual suspects -- Canada for lake effect and the Gulf states for nor'easters. But we know where to look this time -- South Dakota. As I puff on this PA, contemplating clearing off the cars and the driveway, I can't help but ask -- how can you be so irresponsible, Kyle? You know what a competitive state this is. You should have known it would try and "get it the game". sigh.


I truly am sorry Jim, its obvious I dropped the ball on this one. Since our snow won't fall until this weekend, I hereby surrender. New York wins. There, did the snow go away? :lol:


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I truly am sorry Jim, its obvious I dropped the ball on this one. Since our snow won't fall until this weekend, I hereby surrender. New York wins. There, did the snow go away? :lol:


Well, okay then. You're just young and don't really know any better. Can't really blame you for this catastrophe, exactly. We'll chalk it up to experience.

About all I could do is move it out of the way with the snowblower and shovel. It's right at freezing, so nothing is melting yet. Can barely see across the street right now it's coming down so fast. By the time I finished plowing the driveway, there was another two inches on the car windshields. sigh. Probably another 4 out there already. Unreal. Might have to do it again to get out of the driveway later because the plow will come by again and build another wall! :shock:

Finishing up the PA and my hands are starting to warm back up at least. Wet, heavy crap and my gloves got soaked.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Well, okay then. You're just young and don't really know any better. Can't really blame you for this catastrophe, exactly. We'll chalk it up to experience.
> 
> About all I could do is move it out of the way with the snowblower and shovel. It's right at freezing, so nothing is melting yet. Can barely see across the street right now it's coming down so fast. By the time I finished plowing the driveway, there was another two inches on the car windshields. sigh. Probably another 4 out there already. Unreal. Might have to do it again to get out of the driveway later because the plow will come by again and build another wall! :shock:
> 
> Finishing up the PA and my hands are starting to warm back up at least. Wet, heavy crap and my gloves got soaked.


I hope that snow blower did the work for you and you're not shoveling all that crap by hand. I'd hate to hear on the news about some old fogie they find frozen in a NY snowdrift with an icy PA-filled 4 dot clenched in his teeth :lol:


----------



## EvoFX

guys, G&H Best brown #2. seriously one of my favorites. 

I have heard its a lakeland but I don't taste that floral flavor. Is it not a lakeland?


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I hope that snow blower did the work for you and you're not shoveling all that crap by hand. I'd hate to hear on the news about some old fogie they find frozen in a NY snowdrift with an icy PA-filled 4 dot clenched in his teeth :lol:


:lol: Having some Paper Plate Potpouri in the Four Dot pot to wake up again. I needed a nap after doing the driveway and hogging out on a huge breakfast. :faint: That snowblower is champ. Tough sledding, but it did the job. :tu The sun came out and cleared the road, so the threat there went away at least. Hope most of this melts the next couple of days. Probably will, because it's warm snow, as opposed to the 0 degree crap that lingers after the winter.

Good mornin', Hawaii! :wave:


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning to the Saturday late sleepers!!

Dark Flake Scented in a MM cob

This tobacco has completely puzzled me. Baffled, even.

My first go with it - I ordered an ounce of bulk from P&C, and really enjoyed it. Just a nice earthy dark tobacco flavor. What's this Lakeland stuff I keep hearing about? I enjoyed it enough that when I finished it, I ordered 4 ounces (to get the cheaper price). WOAH! Ok, yeah, I guess this is what Lakeland tastes like. I don't even know how to describe it. Soapy isn't quite right. Floral is close. There might be a little licorice hiding in there as well (don't tell Kyle LOL). I wouldn't say it's unpleasant, but I wouldn't say it's my new favorite flavor either. It's so different from anything else that I don't know what to think about it. A little sweetness would help.

What really boggles the mind is how different this is from the last batch of it I tried. I know tastes can change over time, but this is drastic and it hasn't been that much time. Though the tobaccos looked very similar (similar enough that I'm confident they didn't accidentally send me the wrong thing), the first batch was a little drier and the flakes were more broken up, and this batch was moister with almost unbroken flakes. So maybe the first batch I got was older and had dried out more and lost some of the "scent" before I got it?

Reviews on tobaccoreviews are puzzling as well. A couple say the Lakeland was overwhelming, and a couple say they could barely taste it at all.

Weird as it is, I do enjoy it. Definitely won't be a daily smoke, though, and will probably take me a few months of occasionally reaching for it to go through the whole 4 ounces.


----------



## Nick S.

gahdzila said:


> Good morning to the Saturday late sleepers!!
> 
> Dark Flake Scented in a MM cob
> 
> This tobacco has completely puzzled me. Baffled, even.
> 
> My first go with it - I ordered an ounce of bulk from P&C, and really enjoyed it. Just a nice earthy dark tobacco flavor. What's this Lakeland stuff I keep hearing about? I enjoyed it enough that when I finished it, I ordered 4 ounces (to get the cheaper price). WOAH! Ok, yeah, I guess this is what Lakeland tastes like. I don't even know how to describe it. Soapy isn't quite right. Floral is close. There might be a little licorice hiding in there as well (don't tell Kyle LOL). I wouldn't say it's unpleasant, but I wouldn't say it's my new favorite flavor either. It's so different from anything else that I don't know what to think about it. A little sweetness would help.
> 
> What really boggles the mind is how different this is from the last batch of it I tried. I know tastes can change over time, but this is drastic and it hasn't been that much time. Though the tobaccos looked very similar (similar enough that I'm confident they didn't accidentally send me the wrong thing), the first batch was a little drier and the flakes were more broken up, and this batch was moister with almost unbroken flakes. So maybe the first batch I got was older and had dried out more and lost some of the "scent" before I got it?
> 
> Reviews on tobaccoreviews are puzzling as well. A couple say the Lakeland was overwhelming, and a couple say they could barely taste it at all.
> 
> Weird as it is, I do enjoy it. Definitely won't be a daily smoke, though, and will probably take me a few months of occasionally reaching for it to go through the whole 4 ounces.


Sounds like the first time you got the end of an old batch, and the second time you got the beginning of a new batch. In my experience the Lakeland flavor dissipates as the tobacco dries, so as this is a bulk tobacco it can be hit or miss. If you don't like the Lakeland taste, just let it dry out a bit, you can always rehydrate it later.


----------



## freestoke

Nick S. said:


> In my experience the Lakeland flavor dissipates as the tobacco dries, so as this is a bulk tobacco it can be hit or miss. If you don't like the Lakeland taste, just let it dry out a bit, you can always rehydrate it later.


I'd agree. Whatever they spray on it seems to evaporate. Fresh Ennerdale is magnitudes stronger than dried out Ennerdale.


----------



## freestoke

The never-ending baby food jar of Chipman Hill miraculously produces yet another bowl, in the MM CG. I don't understand it. I only started with an ounce and I seem to have sent about a pound out in NSTrades and smoked another pound. I was trying to finish it up just the other day, smoked three bowls and haven't put a dent in the teensy little jar. :ask: Figure there's about another 500 bowls in there. :lol: A very nice smoke, if you haven't tried it.


----------



## freestoke

I now it's Sunday and all, but wake up out there! :director: Firing up an Escudo/PA sandwich in the TwoDot, bottom half PA and the top half Escudo scraps from the last of the can. Two full discs remaining, which will probably disappear before the day is over. Very nice. ipe:


----------



## Nick S.

freestoke said:


> The never-ending baby food jar of Chipman Hill miraculously produces yet another bowl, in the MM CG. I don't understand it. I only started with an ounce and I seem to have sent about a pound out in NSTrades and smoked another pound. I was trying to finish it up just the other day, smoked three bowls and haven't put a dent in the teensy little jar. :ask: Figure there's about another 500 bowls in there. :lol: A very nice smoke, if you haven't tried it.


I have had this happen to me too, seems like someone changed what an ounce is and didn't tell me... or it is in a magic jar...


----------



## gahdzila

Nick S. said:


> Sounds like the first time you got the end of an old batch, and the second time you got the beginning of a new batch.


Exactly what I was thinking.

I had a cigar with my morning coffee. Finishing off the last of the Royal Yacht now. Hooray! An empty jar! Does that mean I get to open another tin now? Something new, perhaps. Holiday Spirit? Nightcap?


----------



## Nick S.

gahdzila said:


> Exactly what I was thinking.
> 
> I had a cigar with my morning coffee. Finishing off the last of the Royal Yacht now. Hooray! An empty jar! Does that mean I get to open another tin now? Something new, perhaps. Holiday Spirit? Nightcap?


Hmm, you couldn't get two more opposite tobaccos... The Holiday Spirit may be kind of nice, as we are headed into the holiday season.


----------



## gahdzila

I know, right? LOL. I'll probably go with Holiday Spirit, as I don't have another aro open. And I bought it with plans to smoke this month. Actually, I bought it in hopes that it would win the tobacco of the month for December, but that didn't happen LOL. Guess I'll be placing another order after all.


----------



## gahdzila

I never did open that other tin yesterday. Ended up having some Carter Hall/H&H Angler's Dream that afternoon, and a cigar last night.

Getting an early start today, as it's back to work for me. Orlik Golden Sliced in a MM Great Dane spool.


----------



## freestoke

Very nice day in store. Need another 10 degrees for golf, though. Maybe toward the end of the week. Smoking some HH Mature Virginia this morning for a change, but it's still the 4Dot.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning! It'll be a pipe morning, just trying to figure out what to have. Stay tuned.


----------



## freestoke

4Dot/PA/coffee to start, but right now I'm DGTing some Glengarry Flake in the FourDot from last night. It apparently hasn't suffered much deterioration. :smile:


----------



## karatekyle

Well, I think I'll have a bit of Commonwealth. Never had an English with coffee. The commonwealth was provided by Andrew (Who's username I can't spell. symczk? szymzk? scmczk? I don't know, it's some mess of polish consonants :lol who included it in VERY generous portions in a buy I did. Thanks Andrew!


----------



## The Mad Professor

I'm having a bowl of Royal Yacht this morning while I call about an interview tomorrow. It helps to take the edge of the nerves...especially since drinking at 9:30am is not considered too professional, from what I understand. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Just a regular 4Dot/PA start, but I'm eyeing (I REFUSE to spell this the "new" way! ) opening something this morning, maybe something new or reopening something I've shelved. Maybe the BBF. I noticed that I have THREE small jars up there on my chest of drawers that have unknown contents, but unlike Poirot, my brain consists of little gray holes instead of cells. All those jars have something good in them though, I'm sure of that! Definitely not the discard pile. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

GLP Lagonda in a MM Great Dane Egg with my morning coffee. I like this tobacco a little better as a morning smoke, I think. Still, not a new favorite and I won't be buying any more when this jar is depleted (which should be pretty soon).


----------



## freestoke

So where are the floats already? The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We get to listen to/watch irritating Broadway musicals and have interviews with "famous" people I have never heard of -- and no floats! You see them drifting by without comment in the background, while the announcers look adoringly at one another and make cutesy small talk. Sing loud and look perky and you can make it on Broadway, even if your voice could remove mold from a flop house shower stall. 

At least there's turkey on the horizon! :tu In an anticipation, doing the "good stuff" this morning -- Reiner LGF in the Mayfair. ipe:


----------



## DanR

Good morning, and Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I fed the in-laws a big breakfast this morning, and now they're out shopping - what is wrong with these people??

Anyway, the bird is roasting and I'm outside enjoying the beautiful weather - It's in the low 70's! I'm having a big bowl of Stonehaven to celebrate the day.


----------



## freestoke

Watched the original *Miracle on 34th Street* last night, the black and white version. The colorized version and all remakes need to be destroyed. The only thing wrong is that Edmund Gwenn, aka Santa Claus, never pulls out his pipe, a serious oversight on the part of the director. As you can see from this documentary photo, he had a nice churchwarden!










Just some 4Dot/PA to wake up. Contemplating what to open next, as my open tin selection is getting "thin". A lot of containers on their last legs and rather too many VaPerBurs - OGS, Reiner LGF, and suddenly a bazillion latakia things. I need to pull out some Sugar Barrel!


----------



## freestoke

A mild day in store. Gonna hit the links a little later! Sugar Barrel in the Country Gentleman -- OTC burley belongs in a cob. ipe:


----------



## Nachman

Had a bowl of Royal Yacht to start the day and one of MM965 later in the morning. Filling in with Navy Plain snuff.


----------



## DanR

Popped my tin of McClelland Christmas Cheer from 2002. Rich, spicy tobacco. Doesn't really sing Christmas to me, although I am not sure what I was expecting - maybe sugarplums and buttered rum? I like it nonetheless.


----------



## freestoke

More golf today! Just great out there yesterday and today's supposed to be even warmer. Trying some of this IF I opened last night. Don't often start with turbo chargers on the 4Dot. ipe:


----------



## Nachman

Surprise, surprise! I started the day with some Royal Yacht. Down to one tin, but have several more coming Monday.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Surprise, surprise! I started the day with some Royal Yacht. Down to one tin, but have several more coming Monday.


I was going to open a RY last night, but circumstances intervened and it was the IF instead. Since almost half of it's in the mail already this morning, that RY will probably spring into action late next week. Right now, it's Glengarry Flake, almost the end of the jar. Not my favorite GH&Co., but very good nonetheless, stout enough to keep the IF pumping the nicotine! Smoked too much Sugar Barrel yesterday and my Low Nicotine Warning Light was starting to move into the pink zone. ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

Stopped by the smoke shop yesterday for a can of tobacco to leave home. I've finally decided I need a pipe and about a tins worth of tobacco just sitting at home because I'll always forget to pack it. Its always the most important stuff we forget to pack, right? In other news, its my fourth day using my sister's shampoo...

Been hitting the Original and Genuine pretty enthusiastically. No smoking in la casa de karate.


----------



## freestoke

The morning vapor lock is clearing, now that I posted to the "Tonight's Smoke" by accident. :shock: Going with some Irish Flake to jack up the metabolism. Obviously, things are out of kilter and I need to restore the VitN levels to right the ship. ipe:


----------



## Hannibal

Today I brought some Boswell's Northwoods with me. This stuff has a very interesting smoked woodsy smell to me. I'm really wondering what's in store for me when I finally fire it up...


----------



## freestoke

Northwoods is good tobak! I'm still thinning out the Latakia herd that got out of control during the Lagonda sampling, but might have to drag some of that out of storage in a week or so, when the Nightcap is gone. 

People will be dropping by with marshmallows on sticks, asking to sit by the campfire with you.


----------



## gahdzila

Starting off with the Sugar Barrel sample Dan sent. The smell in the bag is fantastic, but the taste is a little flat. I can definitely see why people like it, but my first impression is that it's not quite as good as my old standby OTC, Prince Albert.

Thanks again for the sample, Dan!


----------



## DanR

gahdzila said:


> Starting off with the Sugar Barrel sample Dan sent. The smell in the bag is fantastic, but the taste is a little flat. I can definitely see why people like it, but my first impression is that it's not quite as good as my old standby OTC, Prince Albert.
> 
> Thanks again for the sample, Dan!


Anytime Clifford! It's interesting how everyone's tastes are different. I like the sugar barrel a lot more than PA. Oh well, to each his own I guess.

GL Pease Laurel Heights for me this morning. Now this is one boring smoke. It'll be going to the back of the cupboard for a while! We'll see what a year will do for it.


----------



## freestoke

Wow, Puff is slappin' Mr. Pease around pretty good these days. :lol: 

Just thought I'd crank up some SB to get in synch. Gotta pack this stuff pretty tight in a cob, I think, at least what I've got -- fairly dry out of the tub. The MM CGent is handling it nicely right now. ipe: Seems like you have to tamp pretty firm, too, otherwise it gets wimpy, wispy and insubstantial in the chamber. It seems the cut is more like CH than PA.


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Wow, Puff is slappin' Mr. Pease around pretty good these days. :lol:


I like a lot of his stuff. Union Square and Westminster are two of my favorite smokes. His quiet nights is good too. Laurel Heights just doesn't cut it for me. It reminded me too much of cigarettes.

To be fair, I had a bowl of GLP Stratford this afternoon, and it was a really nice, peppery VaPer.


----------



## karatekyle

DanR said:


> I like a lot of his stuff. Union Square and Westminster are two of my favorite smokes. His quiet nights is good too. Laurel Heights just doesn't cut it for me. It reminded me too much of cigarettes.
> 
> To be fair, I had a bowl of GLP Stratford this afternoon, and it was a really nice, peppery VaPer.


The only GLP I've tried was lagonda. I found it WAY out of balance. But I'm stressed to find any latakia powerhouse I can deem palatable so that isn't saying much.


----------



## freestoke

I've got some Union Square in storage that I really like. GL isn't all bad! :smile: Following up the 4Dot/PA with the never ending jar of Chipman Hill. I actually like it pretty good, so it could be worse -- it could be a never ending jar of Lagonda. 

I'll hang on a day or two more with the clubs in the trunk. It actually might not rain tomorrow or Wednesday and the temps are reasonable. Could be the curtain coming down on this year's golf. Every now and then though, we have a heat wave this time of year. Oh wait -- that WAS the heat wave! :shock:


----------



## Hannibal

Good Morning All!!

Today I brought some Red Rap and some Anni-Kake and a couple of my Nording Signature pipes.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning fellas. I've got a pair of pipes packed and ready out of my codger jar (1 part PA, 1 part CH, 1 part generic vanilla rum). I think I'll hit the first after lunch, we'll see about the other.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

No pipe was enjoyed this morning but yesterday morning I tried SG Navy Flake for the first time. It was not at all what I was expecting but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The smoky and slightly sweet SG blend was followed by a couple of cigars the details of which are better posted elsewhere.


----------



## Cairns

Smoking And So To Bed this morning, I think they could have chosen a better name for this one that I can enjoy at all parts of the day.


----------



## freestoke

Cairns said:


> Smoking And So To Bed this morning, I think they could have chosen a better name for this one that I can enjoy at all parts of the day.


:lol: Like you're not allowed to smoke Early Morning Pipe in the evening. And Bayou Morning Flake is daunting before noon, too!

Right now, some Sugar Barrel in the old estate Berkebile. Having some problems breaking in the bottom of this pipe. The previous smoker was obviously a "dumper".  Need to build up some cake down there! I think I'm looking at twenty or thirty 1/3 bowls, minimum.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> :lol: Like you're not allowed to smoke Early Morning Pipe in the evening. And Bayou Morning Flake is daunting before noon, too!
> 
> Right now, some Sugar Barrel in the old estate Berkebile. Having some problems breaking in the bottom of this pipe. The previous smoker was obviously a "dumper".  Need to build up some cake down there! I think I'm looking at twenty or thirty 1/3 bowls, minimum.


Berkebile? Never heard of that one! Pretty pipe?


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Berkebile? Never heard of that one! Pretty pipe?


From memory, Berkebile ran pipe store in Georgetown from the 40s/50s until the 90s. He made some nice pipes, apparently. This one is pretty big and was in ugly shape when I acquired it in a lot. I worked my butt off transforming it into something smokable, but now it is! This was obviously somebody's favorite, smoked a bunch -- incorrectly.  And I just fixed the draught hole! TADA!!! Just couldn't figure out what the problem was, but I grabbed the drill part of my senior reamer a few minutes ago and started working on it -- again! There was this little wall, for want of a better word, right as it enters the chamber. I drilled it for a while, trying to smooth it out into the bowl and it worked! It was plugging up before, but now it isn't. I think that's the reason this guy never got to the bottom of the pipe when he smoked it, because I couldn't either. Infuriating. This is a major "breakthrough". :lol: I think I may have a good smoker here before long! The stem is pretty chewed up, but serviceable.

Pretty? The briar is superior, for sure, and the shape is big and interesting. Not sure what it is, shapewise, maybe a large 1/2 bent Rhodesian? The heel is like the prow of a ship. I think it's quite handsome, personally. I'll take it a pic of it before long.

It's smoking to the bottom with some Paper Plate Potpourri at 1/3 load! _Semper Excelsior_!


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> From memory, Berkebile ran pipe store in Georgetown from the 40s/50s until the 90s. He made some nice pipes, apparently. This one is pretty big and was in ugly shape when I acquired it in a lot. I worked my butt off transforming it into something smokable, but now it is! This was obviously somebody's favorite, smoked a bunch -- incorrectly.  And I just fixed the draught hole! TADA!!! Just couldn't figure out what the problem was, but I grabbed the drill part of my senior reamer a few minutes ago and started working on it -- again! There was this little wall, for want of a better word, right as it enters the chamber. I drilled it for a while, trying to smooth it out into the bowl and it worked! It was plugging up before, but now it isn't. I think that's the reason this guy never got to the bottom of the pipe when he smoked it, because I couldn't either. Infuriating. This is a major "breakthrough". :lol: I think I may have a good smoker here before long! The stem is pretty chewed up, but serviceable.
> 
> Pretty? The briar is superior, for sure, and the shape is big and interesting. Not sure what it is, shapewise, maybe a large 1/2 bent Rhodesian? The heel is like the prow of a ship. I think it's quite handsome, personally. I'll take it a pic of it before long.
> 
> It's smoking to the bottom with some Paper Plate Potpourri at 1/3 load! _Semper Excelsior_!


Glad you're having fun with it, Jim!

I think I'll smoke the bowl of LNF that *mmiller* was so nice to bomb me with. I'm interested to see how this stuff is. Then tonight, its Sugar Barrel from *DanR*! Gosh, I should just stop buying tobak for how generous you guys are.


----------



## freestoke

Exercising this Berkebile again with some Sugar Barrel. ipe: (Ha. As if. We're sending all that kind of crap to Kyle and keeping the M79 to ourselves! :evil


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Exercising this Berkebile again with some Sugar Barrel. ipe: (Ha. As if. We're sending all that kind of crap to Kyle and keeping the M79 to ourselves! :evil


You guys like M79? I'll send my tub your way! :thumb:


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> You guys like M79? I'll send my tub your way! :thumb:


I wouldn't send it by mail, Kyle. You have to declare it as hazardous materials and can wind up on a terrorist watch list. :spy:


----------



## gahdzila

After an unseasonably warm and toasty weekend, it's now unusually cold. It was 35 this morning, and only expected to reach the mid 40's today. UGH. I don't know how the hell you guys up north survive the winters. Cold weather makes me absolutely miserable.

I wasn't feeling up to sitting out in the cold for my morning smoke, so I cranked the truck and let it warm up a little, and left for work early and drove REALLY slowly, and enjoyed some Orlick Golden Sliced on my commute.


----------



## The Mad Professor

For the past three or four days I have attempted to comment in this thread. Yet every morning something has distracted me during my editing process and I have failed to hit the "Post" button. In the evening I return to my computer and find my unused words from the morning still sitting diligently in the text box, only to delete them for sake of relevancy. 

In fact one evening I almost made a bald-faced lie by copying/pasting the abandoned words from this thread into the Tonight's Smokes thread, not even changing the tobacco names to reflect what I was really smoking at the time. But, alas I couldn't bring myself to lie about such matters to you gentleman (actually I got distracted then too! :lol.

So today I am fully committed to posting in this thread, with minimal distraction, at least once today sometime before noon PST.

...Errr, so committed in fact I haven't even sparked up this morning yet. It will be some left over Kendal Kentucky in my Falcon this morning, then followed by... LTF I think -- it made a great morning smoke the other day (one of those neglected and aborted posts).

Anyway, good morning to you gentlemen, and maybe I'll post again by the week's end...if I remember...


----------



## freestoke

:boohoo: We don't tolerate slackers here, Joe. :boink: You'll either start making your posting quota or -- :spy: -- I'd rather not say.

Time for some *Ennerdale! * The Alpha Litewate is afraid. :behindsofa:


----------



## freestoke

I've been giving the Prince short shrift lately. So, straight up, I'm smoking some PA in the 4Dot. (Howzat, Albert?) Golden Age on deck.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> After an unseasonably warm and toasty weekend, it's now unusually cold. It was 35 this morning...


:shock: It was warmer here in Central NY! That actually happened a couple of times in the dead of winter last year, where we were warmer than -- Miami! :biglaugh: And we needed it, too! (Saved a roof shoveling episode, actually.) The Great Lakes are pretty warm now, not cooling off much this fall. The lake effect will be horrific I'm afraid. :behindsofa:

Okay, I'm graduating from the 4Dot to the Four Dot pot that has last night's fill of Golden Age ready to go. ipe: Nice!


----------



## karatekyle

Snuff this morning. But a few pipes will be smoked after lunch. Its 40*+ today, taking full advantage of the beautiful weather!


----------



## Hannibal

Well yesterday I had the IF and the Royal Yacht. I loved both of them although the IF was a PITA to get lit and keep lit. I guess I still need a lot of work on the flake tobaccos....

Today I brought some MacBaren Vintage Syrian and some Two Friends English Chocolate. I've brought one of my Peterson's and a Stanwell for the tools to use today.


----------



## Stonedog

I had some FVF for the first time this morning courtesy of BigBehr (thanks again Ryan). 

I'm curious how this compares to other dark VA flakes (like Wessex Brigade, etc)?


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> Well yesterday I had the IF and the Royal Yacht. I loved both of them although the IF was a PITA to get lit and keep lit. I guess I still need a lot of work on the flake tobaccos....


You can pack flakes a bit tighter than ribbon, because the gauge of the threads is larger and spaces remain for airflow, and once it gets going it stays lit much better. Do that with ribbon and it makes an airtight, flameproof plug. If you pack flake too loosely, the ember doesn't spread out as well. Seat the fill a little deeper, and like Gahdzilla was suggesting on the Tonight's Smoke thread, put a layer of something more flammable on top for kindling, like PA, something on the dry side.

Might want to try http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/293111-musketballing.html


----------



## Hannibal

I'll have to try the musketballing next time. I did the fold and stuff and the first time it totally plugged off the pipe. So I pulled it out a bit which made it better but when I was lighting it it seemed to burn straight down the center and not the outsides. So I ended up with the sides not really burnt at all and was trying to fold the unburnt tobak down to the ember itself.... I hope that made some sort of sense.


----------



## DanR

Hannibal said:


> I'll have to try the musketballing next time. I did the fold and stuff and the first time it totally plugged off the pipe. So I pulled it out a bit which made it better but when I was lighting it it seemed to burn straight down the center and not the outsides. So I ended up with the sides not really burnt at all and was trying to fold the unburnt tobak down to the ember itself.... I hope that made some sort of sense.


You could try letting it dry out a bit too. If that IF was still fresh, it might need an hour or more in the air.


----------



## gahdzila

Personally, Jeff, I only tried folding and stuffing once or twice and just couldn't make it work. What works for me with flakes is to cut them against the grain with a pair of scissors into strips around 1/4 inch and then sorta crumble the pieces. IF is hard to light, it's not just you! Like Jim mentioned, I like to layer some easy lighting kindling on top (prince Albert is my fav, but any of the drug store blends should work just as well).

My morning started off with a bang. Overslept, hurriedly pulled on some clothes and rushed my 4 year old daughter to the dentist to make her 8:00 appointment for a filling. My poor baby was so drunk on "happy juice" that she couldn't walk a straight line to save her life! The deed is done without too much trauma and tears. Her breakfast of choice afterwards - bananas and donuts (I have no idea where she came up with that combination). I plopped her in front of the tv watching "The Little Mermaid" and stepped out to the carport for my breakfast of choice - coffee and a pipe.

Today, it's GLP Lagonda in a cob. I do like this blend much better in the early morning with coffee...nonetheless, I'm glad that there's only maybe one full bowl left in my jar, and I won't be buying more.


----------



## Nachman

Try acting like you are rolling a cigarette and roll the flake back and forth in your fingers to loosen the threads then fold it in half. insert in the pipe then push down hard on the loose end to pack. It will be a little hard to light, but once lit it will burn evenly all the way to the bottom.


----------



## karatekyle

Nachman said:


> Try acting like you are rolling a cigarette and roll the flake back and forth in your fingers to loosen the threads then fold it in half. insert in the pipe then push down hard on the loose end to pack. It will be a little hard to light, but once lit it will burn evenly all the way to the bottom.


Exactly! When I first tried to fold and stuff, I literally folded it and stuffed it without any rub. That doesn't work so well. I almost do the hot dog fold, hamburger fold, then grab both sides and twist back and forth in opposite directions. When it starts to get messy, into the pipe it goes. That's about the only way I have success with any folding and stuffing.


----------



## Hannibal

karatekyle said:


> Exactly! When I first tried to fold and stuff, I literally folded it and stuffed it without any rub. That doesn't work so well. I almost do the hot dog fold, hamburger fold, then grab both sides and twist back and forth in opposite directions. When it starts to get messy, into the pipe it goes. That's about the only way I have success with any folding and stuffing.


See that's exactly how I did it. I took a flake out of the baggie, folded it in half width wise and then folded it length wise and stuffed it. So It was almost just like it was still in the baggie only folded twice. I'm glad I'm not the only one that had trouble starting out. I'm not ready to give up just yet. I know I'll get it sooner or later, probably later, but from what I see so far the flake seems to last a lot longer than any other cut as far as burn time.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Exactly! When I first tried to fold and stuff, I literally folded it and stuffed it without any rub. That doesn't work so well. I almost do the hot dog fold, hamburger fold, then grab both sides and twist back and forth in opposite directions. When it starts to get messy, into the pipe it goes. That's about the only way I have success with any folding and stuffing.


That makes it a musketball, for all intents and purposes, as long as you leave an air pocket. The method on the MacBaren video on the fold and stuff only seems to work with fine threaded flakes, like LNF and MB Navy Flake but doesn't work worth a damn with something thick like the GH&Co. or SG flakes. Basically, you wind up rubbing them out "in place", rather than letting the pieces fall back on the plate/paper or whatever you're rubbing them out over.

Right now, I'm musketballing some Reiner LGF with a Paper Plate Potpourri ignition topping. ipe:


----------



## DanR

Or you could just rub it all out on a paper plate and load it as normal!


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> That makes it a musketball, for all intents and purposes, as long as you leave an air pocket. The method on the MacBaren video on the fold and stuff only seems to work with fine threaded flakes, like LNF and MB Navy Flake but doesn't work worth a damn with something thick like the GH&Co. or SG flakes. Basically, you wind up rubbing them out "in place", rather than letting the pieces fall back on the plate/paper or whatever you're rubbing them out over.
> 
> Right now, I'm musketballing some Reiner LGF with a Paper Plate Potpourri ignition topping. ipe:


Yeah, that's about the only thing I do. Besides a simple rub, that is.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Yup, I did the same with my first fold & stuff attempt - you are totally not alone! Thanks Nachman for the proper technique, I'll have to try it again. I have mostly preferred musketballing since I read Jim's post, especially since I like me some GH&Co flakes.

I watched a video where a gentleman from James Fox "rolled" the pipe in small circles upside down on top of some tobacco in his hand, and it packs itself (ribbon cut). I've adapted this into my musketballing technique with improved results for even lighting/burning. The "swirl" to the tobacco is what is supposed to help this, and I find it seems to work. Now the EPS's are gonna :sl me...

@Freestoke - Yessir, sorry sir! :hail: No slacking today! I posted why you all were sleeping (while scouring eBay), and now I'm enjoying bowl of Royal Yacht after only a few hours rest.


----------



## Nachman

Dug out a big old Danish Sovereign billiard and smoked a pipe of Carter Hall this morning. I did that because I had to smoke inside because of the cold and thought the room note would be reasonable. I was in one room with a big air purifier running and the wife went down the hall to another room, shut the door and sealed off the cracks with towels. As soon as I lit up she started gagging, coughing and carrying on. She said it is much worse than the Royal Yacht I usually smoke. I think it is in her head.


----------



## gahdzila

I think you're right, Nick 

My sweet tooth has really been rearing its head! McClelland Holiday Spirit last night (review is up in the review section). Sterling Sweet Briar this morning. Where do they come up with these names? Sweet Briar? Did someone douse a briar bush with honey and start gnawing on it one day and decide to blend a tobacco to match? I guess Sweet Briar is as good a name as any for it. It's an aro that doesn't seem to really taste like anything. Quite sweet but not cloying. Sorta grassy? Maybe some clove? A faint hint of some unidentifiable fruit. ::shrug:: maybe I'll go gnaw on some briars later and compare. Regardless, it's a pretty good aro that hits the spot when I want something sweet.


----------



## Stonedog

PS Luxury Bullseye Flake in my Viking. I'd heard good things about LBF and I think I agree with all of them. In fact I drove about 8 miles out of my way just so that I could finish the entire bowl.


----------



## DanR

Nachman said:


> Dug out a big old Danish Sovereign billiard and smoked a pipe of Carter Hall this morning. I did that because I had to smoke inside because of the cold and thought the room note would be reasonable. I was in one room with a big air purifier running and the wife went down the hall to another room, shut the door and sealed off the cracks with towels. As soon as I lit up she started gagging, coughing and carrying on. She said it is much worse than the Royal Yacht I usually smoke. I think it is in her head.


Nick - That's Funny! I think your wife and mine can now share a common bond - drama! If I simply walk through the house with a lit pipe, the coughing and gagging comes to life - a very fake cough too! It's comical...

I had a small bowl of Sugar Barrel mixed with a touch of McClelland Christmas Cheer for added spiceyness this morning!


----------



## karatekyle

I love my girlfriend. But I told her she has two choices, because I'm buying the house.

1) She can have one room of her choice that is specifically non-smoking and I'll respect and uphold that requirement and not complain about it

or

2) I can have one room of my choice that is smoking and she will have to respect that and not complain about it


Bet you can't guess what she chose :lol:


----------



## The Mad Professor

Very diplomatic Kyle - I applaud you, sir. I will assume she chose the second option?

I'm sorry Nick and Dan that your wives are not agreeable to pipe smoke. I found that smoking cigarettes for a number of years makes them appreciate pipe smoke more! :lol:

I get to smoke my pipes inside, no restrictions, but I try to be courteous about ventilation and whatnot. Its quite kind of her not to complain since it was originally the aromatics that she enjoyed while I smoked them indoors - but she says the more plain tobaccos don't smell "bad", but they don't smell good either.

It's Royal Yacht for me now. I think I'll have some Holiday Spirit next for her to wake up to - a little gesture of appreciation. Then an omelet and pancake breakfast as it is the weekend for me.


----------



## DanR

karatekyle said:


> I love my girlfriend. But I told her she has two choices, because I'm buying the house.
> 
> 1) She can have one room of her choice that is specifically non-smoking and I'll respect and uphold that requirement and not complain about it
> 
> or
> 
> 2) I can have one room of my choice that is smoking and she will have to respect that and not complain about it
> 
> Bet you can't guess what she chose :lol:


My wife would probably let me have a room too, the garage.


----------



## karatekyle

The Mad Professor said:


> Very diplomatic Kyle - I applaud you, sir. I will assume she chose the second option?
> 
> I'm sorry Nick and Dan that your wives are not agreeable to pipe smoke. I found that smoking cigarettes for a number of years makes them appreciate pipe smoke more! :lol:
> 
> I get to smoke my pipes inside, no restrictions, but I try to be courteous about ventilation and whatnot. Its quite kind of her not to complain since it was originally the aromatics that she enjoyed while I smoked them indoors - but she says the more plain tobaccos don't smell "bad", but they don't smell good either.
> 
> It's Royal Yacht for me now. I think I'll have some Holiday Spirit next for her to wake up to - a little gesture of appreciation. Then an omelet and pancake breakfast as it is the weekend for me.


Even the straight tobaccos are still pretty palatable to the nostrils, I think. But I was a cigar guy before I came to the pipe. At first, Taylor loved it (compared to cigars). Now, she's used to the smell enough that she's become picky again :lol:


----------



## freestoke

About anything goes but "bug spray", aka Ennerdale. As nice as Three Blind Moose's room note is, it can become overwhelming smoked straight, which is why I smoke it only as a flavoring/air-freshener with other tobaccos -- but it's super for that! Right now, it's just plain ol' PA in the plain ol' 4Dot.


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen.

I bought a Lepeltier pipe from another brother here on puff, and received it yesterday. Very lightly used, the bowl interior is barely starting to tint brown. Gorgeous. It was calling my name this morning....but I haven't cleaned it yet and barely used is still used, so at bare minimum I want to run some everclear through the stem to disinfect it before I smoke it.

So I grabbed a cob (big surprise there, right? :mrgreen, and am giving Holiday Spirit another go.


----------



## PiperPilot

My plan of attack was to wait for a really cold night when the wife couldn't make me go outside. I got her to agree to let me smoke a bowl in my basement office/grown ups only room. I put a fan in the window next to my desk and closed the door tight. She went to bed and the next morning she came down to use the computer. I confessed to her that I smoked three bowls that night. She had to admit that the little smell left was barely noticeable and not unpleasant. Since that night, I've been smoking regularly down here. No complaints yet. 

Enjoying my Pete Apple filled with the newly named Boswell's Piper's Pleasure. They sent me a sample with my last order with a note asking to send in suggestions for a name. Mine didn't win, but I still recommend it. Reminds me of a Hershey bar. Very cocoa-y.


----------



## freestoke

DGTing some Sail Green this morning. Filled the Dunhill shell last night, lit it up, took a few puffs and decided to go to bed. :faint: 

Ya know, it's the original stem on this Dunhill and -- got to be the worst stem ever. :frown: Fat, uncomfortable and all but unclenchable. How can that be? Did Dunhill spend so much time making the perfect bowl and shank that they gave the stem short shrift, or do some people actually like this kinda thing? I like 'em thin and wide. My old Sasieni prince's stem isn't very wide, but it's a very comfortable stem, as are all the Sasieni stems. This one's really bad. Makes my jaw hurt.


----------



## gahdzila

Smoking inside is always going to be a rare luxury for me. We have kids in the house, so I wouldnt smoke around them indoors anyway. But my wife is a cigarette smoker, and we have both agreed to keep our habits outside. If she were to ever catch me openly smoking a pipe inside, she'd take that as license to bring her pack-a-day habit into our living room...and I can't let that happen! So I'm stuck outside. I'll rarely smoke an aro inside, when my wife isn't around, as it leaves a pleasant aroma, and her sense of smell is so screwed up anyway that she doesn't notice it at all (particularly over all of her scented candles).


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> ...particularly over all of her scented candles).


I'd be dead in a week.

Still workin' on the Sail Green. :shock: THIS is why I don't smoke this Dunhill much! Just realized it. What a terrible stem.  The more I think about it, it is the very first pipe I've ever had that had a stem that made smoking it almost unenjoyable.

Something occurred to me the other day: Xmas is about as Western as you can get. It's taken Santa a long time to realize the value of outsourcing, but I think he's fully embraced the concept now. (If you haven't heard, the Elves have all been laid off.)  They've outsourced Xmas to China, _*in toto*_ -- all the lights and decorations are made in China now! :ask: I find it so weird, thinking about Chinese workers busily pumping out Druid mistletoe and holly, replicas of angels and cherubs drawn by 16th Century Florentine artists, Charles Dickens-themed ornaments and so forth.(Let's not even think about the toys, aka electronic gadgets.) Can you imagine, say, Dayton, Ohio, becoming the main supplier of dragons, masks and kites for Chinese New Year? :lol:

Okay, things are improving. This is my first decent pipefull since yesterday after dinner -- other than the PA/4Dot, of course. OGS in the Canadian is restoring my equanimity. And the third cup of coffee is finally calming me down some. ipe:


----------



## Xodar

Ahhh Friday. Just rubbed a big pile of FVF out to dry, smoking MacB NF in the diplomat and coffee so strong there's oil floating on the top. In the roller coaster of the 7 day week we're just now reaching the top of the big drop.


----------



## PiperPilot

freestoke said:


> I'd be dead in a week.
> 
> I find it so weird, thinking about Chinese workers busily pumping out Druid mistletoe and holly, replicas of angels and cherubs drawn by 16th Century Florentine artists, Charles Dickens-themed ornaments and so forth.(Let's not even think about the toys, aka electronic gadgets.) Can you imagine, say, Dayton, Ohio, becoming the main supplier of dragons, masks and kites for Chinese New Year? :lol:


Makes me think of the scene in A Christmas Story when they go out to the Chinese Restaurant for Christmas dinner. "Deck the halls with boughs of horry. Fa ra ra ra raaaa fa ra ra ra."


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> I'd be dead in a week.


eh, I hardly notice them anymore. I don't like some of them (particularly the cheapie ones), but most of hers are Circle E's and they smell ok, especially the desert scented ones. The one in the bathroom now is caramel apple pie or something like that. What annoys me is that she goes around the house lighting multiple ones. I usually go behind her and blow them all out except for the one in whatever room she's in. Of course this drives her bonkers LOL.

Cleaned my new-to-me Lepeltier with some everclear and fired up some GH&Co Dark Flake Scented. I'm liking this new pipe a lot!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> eh, I hardly notice them anymore.


For whatever reason, those sorts of scents cause me asthma problems, so I wasn't talking about merely suffering with an unpleasant smell. The little automated things that puff stuff from an electrical device are especially troublesome. A few perfumes, especially the ones that smell like insecticide, actually make my eyes water. Asthma attacks in the general population are triggered more frequently by scents than by smoke, BTW, but don't expect them to be banning those musk perfumes so popular with the macho crowd anytime soon. (I blame Joe Namath for their popularity.)

I'm putting up a protective smoke screen right this minute, with some PA spiked with a renegade flake of IF I found on the the plate. In the 4Dot, of course. I did an excellent job of sleeping in today. :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> I did an excellent job of sleeping in today. :smile:


My kids did an excellent job of waking me up early :banghead:. But I poured them up some cereal and lay on the couch in my pj's and watched Spongebob for a couple of hours. Almost as good as sleeping in. Plus, I'll feel justified in taking an afternoon nap now :mrgreen:

Orlick Golden Sliced for me this morning. I'm down to a single flake. Gotta order some more!!!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Orlick Golden Sliced for me this morning. I'm down to a single flake. Gotta order some more!!!


Just finishing a bowl of OGS myself! I can't blame the TwoDot for feeling bitter; I don't see any reason for the demotion from a FourDot. In FACT, I think this TwoDot is BETTER than the FourDot! Too bad the Statue of Limitations has expired, or I'd file a defamation suit on its behalf.

Getting ready to take a walk -- WAY too cold to be playing, but the sun is shining and I'll have a chance to fire up some Ennerdale! Already got the Country Gentleman loaded and ready to roll. :mrgreen:


----------



## Hannibal

Morning Brothers!!

Today I'll be trying some H&H Havana Daydream in one of my Nordings and one of my Peterson's. I'm really excited to try this tobak it smells wonderful.


----------



## freestoke

"Ha*b*ana Daydream", Hannival. :boink:

Sorry, Jeff, I'm just starting my first cup of coffee.:cf There...that's better. Now a little PA...ipe:

The sun's gonna be shining over the trees here directly, supposedly warming things up a bit for a fairly nice day.


----------



## Hannibal

Can't a guy get a brake around here...... :lol:

Notice that post was at 5:34 AM. I got up at 2:30, showered, drove the hour and fifteen minutes to work, got here at about 4:30 and I'm still not awake as of yet. Yes it sucks to be me!!


----------



## PiperPilot

Finishing a bowl of Xmas cookie that I started last night. The wife and I watched an episode of American Horror Story in my basement smoking room last night and she got freaked out, causing me to leave my pipe unfinished. I have to say, this blend does not take to DGT very well. Might dump it and move on to something more English.


----------



## gahdzila

Morning, gents.

So....I was wrong yesterday. Actually, there was one whole flake and also (already rubbed out) about a half flake of OGS in that jar. I usually smoke just one whole flake at a time, but I seem to remember prepping two flakes at one time once, and dumping the leftovers back in the jar. So I packed those remnant scraps of OGS in a cob and topped it with Carter Hall. And still have one whole flake of OGS left


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> Can't a guy get a brake around here...... :lol:
> 
> Notice that post was at 5:34 AM. I got up at 2:30, showered, drove the hour and fifteen minutes to work, got here at about 4:30 and I'm still not awake as of yet. Yes it sucks to be me!!


Nightmarish. I'm having flashbacks to swingshifts in the AF. :wacko:

A little Tilbury in the much under-exercised Alpha Litewate. The third cup of coffee almost woke me up. :tu


----------



## freestoke

Distressing news. A pair of pandas has been sent to Scotland (why, I don't know -- I couldn't continue reading). The chilling headline says they were greeted with *bagpipe* music. Where are the demonstrators!? :dunno: This sort of animal cruelty should be stopped, maybe by a tourist boycott.

And I hate inaccurate reporting too!  "Bagpipe music" is an oxymoron. As Bill Maher has pointed out, the bagpipe is not a musical instrument, it's a Scottish breathalyzer. You blow into it and if noise comes out, you're not drunk enough.

As I contemplate these awful words and events, I'm thinking I'll need something potent to restore my equanimity. IF! :tu


----------



## karatekyle

Not a fan of bagpipes, Jim? I've got a buddy who plays 'em. I get a hoot out of it.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Not a fan of bagpipes, Jim? I've got a buddy who plays 'em. I get a hoot out of it.


Yeah. "Hoot" seems like as good a word as any for the noise, at least without resorting to swearing. Don't feel too bad, though. A "hoot" is about the best I've heard ANYBODY get out of one of the damn things.


----------



## Nachman

My grandmother was from Ayreshire and proud to be a descendent of Sir Robert himself. When I was a boy my father had a set of bagpipes. I could never tell if he was making music or not. They just made honks and squawks


----------



## gahdzila

Morning, gentlemen.

Back to work for me!

Polished off the OGS in my favorite cob this morning. Ordered two 100g tins of it yesterday.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> My grandmother was from Ayreshire and proud to be a descendent of Sir Robert himself. When I was a boy my father had a set of bagpipes. I could never tell if he was making music or not. They just made honks and squawks


Only something like 10% of the population is truly tone deaf. I suspect those people and the ones who like bagpipes overlap a lot. The inability to keep time is closely associated with tone deafness, and the complete absence of rhythmic interest in bagpipe music looks suspiciously non-coinicidental. :spy: The advantage is obvious -- it really doesn't make any difference when the various pipers are playing whatever note they want when playing together.

As I cogitate over these deep and troubling truths, I'm following my bowl of PA with a TwoDot filled with some BBF. ipe: And a third cup of coffee! :cp


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Only something like 10% of the population is truly tone deaf. I suspect those people and the ones who like bagpipes overlap a lot. The inability to keep time is closely associated with tone deafness, and the complete absence of rhythmic interest in bagpipe music looks suspiciously non-coinicidental. :spy: The advantage is obvious -- it really doesn't make any difference when the various pipers are playing whatever note they want when playing together.
> 
> As I cogitate over these deep and troubling truths, I'm following my bowl of PA with a TwoDot filled with some BBF. ipe: And a third cup of coffee! :cp


:lol: Jim, you never cease to make me laugh. Maybe it's my north European heritage but I don't mind bagpipe music. I don't crave it, by any means. But it has its place (funerals? :lol. What kind of music _do_ you like? Classical or jazz? Or do you like the popular music of your day? (which is, what. The Beach Boys? Tommy Roe? Or are you older than that? Elvis? Bill Haley?)


----------



## The Mad Professor

Oh boy, I'm opening myself up to ridicule once again but...

I LOVE bagpipe music, well played of course. A poor musician or beginner can make ANY instrument sound like nails on a chalkboard (i.e. saxophone). I always wanted one - that and a kilt :lol:.

I visited Scotland when I was 17 or so and loved it! I would stand for long periods of time infront of the bagpipe "street performers" in full battle regalia playing song after song. I already had a fondness for bagpipes even before that trip.

Having been a musician for over 20 years now I feel that I am certainly not tone deaf or absent in my rhythmic comprehension, but I friggin *love* bagpipes. Alright, laugh away at me now...

Royal Yacht in my best cob again this morning... man I need to eat breakfast soon before I turn green!


----------



## Stonedog

Exhausted Rooster in my Viking Classic this morning. It was the first tin I purchased and I'm a bit sad to see it nearly gone. 

Count me as another fan of well played bagpipes. I think I'll have to find some on Pandora this afternoon.


----------



## karatekyle

The Mad Professor said:


> I LOVE bagpipe music, well played of course. A poor musician or beginner can make ANY instrument sound like nails on a chalkboard (i.e. saxophone).


Even a good musician makes a saxophone sound like nails on a chalkboard. A good musician just does it more tastefully :lol:

_The above message was produced and paid for by brass players everywhere. We approve of this message._


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> Alright, laugh away at me now...


 How can I possibly laugh about this? Here we have a fine young man, with otherwise-reasonable (even laudable!) thought processes and tastes, a man of erudition and accomplishment who, beyond all understanding, possesses this spectacular character flaw?

It's okay, Joe, I have a generous nature. I can overlook it. You're still aces with me! :tu

I need some PA to settle me down a little in the wake of this troubling revelation. ipe:

Well...I'm done with that PA. I've calmed down and moved on to some very fine BBF, in the very fine FourDot. I'mm starting to get some perspective here. After all, I even have friends who like Barry Manilow.

And just when things were going well, I find out about Hannibal. :shock:


----------



## jfserama

Whoa whoa whoa! What's with the bagpipe hate? No. Not cool… Yeah, I love bagpipe music. Like any instrument it can sound horrible, but played right it is simply amazing. Perhaps the bagpipe love comes from having an ex-marine as a father. Bagpipes and marines go together well. Anyways…

My morning smoke was some PA in a cob while driving. Busy day, so I didn't have time to sit and enjoy a fantastic bowl, but the PA was good. Probably going to do some escudo in my Savinelli estate later.


----------



## Hannibal

freestoke said:


> And just when things were going well, I find out about Hannibal. :shock:


Wait, Wait, Wait just a second here.... What about Hannibal???


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> Wait, Wait, Wait just a second here.... What about Hannibal???


The pipes, Hannibal. The OTHER pipes. Don't sweat it, you obviously have company. How else to explain all those bagpipe records? The world is a passing strange place, eh? :lol: I don't really like to think about it much, but there are actually people who like Pat Boone! :dunno:

I'm smoking some Sugar Barrel in the Country Gentleman, to sweeten things up some. ipe:


----------



## Hannibal

*Jim, Jim, Jim..... Lets recap this and then at the end I have a little small question for you.....*



freestoke said:


> _*This is you:*_ Distressing news. A pair of pandas has been sent to Scotland (why, I don't know -- I couldn't continue reading). The chilling headline says they were greeted with *bagpipe* music. Where are the demonstrators!? :dunno: This sort of animal cruelty should be stopped, maybe by a tourist boycott.
> 
> And I hate inaccurate reporting too!  "Bagpipe music" is an oxymoron. As Bill Maher has pointed out, the bagpipe is not a musical instrument, it's a Scottish breathalyzer. You blow into it and if noise comes out, you're not drunk enough.
> 
> As I contemplate these awful words and events, I'm thinking I'll need something potent to restore my equanimity. IF! :tu





freestoke said:


> _*This is you again:*_ Yeah. "Hoot" seems like as good a word as any for the noise, at least without resorting to swearing. Don't feel too bad, though. A "hoot" is about the best I've heard ANYBODY get out of one of the damn things.





freestoke said:


> _*And again:*_ Only something like 10% of the population is truly tone deaf. I suspect those people and the ones who like bagpipes overlap a lot. The inability to keep time is closely associated with tone deafness, and the complete absence of rhythmic interest in bagpipe music looks suspiciously non-coinicidental. :spy: The advantage is obvious -- it really doesn't make any difference when the various pipers are playing whatever note they want when playing together.
> 
> As I cogitate over these deep and troubling truths, I'm following my bowl of PA with a TwoDot filled with some BBF. ipe: And a third cup of coffee! :cp





The Mad Professor said:


> _*This is Joe (The Mad Professor):*_ Oh boy, I'm opening myself up to ridicule once again but...
> 
> I LOVE bagpipe music, well played of course. A poor musician or beginner can make ANY instrument sound like nails on a chalkboard (i.e. saxophone). I always wanted one - that and a kilt :lol:.
> 
> I visited Scotland when I was 17 or so and loved it! I would stand for long periods of time infront of the bagpipe "street performers" in full battle regalia playing song after song. I already had a fondness for bagpipes even before that trip.
> 
> Having been a musician for over 20 years now I feel that I am certainly not tone deaf or absent in my rhythmic comprehension, but I friggin *love* bagpipes. Alright, laugh away at me now...
> 
> Royal Yacht in my best cob again this morning... man I need to eat breakfast soon before I turn green!





freestoke said:


> _*Back to you again:*_ How can I possibly laugh about this? Here we have a fine young man, with otherwise-reasonable (even laudable!) thought processes and tastes, a man of erudition and accomplishment who, beyond all understanding, possesses this spectacular character flaw?
> 
> It's okay, Joe, I have a generous nature. I can overlook it. You're still aces with me! :tu
> 
> I need some PA to settle me down a little in the wake of this troubling revelation. ipe:
> 
> Well...I'm done with that PA. I've calmed down and moved on to some very fine BBF, in the very fine FourDot. I'mm starting to get some perspective here. After all, I even have friends who like Barry Manilow.
> 
> And just when things were going well, I find out about Hannibal. :shock:


*Now for the question: Are you sure it was BBF that you were smoking?? Because if it was I want some of that stuff!!! *:biglaugh:


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> *Now for the question: Are you sure it was BBF that you were smoking?? Because if it was I want some of that stuff!!! *:biglaugh:


Great stuff! :hippie: Nicotine is way underrated, donchathink or dont choooooo?

Got the Berkebile workin' over some Paper Plate Potpourri laced with a little BCA for room note. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Might have been the last nine holes of the year yesterday, but can't complain. Golf in Rome, NY, on the 5th of December!? Bonus coverage all the way and certainly beats snowblowin' the driveway. 

Picked up a guitar for the first time in a while last night, the Yamaha CG31 cedar top getting the call. Played Bach's BWV 999 Prelude* for a while, just to see if there was anything left from the layoff. Last December, I was playing fairly well, after not missing a single day of practice since November of 2005. Then I had hernia surgery and couldn't play for a few weeks and -- I just stopped playing! :frown: I plan to get back into the swing of things this winter, though. Just a little PA before I play it again this morning! 

*This prelude precedes the lute suites, but has no dances associated with it, almost like a free standing musical study. I never tire of it. (I have a theory that Bach was from another planet, stranded on Earth when his ship crashed in Germany.)


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Even a good musician makes a saxophone sound like nails on a chalkboard. A good musician just does it more tastefully :lol:
> 
> _The above message was produced and paid for by brass players everywhere. We approve of this message._


I really like brass ensembles. Very cool. :tu

I'd like to note that anybody can produce a good sound on a piano. One of its disadvantages, actually, zero variation in tone color.

Changing my mind about what I'm going to tackle this morning. Maybe I'll run through my handful of Barrios pieces instead. While I contemplate my morning, I'll have the rest of this Ennerdale from yesterday in the car. ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I really like brass ensembles. Very cool. :tu
> 
> I'd like to note that anybody can produce a good sound on a piano. One of its disadvantages, actually, zero variation in tone color.
> 
> Changing my mind about what I'm going to tackle this morning. Maybe I'll run through my handful of Barrios pieces instead. While I contemplate my morning, I'll have the rest of this Ennerdale from yesterday in the car. ipe:


I'm a low brasser: tuba, trombone, and baritone. Its been a year since I picked up a tuba though. I wish I could continue playing but I just don't have the time anymore  Played piano too, mostly jazz. Never was into classical in my days of piano. I should pick up a cheap guitar and learn some stuff, I wouldn't mind being half decent at that.


----------



## mmiller

karatekyle said:


> I'm a low brasser: tuba, trombone, and baritone. Its been a year since I picked up a tuba though. I wish I could continue playing but I just don't have the time anymore  Played piano too, mostly jazz. Never was into classical in my days of piano. I should pick up a cheap guitar and learn some stuff, I wouldn't mind being half decent at that.


If you ever get a guitar I can teach you man, there are currently 4 guitars in my room. :tu


----------



## asmartbull

EMP in a Cob....for some reason, I prefer this in a Meer...


----------



## Nachman

Freestoke, I see bloody fingers in your future.


----------



## karatekyle

mmiller said:


> If you ever get a guitar I can teach you man, there are currently 4 guitars in my room. :tu


It's a deal! I'll have to bring my own up!


----------



## Stonedog

PA in my Bertram this morning. Lamenting my lack of musical talent and the fact that I didn't stick with the piano lessons as a child.


----------



## karatekyle

Stonedog said:


> Lamenting my lack of musical talent and the fact that I didn't stick with the piano lessons as a child.


You and me both. I hated it at the time, now I highly regret quitting.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Freestoke, I see bloody fingers in your future.


:lol: Not really. I play classical guitar, so not much finger pressure on the strings at all. I hardly even get calluses, actually, even playing three or four hours a day. The lighter you fret, the faster you can go and the better your intonation. You have to fret the note just BARELY past where it buzzes. If you are inconsistent in how hard each string is fretted, things sound a little "sour", because you are basically shortening the string by mashing it into the fretboard, forcing it sharp. I don't play "chords", per se. Chording on a steel string is murder on your fingers!

Still trying to get to that damm guitar this morning! :frown: Right now, I HAVE to have another pipe!! Some IF to get the blood flowing.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> It's a deal! I'll have to bring my own up!


Hey Kyle! If you have a teacher, my advice is null and void, okay? :lol: You can make some decent progress if you have somebody showing you how it's done! :tu


----------



## HugSeal

You're crazy. I think I will fit right in.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Hey Kyle! If you have a teacher, my advice is null and void, okay? :lol: You can make some decent progress if you have somebody showing you how it's done! :tu


Well good! Much appreciated! By the way, your two videos I've watched so far are SPECTACULAR! The 3/4 waltz-y one has been on repeat for a while now.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Holy crap I gotta get in on this - just my kind of conversation to wake up to!

First off, thanks Jim! Your gregarious conversation, benevolent nature, and exceedingly high character allow me to overlook the villainous slights on the ancestral instrument of my forefathers. :wink:

Also, true that the piano certainly provides for great tone, but it is also very easy to mince notes and it is capable of the most dissonent chords possible, more than any other instrument due to its arrangement.

@Matt - Another biker, pipe smoker, _and_ guitarist?! You're alright in my book, brother :tu

@Stonedog & Kyle - It goes both ways too...every time I play I curse myself for "sucking". I haven't picked up a guitar in about 10 years and haven't said "man, I suck". This is due to that philosophy "the more you learn, the less you know" - when I started I didn't realize in "how many ways" I sucked, now I perfectly aware of how many ways I do.

You're better off not playing, trust me! :lol:

On topic: I'm starting the day off with LNF. I enjoyed the C&D Sunday Picnic last night well enough, so now I need to compare it to the ol' standard favorite. After that I'll dig in the jar and find a HTF I haven't had in awhile (1792 maybe?). Still got a bowl or two left of everything CWL was kind enough to send me, since I have rationed them. Duh, I should have some SJF after the LNF for a direct comparison!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Well good! Much appreciated! By the way, your two videos I've watched so far are SPECTACULAR! The 3/4 waltz-y one has been on repeat for a while now.


Thanks, Kyle! I need some encouragement. Played for almost an hour a little while ago. Not all bad and not nearly as horrible as I anticipated. Got a good story about this sort of thing...George Carlin did an interview with Pablo Casals when Casals was 93 (and still doing concerts!). Carlin asked him why he still practiced three hours a day. Casals responded, "I'm beginning to notice some improvement." :biglaugh:

Still morning out there in LA land, so...I firing up some Nightcap in a Legend. Haven't smoked much Latakia since the Lagonda Incident. ipe:


----------



## The Mad Professor

freestoke said:


> Carlin asked him why he still practiced three hours a day. Casals responded, "I'm beginning to notice some improvement." :biglaugh:


My mom (a pianist for 65 years) used to quote someone (Gershwin maybe?), something to the effect of:

"If I don't practice everyday, I can tell. If I don't practice for two days, my wife can tell. And if I don't practice for three days, my audience can tell."


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> @Stonedog & Kyle - It goes both ways too...every time I play I curse myself for "sucking". I haven't picked up a guitar in about 10 years and haven't said "man, I suck". This is due to that philosophy "the more you learn, the less you know" - when I started I didn't realize in "how many ways" I sucked, now I perfectly aware of how many ways I do.
> 
> *You're better off not playing, trust me*! :lol:


Ain't DAT da troot!? Watching people who can *really* play is depressing, isn't it? :lol:

Every now and then somebody comes along who defies previous "limits", ala Wayne Gretzky or Nadia Comaneci say. A few years back, Christian Haimel did this for the "standard repertoire" on classical guitar. I think more modern CG music, South American stuff mainly, is "harder" in a lot of ways, and certainly more musically interesting, but if you're doing the "old bag of tricks" and run across something like this, it defies belief. This guy is -- different. Same old crapola, same old classical guitar, but there's a surreal perfection about it all, from the tone to the speed, from the phrasing to the total absence of any apparent effort in performing what are fairly difficult pieces of music. I would venture that nobody has played it like this since it was written 200 years ago. Get a load of:

Rossiniana No1 op.119 Finale (Mauro Giuliani) - Christian Haimel - YouTube

I actually play this next piece, threadbare as it is in the CG world, and still really enjoy doing so. It's "fun" to play. In fact, hearing it played about 10 feet in front of me in a restaurant in Georgetown is what lit the fire under me to learn how to play classical guitar. Took me many years to get to the point where I would actually play it in public, but I did it! But when I hear it played like this, I want to sell all my guitars on ebay and give it all up. :lol: UnbeLIEVable volume on that tremolo! :shock: I know it's cliched in the extreme, but wow -- what technique, eh? (Actually, there are people who play this one better, but this one was right there, so...)

Christian Haimel plays Alhambra - YouTube

Think I'll crank it up now and then cry over my ineptitude. :lol:


----------



## mmiller

The Mad Professor said:


> @Matt - Another biker, pipe smoker, _and_ guitarist?! You're alright in my book, brother :tu


Thanks man I appreciate it!


----------



## The Mad Professor

freestoke said:


> Ain't DAT da troot!? Watching people who can *really* play is depressing, isn't it? :lol:


I watched your first link, can't even bring myself to click the second. Thanks for wrecking my day, Jim. Only two words come to mind after that video: Holy $#!t


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Might have been the last nine holes of the year yesterday, but can't complain. Golf in Rome, NY, on the 5th of December!? Bonus coverage all the way and certainly beats snowblowin' the driveway.
> 
> Picked up a guitar for the first time in a while last night, the Yamaha CG31 cedar top getting the call. Played Bach's BWV 999 Prelude* for a while, just to see if there was anything left from the layoff. Last December, I was playing fairly well, after not missing a single day of practice since November of 2005. Then I had hernia surgery and couldn't play for a few weeks and -- I just stopped playing! :frown: I plan to get back into the swing of things this winter, though. Just a little PA before I play it again this morning!
> 
> *This prelude precedes the lute suites, but has no dances associated with it, almost like a free standing musical study. I never tire of it. (I have a theory that Bach was from another planet, stranded on Earth when his ship crashed in Germany.)


Awesome! I didn't think I cared for Bach until I started playing some (piano...more details below). I recently learned Polonaise in G Minor Anh 119 and I'm eager to learn more.



freestoke said:


> I'd like to note that anybody can produce a good sound on a piano.


As a piano student, and a parent of a young piano student, I respectfully disagree. Little gahdzila junior and I can make some pretty horrific noises on the ivories at times :mrgreen:



Stonedog said:


> PA in my Bertram this morning. Lamenting my lack of musical talent and the fact that I didn't stick with the piano lessons as a child.





karatekyle said:


> You and me both. I hated it at the time, now I highly regret quitting.


I put my son in piano lessons when he was 6. He went through a period where he absolutely hated it. We fought some hard battles. Your statements (and my own experience as well) are exactly why I did everything I could to make him stick with it. He's got 2 years of lessons under his belt now, and he actually enjoys it most of the time (though he won't admit it).

I took lessons for maybe a year as a kid, and quit, and of course deeply regret it now. I continued studying music, though, and played clarinet in the high school marching band (though I haven't touched one since).

During one of the raging battles with my son over piano lessons during that dark time about a year ago, he blurted out, "Dad, if you like piano so much, why don't YOU take lessons!?!?!?" Having a piano in the house and watching him play had sparked the interest back up, and I thought it might not be a bad idea to help motivate him...so I figured "why not?" I signed up for lessons, and I'm LOVING it! So, Kyle and Jon - it's never too late to start!!!!!


----------



## karatekyle

gahdzila said:


> Awesome! I didn't think I cared for Bach until I started playing some (piano...more details below). I recently learned Polonaise in G Minor Anh 119 and I'm eager to learn more.
> 
> As a piano student, and a parent of a young piano student, I respectfully disagree. Little gahdzila junior and I can make some pretty horrific noises on the ivories at times :mrgreen:
> 
> I put my son in piano lessons when he was 6. He went through a period where he absolutely hated it. We fought some hard battles. Your statements (and my own experience as well) are exactly why I did everything I could to make him stick with it. He's got 2 years of lessons under his belt now, and he actually enjoys it most of the time (though he won't admit it).
> 
> I took lessons for maybe a year as a kid, and quit, and of course deeply regret it now. I continued studying music, though, and played clarinet in the high school marching band (though I haven't touched one since).
> 
> During one of the raging battles with my son over piano lessons during that dark time about a year ago, he blurted out, "Dad, if you like piano so much, why don't YOU take lessons!?!?!?" Having a piano in the house and watching him play had sparked the interest back up, and I thought it might not be a bad idea to help motivate him...so I figured "why not?" I signed up for lessons, and I'm LOVING it! So, Kyle and Jon - it's never too late to start!!!!!


I took 2 years as well. But it was during those early middle school years when you're really good at learning things. In my prime, I actually was _quite_ the little pianist for my age. I wish I still had an EIGHTH of that ability. I can't even brag about it anymore, all I can plunk out is a few Journey tunes and ragtime pieces. I'll start up again eventually. Wish I had room for a keyboard in my dorm room. Maybe next year, in an apartment!


----------



## jfserama

I know the feeling. I took about 6 years of piano, and I have completely lost all ability I once had. I still remember one song, and thats it. I really need to re-learn…


----------



## Stonedog

gahdzila said:


> I put my son in piano lessons when he was 6. He went through a period where he absolutely hated it. We fought some hard battles. Your statements (and my own experience as well) are exactly why I did everything I could to make him stick with it. He's got 2 years of lessons under his belt now, and he actually enjoys it most of the time (though he won't admit it).


I quit a month or so after starting back when I was in junior high. My friends where giving me a hard time and I'd rather be outside playing ball, so... But, the lessons were free (my aunt is classically trained) and I'm really kicking myself now.

My son who is now 14 took a few years of trumpet. I'm happy to say that the local public schools require at least two years of band, orchestra or chorus. He enjoyed it and was proud of his accomplishments but we let him drop it now that he's in high school and has a number of other extra curricular activities competing for his time.

My daughter, now 10, is starting violin now so that when she gets to middle school she'll have a head start.

Alas, no piano in our house though. I've been trolling craigslist for an affordable upright but most of them appear to be crap.

Oh yeah, PA Choice Blend in my Bertram this morning. I think I prefer normal PA and may end up mixing some of this Choice Blend with rubbed-out Uni Flake to make it a bit more interesting.


----------



## [OT] Loki

ya'll got room for an old guy at this party?


----------



## Hannibal

[OT] Loki said:


> ya'll got room for an old guy at this party?


Always Brother!! Welcome to the madness.....


----------



## Hannibal

Morning Brothers.... Can't say there is anything good about it yet.

So the last few days I have been salt cleaning my pipes. This morning I picked up my very favorite pipe, it's a Tom Spanu signature. I was looking it over amazed by the craftsmanship that went into making it and all of the wonderful grain. I picked up the mouthpiece and started fitting it into the pipe. Well today it seemed a little tight and I pushed a little harder. Hindsight is always 20/20 and now I'm kicking myself in the ass VERY HARD!!!! Yep you guessed it when I pushed a little harder the tenon broke..... I am really beside myself, this was my most favorite pipe.

So hopefully my early string of bad luck will not continue on for the rest of my day. If it does I think I need to just go home and not touch anything........


----------



## [OT] Loki

i know a good pipe guy if you're looking to get that fixed


----------



## Hannibal

[OT] Loki said:


> i know a good pipe guy if you're looking to get that fixed


Well I just sat it down and didn't even look at it. But I think remembering the tenon was almost flush with the body and it's probably going to be a bitty to get out....

I almost don't want to go home and see it.


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> Well I just sat it down and didn't even look at it. But I think remembering the tenon was almost flush with the body and it's probably going to be a bitty to get out....
> 
> I almost don't want to go home and see it.


Wow, major bummer, Jeff. :frown: I wouldn't worry about getting the other piece out. Let whoever you get to fix it mess with it, since they'll have the tools and whatnot and how to deal with it without breaking the shank or something. You'll be able to get a new stem on it for $25 or so. Skip a night out at a restaurant and it's payed for!

Firing up the standard 4Dot/PA. Actually had breakfast this morning -- woke up starving! Looks like I'll be good to go with the VitN early this morning. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

[OT] Loki said:


> ya'll got room for an old guy at this party?


How old? :spy: We're QUITE finicky on this thread. You'll need a pipe and tobacco, though.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Alas, no piano in our house though. I've been trolling craigslist for an affordable upright but most of them appear to be crap.


Ever consider an electric keyboard? People buy 'em and then sell them cheap all the time when they find out they actually have to PRACTICE to be able to play one. :lol: A keyboard's a keyboard -- sort of. You can definitely get a lot of music out of one.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Ever consider an electric keyboard? People buy 'em and then sell them cheap all the time when they find out they actually have to PRACTICE to be able to play one. :lol: A keyboard's a keyboard -- sort of. You can definitely get a lot of music out of one.


Mrs StoneDog and I have considered them. I grew up with a piano in the house as did my wife. Maybe I'm just a snob, but keyboards seem to be temporary (or disposable?) pieces of plastic and electronics. At least an upright is considered furniture?


----------



## freestoke

@clifford: "As a piano student, and a parent of a young piano student, I respectfully disagree. Little gahdzila junior and I can make some pretty horrific noises on the ivories at times." I meant playing a single note. Can't miss a good *tone* with one note at a time on a piano. Even my cats do alright. :lol:



Stonedog said:


> Mrs StoneDog and I have considered them. I grew up with a piano in the house as did my wife. Maybe I'm just a snob, but keyboards seem to be temporary (or disposable?) pieces of plastic and electronics. At least an upright is considered furniture?


I know what you mean. Believe it or not, I still have the same piano my parents bought for me in 1957. I'll take a pic and post it next time I empty the camera.

I took lessons for years, but never really got anywhere. The teachers never gave me anything I actually wanted to play, ya know? During the summer and fall of '62, I was not in college, but was taking courses in Wichita for wiring the old circuit boards that ran the archaic sorters and collators of the IBM card days. I started taking lessons from this old guy down the street who had been a fixture in the Big Band era. His walls were totally filled with photos of him and every band you can name -- Les Brown, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman -- even a picture of him and Liberace! :lol: There'd be the band, with Doris Day or Bix Beiderbecke at the mic and back in the background he'd be sitting at the piano smiling. Fabulous teacher. He could play absolutely anything. A really nice guy, but the word was he'd drop you as a student in a heartbeat if you didn't do what he told you to do in terms of practice. Lots of exercises -- Hannon, reach development and finger independence exercises, scales in the circle of fifths. A real slave driver! But there was also the practice discipline. You were NOT allowed to practice anything anywhere near up to speed until he gave you the go ahead. One little chunk at a time. And before you know it, I was hammering out Chopin, Brahms and Paderewski! Gotta have a good teacher or all is lost -- and he was a GREAT teacher!! One day I showed up and there was a black wreath on the front door. :sad:

Here's one of the songs he taught me. Can't play it anymore, but...one of the Scott Joplins you never hear. A fabulous piece. He gave me great stuff to learn, he really did. Interesting music makes all the difference in keeping up your enthusiasm for practice.

Scott Joplin's Solace. Played by Brett Youens. - YouTube

Audrey says she likes my piano playing a lot more than my guitar playing. sigh. :frown: Haven't played piano in many years.


----------



## Stonedog

[OT] Loki said:


> ya'll got room for an old guy at this party?


Welcome!

As others have said, prerequisites are few: pipe, tobacco and a not-quite-right-in-the-head mentality


----------



## freestoke

Having some IF in the TwoDot. Excellent! And my fifth cup of coffee is going down pretty easy too on a full stomach -- usually I don't eat until lunch time, so breakfast was a bit different routine today.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> @clifford: "As a piano student, and a parent of a young piano student, I respectfully disagree. Little gahdzila junior and I can make some pretty horrific noises on the ivories at times." I meant playing a single note. Can't miss a good *tone* with one note at a time on a piano. Even my cats do alright. :lol:
> 
> I know what you mean. Believe it or not, I still have the same piano my parents bought for me in 1957. I'll take a pic and post it next time I empty the camera.
> 
> I took lessons for years, but never really got anywhere. The teachers never gave me anything I actually wanted to play, ya know? During the summer and fall of '62, I was not in college, but was taking courses in Wichita for wiring the old circuit boards that ran the archaic sorters and collators of the IBM card days. I started taking lessons from this old guy down the street who had been a fixture in the Big Band era. His walls were totally filled with photos of him and every band you can name -- Les Brown, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman -- even a picture of him and Liberace! :lol: There'd be the band, with Doris Day or Bix Beiderbecke at the mic and back in the background he'd be sitting at the piano smiling. Fabulous teacher. He could play absolutely anything. A really nice guy, but the word was he'd drop you as a student in a heartbeat if you didn't do what he told you to do in terms of practice. Lots of exercises -- Hannon, reach development and finger independence exercises, scales in the circle of fifths. A real slave driver! But there was also the practice discipline. You were NOT allowed to practice anything anywhere near up to speed until he gave you the go ahead. One little chunk at a time. And before you know it, I was hammering out Chopin, Brahms and Paderewski! Gotta have a good teacher or all is lost -- and he was a GREAT teacher!! One day I showed up and there was a black wreath on the front door. :sad:
> 
> Here's one of the songs he taught me. Can't play it anymore, but...one of the Scott Joplins you never hear. A fabulous piece. He gave me great stuff to learn, he really did. Interesting music makes all the difference in keeping up your enthusiasm for practice.
> 
> Scott Joplin's Solace. Played by Brett Youens. - YouTube
> 
> Audrey says she likes my piano playing a lot more than my guitar playing. sigh. :frown: Haven't played piano in many years.


I love Scott Joplin. One of the finest ragtime composers to ever play. Is Audrey your wife's name? I love the name Audrey.


----------



## karatekyle

karatekyle said:


> I love Scott Joplin. One of the finest ragtime composers to ever play. Is Audrey your wife's name? I love the name Audrey.


And (heaven forbid I should post something actually about pipe smoking on this thread :lol I had the rest of a bowl of RY and a bowl of Vanilla Prince Carter, more affectionately known as Kyle Kompound. A little air did this blend well. It has been in my pipe stand decanter jar for a few weeks.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> And (heaven forbid I should post something actually about pipe smoking on this thread :lol I had the rest of a bowl of RY and a bowl of Vanilla Prince Carter, more affectionately known as Kyle Kompound. A little air did this blend well. It has been in my pipe stand decanter jar for a few weeks.


Seems a lot of us are sullying the regal blends with low rent aros of late! :lol: I love the Kyle Kompound moniker!

With any luck, Audrey will eventually marry me. It's been 30 years now, but I don't want to rush her into a bad decision. :smile: She's as pretty as her name. Beautiful, actually, my Truly Fair. I don't deserve her.  They say things work best if the guy is a little smarter, so maybe that's the problem. She's definitely ahead of me in that department!


----------



## [OT] Loki

freestoke said:


> How old? :spy: We're QUITE finicky on this thread. You'll need a pipe and tobacco, though.


been smoking a pipe since 06 mate


----------



## [OT] Loki

Hannibal said:


> Well I just sat it down and didn't even look at it. But I think remembering the tenon was almost flush with the body and it's probably going to be a bitty to get out....
> 
> I almost don't want to go home and see it.


sounds like something I did once. call up mike at cville smoke shop 434.975.1175 tell him kevin sent ya


----------



## [OT] Loki

Stonedog said:


> Welcome!
> 
> As others have said, prerequisites are few: pipe, tobacco and a not-quite-right-in-the-head mentality


well hell, I've got that in spades


----------



## freestoke

[OT] Loki said:


> been smoking a pipe since 06 mate


That'll do. Get your hand stamped at the door so you can come back in without the cover charge.

My god, this IF is kicking my butt! :shock: What the hell, over? :ask: Maybe it's just that's it's burning so well this morning. This TwoDot is such a good smoker! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Slowing things down a bit with some Sugar Barrel in the Diplomat. Nice after that invigorating IF. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Ever consider an electric keyboard? People buy 'em and then sell them cheap all the time when they find out they actually have to PRACTICE to be able to play one. :lol: A keyboard's a keyboard -- sort of. You can definitely get a lot of music out of one.





Stonedog said:


> Mrs StoneDog and I have considered them. I grew up with a piano in the house as did my wife. Maybe I'm just a snob, but keyboards seem to be temporary (or disposable?) pieces of plastic and electronics. At least an upright is considered furniture?


There's a big difference between a "keyboard" and a "digital piano." A keyboard might not have the full range of keys, and the keys are usually just spring loaded to make them pop back up after you press them. A digital piano (what I would recommend) will have full sized weighted keys, with internal hammers and action to make it feel almost exactly like a real piano when you're playing it. Definitely worth the price premium to a student. DP's are serious musical instruments. Do your homework before you buy one. Prices start in the $500 range for the bare minimum and go from there to the stratosphere (thousands). I got really lucky and found one on craigslist for $350. You can get DP's that look like what we all think of when we think "keyboard" (ie - just a slab on a stand), but they also make them in cabinets that look like a real piano if you want something that looks like a piece of furniture - but there's definitely a price premium for those.



freestoke said:


> @clifford: "As a piano student, and a parent of a young piano student, I respectfully disagree. Little gahdzila junior and I can make some pretty horrific noises on the ivories at times." I meant playing a single note. Can't miss a good *tone* with one note at a time on a piano. Even my cats do alright. :lol:


Yeah, I knew what you meant :mrgreen:

I went for a cigar this morning. So maybe I shouldn't be posting here at all LOL.

With all the piano talk, I'm reminded that I should probably go practice!


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Seems a lot of us are sullying the regal blends with low rent aros of late! :lol: I love the Kyle Kompound moniker!
> 
> With any luck, Audrey will eventually marry me. It's been 30 years now, but I don't want to rush her into a bad decision. :smile: She's as pretty as her name. Beautiful, actually, my Truly Fair. I don't deserve her.  They say things work best if the guy is a little smarter, so maybe that's the problem. She's definitely ahead of me in that department!


I hear you. Taylor is definitely smarter than I am. The only reason she ever agreed to date me is because of the candy I bribed her with :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

This morning it was a flake and a half of LNF musketballed (nay, minie balled) into my Bertram. I found when I got to work there was still half a bowl left. It is now DGT'ing until this evening. 

I also loaded a very well aged flake of FVF (thanks Ryan!) into my Viking this morning with the intention to let it sit until the evening. The left over LNF bumps the FVF to tomorrow morning's slot which means a full 24 hours of rest.... :dude:

Now that I think about it, is "DGT" a verb?


----------



## Hannibal

Morning Brothers!

Well today I get to try some PS LNF and some GH & CO Kendal Kentucky given to me as a sampler from The Mad Professor (thanks Joe)! I will be smoking them in two of my Nordings. They both smell wonderful and I'm excited to try both of them! Here's hoping everyone has a great day!


----------



## gahdzila

Stonedog said:


> Now that I think about it, is "DGT" a verb?


Pipe smokers seem to really love abbreviations. It took me a while, but I've figured most of them out. Not this one. What is DGT?

For me, a little PS LNF in a MM :mrgreen:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Pipe smokers seem to really love abbreviations. It took me a while, but I've figured most of them out. Not this one. What is DGT?
> 
> For me, a little PS LNF in a MM :mrgreen:


"Delayed Gratification Technique".

Just getting started this morning with some PA in the 4Dot for a non-change. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

gahdzila said:


> a little PS LNF in a MM :mrgreen:


Inside, for a change. My wife is at work, kids are at school, and it's 28 degrees outside. BRRR!!!!!

There's a little "cubbyhole" (for lack of a better term) in my carport. It's an area about 8 feet deep by 4 feet wide that is enclosed by walls on three sides, and a metal gate on a narrow side. It's an oddity. I can't figure out why they designed this little space like this. My best guess is as a parking spot for a small riding lawn mower, with the locking metal gate as just enough to make it more trouble than it's worth to potential "thieves of opportunity." This little cubbyhole is just wasted space for us - it just collects junk, and it gets nasty as the clothes drier vent goes in there, so lint gets blown all over whatever is in there....and we almost never clean it, since it's just wasted space full of junk. But.....I'm thinking this little spot might make a nice little smoking space for me - clean it up and put a chair all the way in the back, and I'd be completely out of the wind. I think a small box on the floor under the drier vent would collect most of the lint, and proactive cleaning would take care of the rest. I've got electricity there, so I could put a small electric space heater there - with walls on 3 sides, it should warm up nicely, methinks.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> "Delayed Gratification Technique"


Makes sense. Thanks!!!


----------



## freestoke

:ask:


Stonedog said:


> Now that I think about it, is "DGT" a verb?


"Technique" is a noun. I think I'll suggest an alternative to "DGTing", which is one of those awful constructs where you add "ing" to a noun and pretend you're creating a gerund; how about...:ask:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> ... I've got electricity there, so I could put a small electric space heater there - with walls on 3 sides, it should warm up nicely, methinks.


You already GOT a space heater -- the dryer! Just turn it on before you out there and you're all ready to roll. Probably even cheaper, with either a gas or electric dryer on 220.

I was going to keep up with the PA, but I've changed my mind. I think a little *Ennerdale* is in order. The Szabo hasn't had the call for while, so I'm bring in the Hungarian off the bench. ipe: Hmmm...that's going to have dry a little. Make that some Chipman Hill. Once of these days that little jar is going to go empty -- I hope. Not that it's bad! Chipman Hill is really good stuff, I just want to thin the herd.


----------



## karatekyle

No pipe this morning. Maybe one at noon on the way to my lab practical.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> :ask:
> 
> "Technique" is a noun. I think I'll suggest an alternative to "DGTing", which is one of those awful constructs where you add "ing" to a noun and pretend you're creating a gerund; how about...:ask:


Typical Georgia public education followed by a couple of decades of BBS and internet forums have lead me to to this... Now to go google "gerund".

EDIT: So in other words I was gerunding when I wrote DGTing? :dizzy:


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> You already GOT a space heater -- the dryer! Just turn it on before you out there and you're all ready to roll. Probably even cheaper, with either a gas or electric dryer on 220.


:doh:

Didn't even cross my mind. It's worth trying out at least, to see how well it works. It's electric, 220. Hmmm....you think it would be cheaper to run than a space heater? I wouldn't think so, but I'm just guessing. Since electricity will be running the motor as well (wasted electricity....though not much, I would wager....I bet the majority of the electric use of the dryer is for heating), and the ductwork for the dryer vent is 3 or 4 feet long (and of course not insulated) so I would be losing some waste heat there. I guess I could wait until laundry time to smoke :mrgreen: but I think it would get uncomfortable with the humidity back there with an actual load of laundry drying.

I think I'll fire up another bowl of PS LNF. I'm getting a pretty good feel for it, and am almost ready to write my review.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> :doh:
> Since electricity will be running the motor as well (wasted electricity....though not much, I would wager....I bet the majority of the electric use of the dryer is for heating), and the ductwork for the dryer vent is 3 or 4 feet long (and of course not insulated) so I would be losing some waste heat there.


! Gack. :wacko: Yeah, a space heater almost undoubtedly wins the energy efficiency contest. Not to mention wear and tear on the dryer drum bearings. Dumb suggestion. 

The 4Dot has some PA in it, but the top half is some OGS left over on the plate from last night. A very nice start with some very nice coffee. (Some days it brews up better than others. :dunno


----------



## Hannibal

Morning Brothers!!

Today I'm having a couple new ones to me. GH & CO Louisiana Perique and Ennerdale Flake. I brought one of my Stanwells and another one of my Nordings. I'm really interested in seeing how these smoke as the smell is pretty strong.


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> Morning Brothers!!
> 
> Today I'm having a couple new ones to me. GH & CO Louisiana Perique and Ennerdale Flake. I brought one of my Stanwells and another one of my Nordings. I'm really interested in seeing how these smoke as the smell is pretty strong.


That perique is a blender. A heavy perique mix would be maybe 30% perique. Not so sure it would smoke very well alone. I have some perique that I add to things once in a while when I want a bit of extra snork potential.

And a double coincidence this morning. I checked your cellar this morning to see what kind of strong tobaccos you've tried (the Dunhil RY thread) and logged in right after you did. Now, I find myself smoking some *Ennerdale*! :shock: Yep, incinerating some extreme Lakeland as I type, in the Berkebile. Adds that delicious aftertaste of a toxic waste spill to the coffee. Yummy! :lol:


----------



## [OT] Loki

i miss having a local shop to go to and smoke. trying new blends and general bsing...i still text my pipe guy but it's not the same


----------



## Hannibal

freestoke said:


> That perique is a blender. A heavy perique mix would be maybe 30% perique. Not so sure it would smoke very well alone. I have some perique that I add to things once in a while when I want a bit of extra snork potential.
> 
> And a double coincidence this morning. I checked your cellar this morning to see what kind of strong tobaccos you've tried (the Dunhil RY thread) and logged in right after you did. Now, I find myself smoking some *Ennerdale*! :shock: Yep, incinerating some extreme Lakeland as I type, in the Berkebile. Adds that delicious aftertaste of a toxic waste spill to the coffee. Yummy! :lol:


So your not recommending the perique at 100% straight?? :lol: It does have a interesting smell to it....

I can't wait for the toxic waste aftertaste!!! :rofl:


----------



## karatekyle

Hannibal said:


> So your not recommending the perique at 100% straight?? :lol: It does have a interesting smell to it....
> 
> I can't wait for the toxic waste aftertaste!!! :rofl:


I saw a guy on youtube one time that was working on blending. Smoked through a bowl of latakia and a bowl of perique, both straight. Yikes, brave guy.


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> So your not recommending the perique at 100% straight?? :lol: It does have a interesting smell to it....
> 
> I can't wait for the toxic waste aftertaste!!! :rofl:


The smell of the perique is pretty straightforward -- compost. :lol: With all this talk of nicotine, I moved up to some Dark Birdseye in the TwoDot. Should be fairly effective, since I haven't eaten lunch yet. ipe:


----------



## Hannibal

Well I just finished a bowl of the Ennerdale Flake. Although it was good it had a little too much floral/sweet taste for me. It might be one that I would revisit later but as of now I'm just not 100% that I'll run right out and buy some.


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> Well I just finished a bowl of the Ennerdale Flake. Although it was good it had a little too much floral/sweet taste for me. It might be one that I would revisit later but as of now I'm just not 100% that I'll run right out and buy some.


_Brave mensch_! Be sure to put it in a mason jar, or your house will start smelling like...well, like *ENNERDALE*! No baggie can contain it.

Slowing down the action after lunch with some codger PA in the 4Dot. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Once again, here I am between time slots. Too late for the OPGMT and too early for the TSIIFP. We need an Afternoon Smoke Break! Whatever, it's TroutmanII's Sail Green in the MM Country Gentleman. A really nice smoke! ipe: This stuff is 20+ years old! :shock: Thanks again, Scotch! :tu


----------



## freestoke

Okay, another concerted effort to smoke the rest of this Chipman Hill is officially in progress. I have smoked at least 50000 bowls out of this baby food jar, which began half full. I have given away some in NPS trades. There was still half of this teensy little jar left, so I filled the Diplomat for the car just now. Didn't put a dent in it. I put that away, full, and started over with the much larger Country Gentleman. Filled that. There is *JUST AS MUCH CHIPMAN HILL LEFT AS THERE WAS WHEN I STARTED!* :ask: Oh well. Time to hit the road.


----------



## Thirston

freestoke said:


> Be sure to put it in a mason jar, or your house will start smelling like...well, like *ENNERDALE*! No baggie can contain it.


Very, very true. Slow on jarring & my place still smells like an Ennerdale factory. Fouled up my SG BBF sitting
next to it, too. Very powerful lakeland air freshener/ stink bomb.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> ! Gack. :wacko: Yeah, a space heater almost undoubtedly wins the energy efficiency contest. Not to mention wear and tear on the dryer drum bearings. Dumb suggestion.


It was worth considering, at least. I cleaned all the junk (empty boxes, a bicycle that hasn't been ridden in years, jack stands, etc) out of the cubbyhole and ran the dryer as a test run. It didn't do much to warm the area, TBH. I think a space heater pointed directly at me would be more effective to make me feel warmer.



freestoke said:


> Once again, here I am between time slots. Too late for the OPGMT and too early for the TSIIFP. We need an Afternoon Smoke Break!


Yes we do! I was just thinking this a couple of days ago.

PS LNF for me this morning. I didn't quite have time to do my review, and I'm back at work now, so it'll be a few more days.


----------



## freestoke

Thirston said:


> Very, very true. Slow on jarring & my place still smells like an Ennerdale factory. Fouled up my SG BBF sitting
> next to it, too. Very powerful lakeland air freshener/ stink bomb.


Something occurs to me in this context. My first Ennerdale was bought bulk, with several other tobaccos to go with it. If you are going to buy bulk Ennerdale, any other tobacco in your order must be in a can! For whatever reason, isolating the Ennerdale does not occur to online tobacco shippers and the Ennerdale will ghost the bajeezus out of whatever it's next to. When I do the NPS trades, I always wrap the stinkers like Ennerdale or 3BM or Latakia blends in aluminum foil. Slept late this morning! Just now getting around to some PA and my first cup of coffee!


----------



## DanR

I slept in today too, and it was awesome. First time in two weeks I could sleep past 6am. Now I'm having some Bald Headed Teacher. This is a terrific morning smoke. It has a nice natural sweetness that really goes great with my cup of coffee!


----------



## Hannibal

Morning Brothers!

Today I didn't have the luxury of sleeping in, I've been at work sense 0500. But I brought some Boswells Northwoods to smoke in my stanwell and a new to me Karl Erik that I got from Marty at Pulvers Briar. I have high expectations for this pipe and hopefully it will treat me right....


----------



## freestoke

Nice lookin' freehand, Jeff! Hope you brought a LOT of tobacco with you! :lol: 

Smokin' the Mayfair full of Dark Star. The other day I said I was smoking some Dark Birdseye -- but it was Dark Star. Very, very good stuff. There was a thread a while back about a substitute for FVF or BBF. DS might be a good call on that one. Very, very nice tobacco.


----------



## Hannibal

freestoke said:


> Nice lookin' freehand, Jeff! Hope you brought a LOT of tobacco with you! :lol:


Thanks Jim, I think I'll probably smoke a half bowl around lunch with it and see how it goes. If all goes well I'll load it up to the brim for the ride home.


----------



## Troutman22

FVF in my Dunhill - special occasion today.


----------



## karatekyle

A half bowl of DGT'ed Dunbar.


----------



## freestoke

Sitting here glum this morning. :frown: Nobody liked my "Tobak Extremis" artwork (in "Mac Baren -- Discuss"). sigh. Pearls before swine. Maybe after I get this first cup of coffee down and finish this bowl of PA I'll have the strength to carry on bravely with the day.


----------



## freestoke

I channeled George Burns, who always has good advice. Maybe the geezers on this forum found it troubling, he offered, pointing out one of his own great lines: "At my age flowers scare me." Then he started grousing about how Milton Berle always stole his best stuff, so I hung up.

Smoking some Dark Birdseye with a pinch of TBMoose in the quasi-copious Berkebile. More coffee. :cp


----------



## freestoke

I decided to blend up some "Dart Mix". The other day I sallied forth to toss a few, happily smoking up what was in my Diplomat and when I went to refill -- no pouch! :frown: I'm taking a jar of 1/4 PA, 1/4 Dark Birdseye, 1/4 Three Blind Moose and 1/4 perique. Trying it out now. Not bad! ipe: It'll be part of the dart equipment.


----------



## gahdzila

I'm late to the party, but I had a bowl of Orlik Golden Sliced this morning with my first cup of coffee about 4 and a half hours ago (2 more cups of coffee later and I'm still not awake...but I digress). I bought two 100g tins of OGS after enjoying it so much for the review last month....but that turned out to be a mistake. While the 50g tin had nice neat rows of individual portion sized flakes, the 100g tins contained wider foot-long flakes that were stuffed so tightly in the tin that they broke into pieces when I removed them. Of course it smokes just as wonderfully, and tastes just the same. But I much prefered the smaller neater perfectly portioned flakes. I'll order the 50g tins next time.

I for one enjoyed your artwork, Jim :mrgreen:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I for one enjoyed your artwork, Jim :mrgreen:


Thanks, Clifford. Been a tough crowd out there lately -- when there's been a crowd.

Found this Diplomat in the basket full of Chipman Hill from the other day. Might as well start with that. I'm not smoking ANYTHING ELSE until all the Chipman Hill is gone.  There are worse things in life I suppose. :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

I couldn't fit that whole 100g tin of Orlik Golden Sliced into a single half pint jar, and I refused to clean another jar just for the last scraps of the tin, so I'm vowing to smoke nothing but OGS till this little half ounce or so is gone.

OGS in the MM Country Gentleman.

Didn't see you in the "tonight's smoke" last night, Jim. Did you get run over by a snowblower or something?


----------



## karatekyle

Wish I had a nice warm pipe to comfort my fingertips right now. They've been subjected to more than enough fretting the last few days; mmiller left his steel string acoustic in my room in hope that I won't study at ALL for my final exams :lol:

I wish I could say you'd be proud of me, Jim. But the tunes I'm learning to get the hang of this thing are pretty dearth of sophistication. Metallica and the Goo Goo Dolls :doh: The Bach and Pachelbel will have to wait until I master the basics!


----------



## Hannibal

Morning Brothers!!

Today's tobak is a bevy of flavors from the likes of OGS, Stokkebye Bullseye Flake and Union Square. It ought to be a very enjoyable day!!!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Didn't see you in the "tonight's smoke" last night, Jim. Did you get run over by a snowblower or something?


I had a cat in my lap and couldn't reach the keyboard. Plus, I was bitter about nobody liking my fru-fru tin art. :frown: (It's actually recycled from months back. It bombed last time too. :lol

I've broken my resolve with this Chipman Hill. Really didn't want any more Latakia, so I've gone to the paper plate. Must be 10 bowls piled up, so I've switched gears and plan on finishing THAT instead. ipe: The PPP is much better than CHill, to tell you the truth.


----------



## chu2

Starting off my next few days of paper writing by finishing a bowl of MB Vanilla Cream Flake. I've got a bowl of FVF ashed-over in my Brebbia, resting until tonight. I'm going to need all the end-of day relaxation I can get. . .


----------



## freestoke

On my third bowl of Paper Plate Potpourri. Been pretty cold, so it's really dried out and smokin' fast. Just running a pc through the 4Dot and refilling. It's a pretty nice smoke, though, it really is. Thinking back, it has HH Mature Virginia, Tilbury, PA, Sugar Barrel, BCA, Three Blind Moose, Reiner LGF, Dark Star, Dark Birdseye, Nightcap, Chipman Hill, BBF, Sail, Golden Age, and even a scrap or two of *Ennerdale* in there. The very thing for a Blind Taste Test.  :evil:


----------



## Hannibal

Sounds like quite the concoction you've got going on there Jim.... :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> Sounds like quite the concoction you've got going on there Jim.... :lol:


The pile is getting smaller! I was afraid there might be enough Chipman Hill on the plate to reach critical mass and it wouldn't ever go away. ipe: I think I'm on my fifth bowl of it. ipe: Fortunately, it doesn't seem to have an overwhelming nic hit or I'd be having trouble hitting the keys on the keyboard. ipe: ipe: ipe: ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Enough that. It's like an old cartoon I saw once in a magazine, back in '50s. There's a huge-finned car by a fuel pump at the gas station, with the attendant pumping gas. (Remember that anybody? :lol He's got his hand on the nozzle, talking to the driver, "Could you shut off the engine, sir? I think you're gaining on me." The PPP was a little like that. Pumping in some straight Dark Birdseye to restore the Vit N levels.


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> Enough that. It's like an old cartoon I saw once in a magazine, back in '50s. There's a huge-finned car by a fuel pump at the gas station, with the attendant pumping gas. (Remember that anybody? :lol He's got his hand on the nozzle, talking to the driver, "Could you shut off the engine, sir? I think you're gaining on me." The PPP was a little like that. Pumping in some straight Dark Birdseye to restore the Vit N levels.


Freestoke, I have never tried Dark Birdseye, but was thinking of getting four ounces on my next order. I was wondering what it is like, but imagine it to be sort of a cross between Royal Yacht and Irish Flake from other peoples descriptions. What say you?


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Freestoke, I have never tried Dark Birdseye, but was thinking of getting four ounces on my next order. I was wondering what it is like, but imagine it to be sort of a cross between Royal Yacht and Irish Flake from other peoples descriptions. What say you?


That's sort of it, I guess. No fruity complexity ala RY and no burley. I really like it a lot, even though it's pretty much "tobacco" and nothing else. Nice punch to it. You'd like it, guaranteed. :tu Very simple, straightforward, strong Va. Snorky, too, without the perique.

Smokin' some now in the Country Gentleman! :smile: Only one bowl left, pre-filled in the FourDot for after dinner.


----------



## freestoke

Mixing a little of the extra dry PPP with some PA. Seems to be getting the job done for a starter, to help wash down the coffee, but I'll need a nicotine jolt shortly. ipe:


----------



## Hannibal

I'm going to work on a good Nic buzz today. I already had a good strong cigar for the ride to work and brought Kendall Kentucky for the tobak today.


----------



## freestoke

Hannibal said:


> I'm going to work on a good Nic buzz today. I already had a good strong cigar for the ride to work and brought Kendall Kentucky for the tobak today.


I was casting about for some nicotine and suddenly realized that my open containers were all nicotine deficient! The Dark Birdseye, Dark Star and Irish Flake recently bit the dust. Haven't had any Bayou Morning Flake open in forever and I'm not really in the mood for Nightcap. (I'm not convinced Nightcap's as strong as its reputation, either.) Looking over my cellar, there's just not enough solid Vitamin N units in there! :shock: That HAS to be the theme for my first order come the new year: Vitamin N supplements!

I settled for some Tilbury in the Diplomat. ipe: It's at least not entirely nicotine free.

The rating "Medium to Strong" makes me suspicious of the Jackknife Plug -- I'm afraid it'll be wimpier than what I'm after to shore up the open container selection, so I might have to get some RY going. Damn! How did my cellar get so full of all this mild tobacco!? :ask:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I was casting about for some nicotine and suddenly realized that my open containers were all nicotine deficient! The Dark Birdseye, Dark Star and Irish Flake recently bit the dust. Haven't had any Bayou Morning Flake open in forever and I'm not really in the mood for Nightcap. (I'm not convinced Nightcap's as strong as its reputation, either.) Looking over my cellar, there's just not enough solid Vitamin N units in there! :shock: That HAS to be the theme for my first order come the new year: Vitamin N supplements!
> 
> I settled for some Tilbury in the Diplomat. ipe: It's at least not entirely nicotine free.
> 
> The rating "Medium to Strong" makes me suspicious of the Jackknife Plug -- I'm afraid it'll be wimpier than what I'm after to shore up the open container selection, so I might have to get some RY going. Damn! How did my cellar get so full of all this mild tobacco!? :ask:


I was thinking this the other day too! I've got jar upon jar of aromatic garbage sitting here, whats up with that? The only aros I really like are Twist Flake, Sugar Barrel, and Christmas Cookie. Whats up with that? I'm thinking I need to pick out a few of these newer pipers that rant and rave about CB, mix up a batch of Kyle Kompound, and send it out for completion.


----------



## karatekyle

Going to head out with my coffee and some LBF. I really like LBF but I don't smoke it very often. Pulled an audible today to have that instead.


----------



## freestoke

I went with some Nightcap anyhow. Still not convinced it's more than a medium delivery of nicotine. 

Well, Kyle, oddly enough mine isn't so much an aro overload as straight Va like 5100 and HH Mature Virginia and rather a lot of Latakia stuff that doesn't pack too much of a punch. Not that they're bad, just weakish. Got a lot of "medium" VaPers, too. Gotta load up on Kendal Kentucky, Five Brothers, Dark Birdseye...stuff like that.


----------



## freestoke

The cavalry just arrived! I found a jar with three flakes of IF in it! Who knew? :dunno: Who knows how long that's been hiding in the drawer. :ask: Just in time, too. ipe: Doin' a straight fold and stuff in the Diplomat. A double fold is a perfect fit. :tu


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I went with some Nightcap anyhow. Still not convinced it's more than a medium delivery of nicotine.
> 
> Well, Kyle, oddly enough mine isn't so much an aro overload as straight Va like 5100 and HH Mature Virginia and rather a lot of Latakia stuff that doesn't pack too much of a punch. Not that they're bad, just weakish. Got a lot of "medium" VaPers, too. Gotta load up on Kendal Kentucky, Five Brothers, Dark Birdseye...stuff like that.


Five Brothers? Medium? You and I have different ideas of the word "medium," methinks :lol:

EDIT: Misread your post haha. I've decided I enjoy a lot of Virginia, need to stock up on RY I think. Enjoy fortifying your cellar, buying is half the fun! :thumb:


----------



## freestoke

Guess I'm smokin' all alone this morning. :frown: Some HH Mature Virginia right now, which is very nice stuff but a little light in nic department. Not vanishingly light, but I'm looking forward to my Five Brothers order. I think Five Brothers and this, 50/50, might be a really nice smoke. ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

Sorry Jim, I've been snuffing this AM! Hope the Mature Virginia was good.


----------



## freestoke

Back to SOP this morning with the 4Dot and the PA. Coffee is going down really easy, too. One of the nice things about rain in December around here is that you don't have to move it anywhere once it hits the ground. A very bleak day. Reminds me of Norfolk, England.


----------



## mmiller

Today I got my last final of the semester then it is a 3 hour drive back to my home in Mankato. I am going to be smoking some Captain Black in my Mario Grandi literally through the whole drive.


----------



## freestoke

mmiller said:


> Today I got my last final of the semester then it is a 3 hour drive back to my home in Mankato. I am going to be smoking some Captain Black in my Mario Grandi literally through the whole drive.


I remember when I lived in Wichita, three hours would be about 285 miles. The speed limit was 95 mph! (Or was it 85 and I just kept up with traffic?) Wouldn't think smoking a pipe would be that easy on a motorcycle. :boink:

Finishing up this Reiner LGF from last night now. Barely got under weigh with it (I prefer the "correct" spelling :lol before I was suddenly set upon by Morpheus.


----------



## gahdzila

Sounds like Dark Birdseye should be on my short list of stuff to try!

Been out with a cold for a couple of days. I actually did not smoke or snus at all for 36 hour or so, and felt no ill effects like I expected to. Maybe the demon nicotine addiction doesn't have it's claws in me as bad as I thought it did? Maybe some of it is in my head. I can vividly remember back in the dark ages when I smoked cigarettes that I would HAVE to go outside and smoke even if I was so sick with the flu that I could barely roll out of bed :shudder:. This time, I had absolutely no urge to smoke after my morning pipe Monday up till Wednesday morning when I started feeling a bit better.

Sterling Sweet Briar in a clay this morning. Trying to finish off this jar (I'm close). I like it, but it's very similar in taste to their Millionaire Blend (I'd be surprised if they didn't have the same sweet topping), and Millionaire is a little stronger in both nicotine and flavor.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Sounds like Dark Birdseye should be on my short list of stuff to try!


Definitely some stout leaf there. I mentioned this elsewhere, that Bayou Morning Flake is also kickass if you like perique. BMF has to have the largest range of strength ratings on tobakrevs; I put it somewhere between IF and Happy Bogie, personally. A few hardy individuals even rate it Mild! :dunno: (Makes me wonder about their quality control.)

I'm on to some HH Mature Virginia. I think it has a little more kick than I first gave it credit for, but it's still on the low side of medium. On tobakrevs, it just says Virginia, but on the Mac Baren site they say it also has burley and orientals in it. I was wondering about it actually! Seemed like more than just Virginia to me, so I was glad to see this. Mac Baren - HH Mature Virginia

Glad you're getting over your cold, Clifford! :tu


----------



## mmiller

freestoke said:


> Wouldn't think smoking a pipe would be that easy on a motorcycle. :boink:


Haha here in SD and my home in MN it is far to cold and windy to be driving the bike, I cant even imagine smoking a pipe on a bike. I think the only way that would be possible is if I had a Honda Goldwing. I still got about 40 years before it is acceptable for me to drive one of those though. :laugh:


----------



## gahdzila

Thanks, Jim. BMF is on my list as well (also thanks to you). Honestly - I'm still new at this, and I'm not sure how I feel about perique, as I'm not EXACTLY certain what it tastes like. If its that spicy hot pepper that I tasted in LNF for the review this month, then I'd say I can handle it if it's proportional to the rest of the blend. I've got some stuff called Godewaggen that a tobacconist in New Orleans mixed up...he didn't say what was in it, except that it was made with real Louisiana perique that he sourced directly from the farm. It's kind of a weird mish-mash of flavors - sweet fermented mushrooms and spicy pepper...pretty decent stuff except that he doused it with too much humectant and I doubt it will ever dry out properly.

Speaking of....having more LNF now. Though I bashed it in my review, it's not bad stuff, I can see where others would like it. It's mainly just rather boring to me.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Speaking of....having more LNF now. Though I bashed it in my review, it's not bad stuff, I can see where others would like it. It's mainly just rather boring to me.


Yeah, LNF is just a basic good smoke, really. The beauty of LNF lies in the easy burning, lack of tongue bite, etc. A tiny snorkiness adds a little interest, but in the main, you're right, it's just a nice smoke. After a couple bowls of IF, it's sort of what I need! It's the PA of flake tobacco in a way. Every bowl can't be curry or enchiladas! Sometimes you want a hamburger.

The OGS also has perique in it, but not very much. BMF has a goodly amount, but for me it isn't too much at all. I like the snorkiness! You're making me want to break some out!

Coming to the end of the HHMV in the Bari Dana, which has been getting the call a lot recently. (I'm starting to like this pipe more and more! Hell, I've only had it 35 years or so, so maybe it's just getting good and broken in! :lol: ) Casting about for something -- ah, there's one lonely flake of IF left there. Probably have to fire that up after lunch.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,



gahdzila said:


> Speaking of....having more LNF now. Though I bashed it in my review, it's not bad stuff, I can see where others would like it. It's mainly just rather boring to me.


LNF is a solid Top 3 for me (along with PA and SL). It is an easy going no-hassle smoke when I'm sitting in traffic which was, until two weeks ago, the only way I'd tried it. Then I spent a good hour reading a book on my patio with a big bowl of LNF and sipped it slowly. It was a totally different experience and I caught subtle flavors that I'd never caught while focused on driving in Atlanta traffic. I've not tried the higher-end vapers and perhaps LNF isn't as good in comparison but it's a great value and a solid 'baccy in my opinion.

On a completely unrelated note, my pipes and Ball jars are packed away in the closet. I was concerned that it was becoming more than a hobby so now I'm testing myself. I think I was right as my cigar consumption has increased dramatically! Anyway, I have a feeling I'm getting a pipe for Christmas. If so it will all come back out of storage. If not, well, I may have some 'baccy for sale in January.


----------



## freestoke

On a full stomach after lunch, I'm tackling this last Irish Flake with a fold and stuff. It's fairly crispy so the f&s works fine, with some crumpled up powder from the paper plate for kindling. The extra cheapo Alpha Litewate has the honor, a pretty nice pipe I picked up as part of an estate lot. It was hardly even smoked when I got it, so it required almost no clean-up at all! The drill is perfect. Something about cheap pipe that smokes as well as a more expensive one that is very satisfying. Almost like cheating, isn't it!? ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Ennerdale early, my second pipe today. I'd rate it at least medium but not quite strong in VitN. A very satisfying smoke. Hopefully the house will air out before tonight! :lol:


----------



## gahdzila

More Sterling Sweet Briar for me this morning. I got lazy with my outdoor smoking spot project when it got warm this week, but it's colder today and raining, so I think I'll go tackle it now.


----------



## freestoke

I've run through some more PA, a bowl of the never-ending Chipman Hill and now DGTing the end of a Diplomat with either Dart Mix or the Serial Aromatics Pouch. Heading out to toss a few. See ya later! ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

Got my little smoking cubbyhole sorted out. Even with two walls and a roof, the carport would get breezy...and I'm out of the wind now. Got a little electric space heater pointed at me, and it makes it quite cozy in there!

Purple cow in the MM hardwood after a lunch of leftover pizza.


----------



## freestoke

Normally, half asleep, I just mound some PA on a gravity fill and push it down with my thumb, then tighten the draw a bit as I tamp. What this amounts to is half a bowl, but this morning I went for a gravity fill with a musketball load. (Living on the edge this weekend.) Makes for different burn and there's lots more tobacco in this. I'm running into an hour with it...getting impatient for the Vitamin N load! But it's been a very pleasant smoke all the same. ipe: Coffee's good this morning! :cp


----------



## PiperPilot

Starting the day with a bowl of 4 year old un-named aromatic in my MM Gentleman. It's actually aged really well for an aro. Sort of reminds me of 1Q, but a little different. I occasionally get a shot of artificial banana flavor that is not at all unpleasant. Patiently awaiting the wife's return from the stylist to reveal her "reinventing herself" hairdo.


----------



## freestoke

Got the Sasieni Canadian going with some freshly opened RY. I musketballed a tight wad of it, got it going nice on the second match. Beautiful stuff. Snorky. Got to study for the review in a couple of weeks! ipe:


----------



## PiperPilot

Jim, I just tried to wad some freshly opened RY, but I found it wouldn't light at all. I had to pack it pretty loosely to get it to perform. Weird. Either way, it's a brilliant smoke!


----------



## freestoke

PiperPilot said:


> Jim, I just tried to wad some freshly opened RY, but I found it wouldn't light at all. I had to pack it pretty loosely to get it to perform. Weird. Either way, it's a brilliant smoke!


I'd guess the wad was just a trifle tight then. Mine's burning just great and it's fresh out of the can. It's definitely easier to wind up with an airtight fit with ribbon than flake. I actually had it too tight the first time, so I pulled it out and made a slightly smaller load and it was perfect. "It's all in the wrists," as the saying goes. :lol:


----------



## PiperPilot

It was probably for the better for me actually, because I'm somewhat sensitive to nic. The looser load was smaller. I tend to keep smoking past the "uh oh, I'm starting to feel it" point. The musketball probably would have sidelined me for a few hours.


----------



## DanR

Laid out some Marlin Flake last night before I went to bed. It's nice and crispy this morning, but is smoking just fine!


----------



## gahdzila

I had a cigar with morning coffee. After lunch is some Irish Flake in a clay tavern.


----------



## freestoke

Going for some after-lunch Chipman Hill. Just a half bowl in the Berkebile. Maybe I can sneak up on it and finish it a little at a time, before it notices that it has to multiply. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Albert's working up a sweat with the Four Brothers that arrived yesterday. Fifty fifty. Definitely adds a bit of extra punch to the action. ipe: And :cp of course.


----------



## gahdzila

Donuts with the kiddos. Sunday paper, coffee, and the Dr Grabow Big Pipe full of OTC medley (approximately equal parts PA, CH, and SB).


----------



## PinkFloydFan

God Morning Brothers.

A XL cup of Dunkin Donuts " Pumpkin" coffee, and a pre-packed ( last night) bowl of PS Luxury Bullseye Flake...
A very good start to any Sunday .. IMHO. 

-Vin


----------



## gahdzila

Pumpkin coffee? Doesn't sound appetizing to me. How is it?

Green Mountain Dark Magic from the Keurig for me. If this stuff doesn't wake you up, nothing will!


----------



## freestoke

I miss donuts. Where I worked, there were lots of donuts. The others brought in Dunkin' Donuts, but I brought in Ferlo's, a local Italian bakery that makes fabulous Italian bread, both hard crust and soft crust -- and DONUTS! Really good donuts! Absolutely everybody agreed that they were better than Dunkin' Donuts (and cheaper!) and asked me where I got them, then said they would get doughnuts from Ferlo's too. But nobody ever did! :dunno: Maybe I'm immune to the Dunkin' Donuts commercials or something, because I got the antidote about 15 years ago: I bought 6 donuts (for myself -- I like dounuts) and the guy reached all the way to the back of the donut rack, halfway into the kitchen to fill the bag. I thought -- the nice new fresh ones! :smile: When I got to work, the donuts were so stale that I threw them out for the birds. Hard as rocks. I have not set foot in a Dunkin' Donuts since and never will again -- ever.

Some more Five Brothers with BCA, a little sweetener for the coffee and my dark thoughts pondering Dunkin' Donuts. ipe:


----------



## PinkFloydFan

gahdzila said:


> Pumpkin coffee? Doesn't sound appetizing to me. How is it?


Its actually pretty good. Just a subtle taste of pumpkin / spices , Like in a pie.. Minus all the sugary stuff.

Hey... Live on the edge a little bro... Grab a cup while its still in season. 

- Vin


----------



## gahdzila

It's been a lazy Sunday for me. I do have a few things I need to take care of...but not before another pipe. 

Sterling American Patriot. Good stuff! Too bad it's so expensive.


----------



## Zeabed

McClellands Christmas Cheer 2010 in the Pete POY '09.


----------



## freestoke

A PA/FB/PA layer cake in the 4Dot. Some PA on the top to get things under weigh, a fulsome Five Brothers in the middle, and some PA on the bottom to keep the draught hole from clogging. (FB is very fine cut.) Just now burning into the FB. And :cp.


----------



## freestoke

And it's above freezing today already! "III'mmmmm dreaming...of a GREEEEEN XMAS, just like the ones I used to know." I grew up in Hilton Village, Va., and during my Santa Claus years I saw snow once or twice, but never on Xmas and not for long!


----------



## kneepa

Brown Bogie....waiting for some tim *Tambo* to arrive.


----------



## freestoke

kneepa said:


> Brown Bogie....waiting for some tim *Tambo* to arrive.


That should keep the wolves away until the strong stuff gets there. :lol: I'm smoking some relatively gentle Reiner LGF at the moment. ipe:


----------



## Xodar

freestoke said:


> And it's above freezing today already! "III'mmmmm dreaming...of a GREEEEEN XMAS, just like the ones I used to know." I grew up in Hilton Village, Va., and during my Santa Claus years I saw snow once or twice, but never on Xmas and not for long!


Every 10 years or so we'll get a big storm or two, but for the most part Portland is a snow tourist city. If we get 2 inches we shut down schools and public offices and noone goes to work. I kid you not, my friends from MN and WI laugh their collective asses off.

Ahh Monday, and tis the season. MacB NF in a diplomat and 3 friars on deck drying.

random observation: The 9th circle of hell is ringed by singing christmas lights...


----------



## freestoke

Xodar said:


> The 9th circle of hell is ringed by singing christmas lights...


 Please, John, don't give them ideas. At least for now the Xmas trees just sit there and shine. I'm pretty sure the prototypes would be the stomach turning Karen Carpenter *Christmas Album*. Hell indeed.

I'm FINALLY done with the Chipman Hill! :tu Finishing it up in the Country Gentleman. ipe: Maybe it's just the relief, but it actually tastes pretty good this morning.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Gents!

With the rest of the family sound asleep in the first week of their Christmas break it was awfully hard waking up at 0530 to make an extra early conference call. It just didn't feel right walking out of the house with a big mug of extra strong coffee and no pipe. So I hurriedly dug my country gentleman out of storage along with my almost-empty tin of University Flake.

The guilt I felt over breaking my promise of quitting until after Christmas was quickly forgotten as I folded and stuffed a delicious flake and settled in for a nice easy commute.


----------



## [OT] Loki

freestoke said:


> And it's above freezing today already! "III'mmmmm dreaming...of a GREEEEEN XMAS, just like the ones I used to know." I grew up in Hilton Village, Va., and during my Santa Claus years I saw snow once or twice, but never on Xmas and not for long!


i just moved out of charlottesville va. we got slammed last year with the most snow in years. I'm talking 5 feet over a week, that was hell


----------



## Commander Quan

I thought this morning would be the perfect time to indulge in some Boswell's Christmas Cookie. The only problem being that when I went to my cabinet I realized I don't have any. I must be loosing my damn mind I could have sworn I picked some up when I was at the shop over the summer, but I guess I must have been fondly remembering the sample that Indigo sent me last year. :sigh So it's HOTW instead.


----------



## freestoke

Finally in action with my standard PA/4Dot. Beautiful day in store! I see you guys out in Flatland are getting hammered though! :frown: Our turn is coming. Until then, a green xmas around here -- at least mostly green -- is still a possibility.


----------



## DanR

Good morning Pipers! I'm having some hot coffee and Rattray Red Rapp for breakfast on this brisk San Antonio morning.

I'm taking my 16 year old daughter to get her DL today, so I'm sure that'll be fun. Maybe I should load up a bowl of straight Tambo and have it waiting for when I get home. I may need it!


----------



## Xodar

DanR said:


> Good morning Pipers! I'm having some hot coffee and Rattray Red Rapp for breakfast on this brisk San Antonio morning.
> 
> I'm taking my 16 year old daughter to get her DL today, so I'm sure that'll be fun. Maybe I should load up a bowl of straight Tambo and have it waiting for when I get home. I may need it!


You sir, are a brave man /nod

Tilbury in the bent billiard this morning, since I appear to have left my NF jar somewhere. Par for the course for a Tuesday.

secondary note: The 9th circle of hell is surrounded by singing christmas lights AND looks just like a Wal-Mart in mid-december.


----------



## freestoke

[OT] Loki said:


> i just moved out of charlottesville va. we got slammed last year with the most snow in years. I'm talking 5 feet over a week, that was hell


Wow. Charlottesville? When I went to UVa in 1961 we got about 3 feet one day that pretty much ended the action for a day a two. :lol: That's a lot of snow for Charlottesville, though. :ask: BTW, it was voted the number one college town in the US to live in. I'd move there in a heartbeat if I could, not move out!

Finishing up a barely charred bowl of OGS left from last night. Excellent! I love this Sasieni Canadian. ipe:


----------



## boony

Love Charlottesville, have a daughter teaching in an inner city school there...my son was married there this past june...nice place..and cheap gas! But...any good BNB's in that area?


----------



## [OT] Loki

I don't know what town ya'll were in but charlottesville sucks. There's nothing there and the stuff that is, well that's a half assed version of stuff they have other places. I don't even consider it a college town, and gas is cheaper in staunton then it is in charlottesville. the wife and I couldn't wait to get out of that place. It's nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live three...ever again. Do miss the local mexican place, that place rocked...and my pipe guy down there.


----------



## boony

Oh well, you know what they say, one man's garbage is another man's treasure....


----------



## [OT] Loki

boony said:


> Oh well, you know what they say, one man's garbage is another man's treasure....


long as you're happy where you are, that's all that's important. where in pa are ya mate?


----------



## boony

A little do nothing place called Indiana, Pa., 1 hour northeast of Pittsburgh...you think you got nothing? We have IUP, a bunch of drunks getting degrees, and this town doesn't even have a place to buy any real cigars, let alone a place to smoke em'. That's why I'm relegated to smoking in a shed in the back yard, me, my Ipad (for music), a beverage, and one of my cigars...only place to relax after 8 hours in a jail.


----------



## freestoke

[OT] Loki said:


> I don't know what town ya'll were in but charlottesville sucks. There's nothing there and the stuff that is, well that's a half assed version of stuff they have other places. I don't even consider it a college town, and gas is cheaper in staunton then it is in charlottesville. the wife and I couldn't wait to get out of that place. It's nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live three...ever again. Do miss the local mexican place, that place rocked...and my pipe guy down there.


Yeah, but...so does Rome! Even worse! :lol: And it did say "college towns". Probably aren't any good college towns to live in at all, anywhere! :lol:

I think I'd like it there, though. Even though the students dress just like townies now. And Mincer's Pipe Shop is gone. And I'm not 19 any more! It's no doubt little more than nostalgia.

I think I need some Royal Yacht to clear my mind of these dark thoughts. Sounds like a job for the Bari Dana. ipe:


----------



## [OT] Loki

boony said:


> A little do nothing place called Indiana, Pa., 1 hour northeast of Pittsburgh...you think you got nothing? We have IUP, a bunch of drunks getting degrees, and this town doesn't even have a place to buy any real cigars, let alone a place to smoke em'. That's why I'm relegated to smoking in a shed in the back yard, me, my Ipad (for music), a beverage, and one of my cigars...only place to relax after 8 hours in a jail.


ah i know where that is. we moved back to the burgh a few months ago


----------



## karatekyle

Enjoyed three bowls of Sugar Barrel today. A very enjoyable visit to the pipe shop.


----------



## Commander Quan

boony said:


> A little do nothing place called Indiana, Pa., 1 hour northeast of Pittsburgh...you think you got nothing? We have IUP, a bunch of drunks getting degrees, and this town doesn't even have a place to buy any real cigars, let alone a place to smoke em'. That's why I'm relegated to smoking in a shed in the back yard, me, my Ipad (for music), a beverage, and one of my cigars...only place to relax after 8 hours in a jail.


You also have Christmas trees.

I think we need to have a pipe herf in Pittsburgh sometime. I've been in Butler every weekend this month. It would be nice to meetup with some other pipers.


----------



## freestoke

This is lookin' real good. A 30% chance of snow Saturday and Sunday, both days above freezing. Santa's gonna need a wagon instead of a sled around here! :tu
Celebrating with some PA in the 4Dot. (I do too much celebrating, huh?  )


----------



## Stonedog

The weather here in metro Atlanta isn't great (rainy) but I'll take it over snow any time. Snow, or more specifically ice, tends to shut us down since we don't have the infrastructure to handle it like the northeast and midwest.

This morning I snuck back to my stash and pulled my almost empty jar of Exhausted Rooster. I always forget how much I like ER... And my poor little CG is getting a real workout. Was stuck in gridlocked traffic last night (very tragic accident had all lanes shut down). To pass the time I finished the left over University Flake followed by two full bowls of PA. I wouldn't do that with a briar, but the CG seems no worse for it.


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good Morning brothers..

Well, I hope I don't get shunned by my fellow pipers.. But I went a little off track this morning.

I decided to light up a A Fuente Short Story Maduro this morning.. In lieu of a bowl.

What a fantastic stick !!... So I would be lying if I said I regret doing it. LOL.

Just wish I had more of them.
But at around $7-8 ea.. that could become a bad habit.

- Vin


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> The weather here in metro Atlanta isn't great (rainy) but I'll take it over snow any time.


Windshield wipers beat ice scrapers every time! Rainy out here, too, but that's just dandy with me.

Speaking of ice scrapers, there is one thing I simply don't understand about the people around here. It's like the question, Why don't people keep their kitchen knives sharp, I suppose, one of the great mysteries of the culinary universe. How can you survive a winter in these climes without a brass blade ice scraper in your car? I gave one to the guy next door a couple of years ago and he doesn't understand how he did without one all these years -- said he felt really stupid for not getting one before. Seeing people struggle to get the ice off their car windows with a plastic ice scraper fills my heart with pity. :frown: And if you can expect 150 inches of snow a year, why don't you carry a snow rake instead of puny little snow brush for your car? Inexplicable.

A bowl of Reiner LGF in the FourDot is helping me deal with these tragic visions. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

PinkFloydFan said:


> Good Morning brothers..
> 
> Well, I hope I don't get shunned by my fellow pipers.. But I went a little off track this morning.
> 
> I decided to light up a A Fuente Short Story Maduro this morning.. In lieu of a bowl.
> 
> What a fantastic stick !!... So I would be lying if I said I regret doing it. LOL.
> 
> Just wish I had more of them.
> But at around $7-8 ea.. that could become a bad habit.
> 
> - Vin


Since they were limited release and might not be making any more at all, a very bad habit indeed!

I bought five of them, gifted one, and have four left. I haven't tried them yet.

You are most certainly forgiven (at least by me) for bringing your stinky cigars into the pipe section. I check this thread every day, and often have a pipe in the morning, but it's a cigar for me today as well - a 5 Vegas Gold robusto.


----------



## DanR

I have to admit, I've given in to the cigar side a few times lately too. I had a CC earlier this week, and a nicely aged Oliva Cain 660 yesterday. I could really feel the vitamin "n" in those puppies! 

I am having a blend of Bright CR Flake with a touch of Scottish Cake I had left in a sample baggie. It's a nice combo, although the Bright CR needs no help...

Oh, and Good Morning Puff Pipers!


----------



## freestoke

Trying something a little different, a fully rubbed out ribbon. United Pipe Clubs of America - Smoking Contest Preparation Just thought I'd give a competition pack a go for kicks with some Tilbury. Quite nice! ipe: Looking forward to at least an hour with this TwoDot.


----------



## freestoke

I didn't put enough Tilbury in there, for sure. Only 40 minutes, but it burned completely to the bottom with a charring light and full light, two matches. Probably only had 1.5 grams or so and only maybe 2/3 of a bowl. Still, I think rubbing out ribbon may be a good thing. It turns a ribbon into something resembling Prince Albert's cut, smaller pieces that pack differently from ribbon. I think I'll give this another go with some RY, again with less than competition weight. In a cob perhaps -- the Diplomat gets the call! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Now THAT was a good smoke! Rubbing out the RY is definitely a winner. Fifty three minutes in a Diplomat is a very decent time -- and only one match! I think I could have even nursed for a full hour if I hadn't lost my presence of mind and spasticated with the last tamp. It's RY rubbed out all the time here on out. It might even step up the Vitamin N delivery! 

Now what? I think I need something a little more tame for the early afternoon -- or morning in California. Think I'll set Sail Green alight -- in the Diplomat again, since it did so well last time. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

The Diplomat is my favorite of the MM cobs I've tried thus far. My oldest cob is a Diplomat...probably close to a year old, I guess. And I ordered another from Byron to add to the rotation.

I had planned to spend the day doing gift inventory, making sure that each kid got pretty close to an equal number of gifts to open, maybe going out and buying a few little last minute things, wrapping gifts, etc. My master plan was flawed, though - gahdzila jr is out of school and home with me today! I took him out for lunch. I may banish him to his room with some video games to keep him occupied and just do the gifts anyway.

Puffing some more GH&Co Sliced Brown Twist. Again I was in a hurry, and didn't give it enough drying time, but I'm smoking it in the LePeltier this time instead of a cob and so far so good. This is damned fine weed! This is only my second bowl of it, but I can already see it becoming a regular in my rotation.


----------



## freestoke

"The First School of Thought recommends chipping out the char in piecs, starting from the lip of the bowl. With a little experience it is easy to do this right to the bottom. The interior of the bowl will now appear of a shiny blackness, for we are in the presence of the char proper, which must not be touched." I'm thinking of chipping the char off the 4Dot today. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Right now, I'm running it through its morning workout with the PA. ipe:

BTW, anybody else check out the "let it snow" google search? Cool.


----------



## gahdzila

The coffee isn't working fast enough today.

I'll have what that guy is having! PA in the Grabow Big Pipe for me.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning all, 

My last day in the office for the year it feels like I have about 20 hours of work to get through in about 6. I guess I shouldn't really be posting Puff... :-(

More Exhausted Rooster in my CG. LOVE this stuff.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> I guess I shouldn't really be posting Puff..


 :bitchslap:

It's this sort of wrongheaded thinking that gives us workdays without a nap. Now just relax with that Exhausted Rooster and look forward to some days off.

I still have fond memories of the xmas vacation at Rockwell/Collins in Richardson (Dallas). Starting Saturday the 22nd, where everybody partied at work and left early Friday the 21st, we were given vacation until Wednesday, January 2. Management decided nobody got anything done those days anyhow, so it was cheaper to turn the lights and the heat down.

Puffing some Tilbury in the Bari Dana, but I need to go wrap some presents. I am no good at it, no crafting skills whatever. But I do party well, so the season isn't entirely a waste. ::hippie:


----------



## gahdzila

I'm no good at gift wrapping either, Jim. But I've only got a few left. Gonna finish them up as soon as I finish this PA. They didnt name this pipe "Big Pipe" for nothing! It's a long smoke for sure....made longer by me puffing infrequently while reading and posting here and listening to the rain.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> :bitchslap:
> 
> It's this sort of wrongheaded thinking that gives us workdays without a nap. Now just relax with that Exhausted Rooster and look forward to some days off.


Quite right Jim. I can't decide if it's a topping or the weed itself (VaBuPer) but I get a distinct blueberry aroma when packing and, if I'm careful, it comes through in the smoke as well.



freestoke said:


> I still have fond memories of the xmas vacation at Rockwell/Collins in Richardson (Dallas). Starting Saturday the 22nd, where everybody partied at work and left early Friday the 21st, we were given vacation until Wednesday, January 2. Management decided nobody got anything done those days anyhow, so it was cheaper to turn the lights and the heat down.
> 
> Puffing some Tilbury in the Bari Dana, but I need to go wrap some presents. I am no good at it, no crafting skills whatever. But I do party well, so the season isn't entirely a waste. ::hippie:


I have 10 employees that report to me and we're the primary occupants of this particular office so I plan on releasing everyone after a post-lunch meeting.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> I have 10 employees that report to me and we're the primary occupants of this particular office so I plan on releasing everyone after a post-lunch meeting.


That's more like it. :smile:

Just finished some extremely dry Paper Plate Potpourri in the Berkebile. Too dry, actually. Might have to mix it with some goopy Altadis Black Cavendish to put some moisture back into it.

What now? How about some more PA? Gotta reboot after PPP. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

Gift wrapping is DONE! Hats off to 8 year old gahdzila jr - it took everything he could muster, but he stayed in the other room and didn't peek not even once!

More PA in the Big Pipe, with a little BF#1 this time to spice things up. The monkey on my back isnt tapping me on the shoulder yet, but I figure he will soon with nothing but PA so far, so the BF#1 is a proactive nicotine bump.

And more coffee! I seem to really be needing the caffeine today.


----------



## freestoke

Well, the monkey is definitely in the room. Royal Yacht to scare him off! ipe:


----------



## DanR

It is a gorgeous day here in San Antonio. The sun is shining on me as I relax in the garden and enjoy a pipeful of LNF (for the Dec review).


----------



## freestoke

Getting ready to move on to the Reiner LGF this morning. By the numbers, 36-24-19-16, hour by hour precip percentages starting at 11. Then it goes to single digits through Sunday! :smile: Personally, I never saw a white Xmas until I was 28, so it's looking like a Xmas "...just like the ones I used to know." :lol: *Think GREEN!!*


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good Afternoon.

I didnt have much time this morning to enjoy a bowl of anything...

But I am making up for it now. With a Savinelli Laguna full of "Peter Heinrichs- Special Selection CURLY"

Our own "Commonsenseman" Jeff sent me a sample of this a while ago and it caused me to buy a tin, and then another.... and so on.

I enjoy this stuff quite a bit.. It's quite the pleasure to pack, burn and sip away at.

A very nice VaPer IMHO.

Have a good day brothers.

- Vin


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen. I had a small cigar before work this morning, and about to have a bit of snus now. Nonetheless, I wanted to drop by and wish everyone a HAPPY FESTIVUS!!!!!

Happy Festivus | A Festivus for the Rest of Us! | Festivus Feats of Strength, Festivus Airing of Grievances, Festivus Pole


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Fellow Pipers!

So far today, I had a pipeful of Solani Aged Burley Flake while out running errands. I happened to stop by the local tobacconist, and talked pipes with a young kid there for a while. They had a massive Dunhill Magnum - I've never seen anything so big. I asked the kid, "is that a joke?". To which he replied, "well, if you think $6,999 is a joke, then yes!" ound:

I did buy a tin of FM on the bayou that was collecting dust on the back shelf. Tin date is 2008.

I also picked up an illusione 88 maduro cigar and smoked it on the way home. What a nice cigar. I only wish I'd have gotten a few extras...


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Happy Festivus | A Festivus for the Rest of Us! | Festivus Feats of Strength, Festivus Airing of Grievances, Festivus Pole


Happy Festivus, Clifford! I'm smokin' some Prince Albert in the Dunhill with the lousy mouthpiece.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> To which he replied, "well, if you think $6,999 is a joke, then yes!" ound:


It'll probably go on sale right after xmas. You'll be able to scoff it up for a song! :tu


----------



## freestoke

Nobody home today? I'm just now getting around to polishing off the end of the Reiner LGF from last night, DGT-wise. ipe: I'm looking at that Jackknife Plug again. I might just open that in a bit.


----------



## freestoke

This is the Paper Plate Potpourri and 1Q mix I threw together last week, that's been mellowing in the jar since. The mixture has a perfect moisture now and smokes like a dream! The PPP contained a bewildering assortment of spills, most of them strong, and this has a nice Vitamin N content as a result. The room note is very pleasant, the smoke sweet and smooth in this MM Diplomat. Whatever it is that I dislike about about straight 1Q certainly vanishes in this blend! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

I'm going for an encore performance. The PPP+1Q/Diplomat is going down easy today! ipe: And new personal record, I think, fiive straight, uninterrupted posts on a single thread.  I guess I've finally lost my mind, sitting around talking to myself. :wacko:


----------



## DanR

I'm here Jim. Merry Christmas!!

The weather took a serious turn for the worse here in San Antonio. It's chilly (not too cold), but the rain makes it feel colder. I'm back in the garage after fighting the crowds at the grocery store (ugh), and I decided to have a Liga Privada T-52 cigar to boost the vitamin "n" level. Gonna restring the guitars afterwards.


----------



## freestoke

Merry Christmas, Dan! Just back after a VERY brisk walk, 26 degrees and a cold wind, where I finished yet a third bowl of the PPP/1Q, this time in the Country Gentleman. Timed it perfectly, running empty as we walked up the driveway. :tu I've decide on something a little "warmer", some Nightcap. Haven't had any Latakia in a few days and it sounds great. 

We had a guy in the "school" back in the 70s who could string a classical in something silly, like 2 minutes. :shock: Never saw him do it personally, but tales of his feat were on every lip there for a while. :lol:

This Nightcap tastes REALLY good for some reason. I think I'm just having a good pipe day. ipe:


----------



## DanR

Brrr, and here I am complaining because it's in the low 40's. I'm with you, anything with Latakia seems right for this time of year. I may load up a bowl of something similar later. Maybe GLP Odyssey.

It takes me a while to restring, but I'm also a little OCD, and I like the strings to be nicely seated and wound to look pretty at the top (whatever you call the turnstile thingamabobs). Got some new strings yesterday, so I'm a little excited about that. The last set were medium gauge and a little rough on the fingers.


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good Afternoon All.

Well, I am trying to avoid the crowds today and staying home for the most part.

I am working on my 3rd cup of coffee and a huge bowl of McC # 25 Virginia...

I like to burn this stuff a bit hot, as I think some of the spicy / sweetness in particular blend really picks up a bit when you manhandle it a little , instead of cool sipping.

I havent had it bite me yet.. So Ill stick with the pace that is working. I also think this stuff is really nice on a second day light-up.. DGT works well here.

Have a great day all. 

- Vin


----------



## Troutman22

Popped my tin of Holiday Spirit 2009 a week or so ago to let it air out. This morning was the first of many wonderful bowls. This will be a tradition for me to start the yearly Holiday Spirit tin on Christmas Eve. Next years will be 2011 and so on.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> ... (whatever you call the turnstile thingamabobs). Got some new strings yesterday, so I'm a little excited about that. The last set were medium gauge and a little rough on the fingers.


Nothing like a new set of strings! :tu The "tuners" are technically known as "machine heads" on all sorts of stringed instruments, from ukeleles to cellos. You change classical strings (nylon or fluorocarbon) far more frequently than steel for a given amount of playing. Things like tremolo and rasguedos actually shred the strings. Tone quality and volume deteriorates fairly quickly in the bass strings, too, and with classical, tone production means everything.

Really enjoying this Nightcap!


----------



## freestoke

PinkFloydFan said:


> Good Afternoon All.
> 
> Well, I am trying to avoid the crowds today and staying home for the most part.


You've come to the right place! :lol:

How does that 25 compare with HH Mature Virginia?


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Nothing like a new set of strings! :tu The "tuners" are technically known as "machine heads" on all sorts of stringed instruments, from ukeleles to cellos. You change classical strings (nylon or fluorocarbon) far more frequently than steel for a given amount of playing. Things like tremolo and rasguedos actually shred the strings. Tone quality and volume deteriorates fairly quickly in the bass strings, too, and with classical, tone production means everything.
> 
> Really enjoying this Nightcap!


"Tuners", that's what I was trying to remember. I knew they were called machines, but that just didn't seem right by itself. Anyway, my guitars sound like new now.

I decided after the cigar that I needed some VA dominant tobacco instead of Latakia (I'll save that for later), so I went with McC No 12 from the 90's that's from a sample that BriarBrian gifted to me. I have the exact date inside, just can't remember at the moment. I think it might be 1991? Been digging into it on special occasions, and today is Christmas Eve after all!


----------



## freestoke

Good morning! I musta been REALLY nice this year! :lol: Audrey gave me two pipe racks, one with six estate pipes that look super, the other with 24 slots for my pipes, and two antique pipe rests! :smile: 

Smoking some HHMV in the Diplomat cob, practicing using one of the pipe rests! :tu I've never had a pipe rest before!


----------



## Troutman22

Merry Christmas everyone!!

I had a morning bowl of Holiday Spirit 2009 in my Brebbia. I plan on smoking this most of the day and I will sneak in a bowl of FVF in my Dunhill for a special occasion smoke.


----------



## freestoke

Right now it's OGS. DanR sent me some Christmas 2011 along with other goodies (like snuff! :shock which arrived in time, but I didn't know it was in the box! As soon as this OGS is done, Christmas 2011 will be belatedly on the docket. Thanks, Dan! :tu


----------



## freestoke

Wow! This Peterson Christmas Blend 2011 is excellent! :shock: Absolutely delicious this morning! Dried it a touch before loading up the Patriot and it's a wonderful smoke. I'm not usually so enthusiastic about aromatics, but this is really nice stuff! Thanks a bunch, Dan! :tu


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Wow! This Peterson Christmas Blend 2011 is excellent! :shock: Absolutely delicious this morning! Dried it a touch before loading up the Patriot and it's a wonderful smoke. I'm not usually so enthusiastic about aromatics, but this is really nice stuff! Thanks a bunch, Dan! :tu


I'm glad you like it Jim. It reminds me of a fruit cake! I have to take it in moderation, but it's tasty when the mood is right...

I'm having some GLP Key Largo this morning!


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> I'm glad you like it Jim. It reminds me of a fruit cake! I have to take it in moderation...


"If a little is great, and a lot is better, then way too much is just about right!" ― Mae West. I'm on my third bowl of it! :tu


----------



## gahdzila

The first day back at the gym exercising after a long layoff SUCKS. And that's all I've got to say on that matter.

Got some new cobs to break in so I started off with some PA in the new Diplomat.


----------



## freestoke

I'm burning another bowl of Peterson Christmas 2011 in the Country Gentleman. Whodathunk I'd like an aromatic this much!? :ask:


----------



## gahdzila

McClelland Holiday Spirit and some 5 Brothers in the MM Diplomat with coffee. Shouldve let the Holiday Spirit dry a little more. The 5 Brothers is giving it a nice bump in body and nicotine!


----------



## quo155

Good morning Pipers! I have been away from my pipe for just too long! Since I was Blessed to receive a new leather pipe pouch from my Secret Santa, I have loaded it up with the goods and I intend to enjoy a pipe on my way home from work this evening...looking forward to it!

Have a great day Gents!


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good Morning brothers...

I decided to use the gift my SPS Santa gave me this morning, 

I packed that huge Brebbia bowl with some Solani W&B over 40 mins ago... Still going strong. 

Woohoo.

Zombieland rule #32... Enjoy the little things..

- Vin


----------



## DanR

I should probably report that I enjoyed some of my SPS stuff last night. I fought for a little while with the Wessex Gold Brick that I asked for and recieved from PinkFloydFan, but it was worth the wrestling match. I sliced it into flakes, but they were a little thick, so I rubbed them out and let them dry on a paper plate for a while. The end results is a very nice virginia blend that is a little bit like OGS, but not as sweet - more pure tobacco like. Only one smoke in, but I am enjoying it so far.


----------



## gahdzila

It's another PA kinda day for me ipe:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> It's another PA kinda day for me ipe:


I just finished a 4Dot of PA, now starting on my 3rd coupe du cafe. Moving on to some PPP+1Q in the Berkebile.


----------



## gahdzila

More PA...with a pinch of Five Brothers this time (the discussion of the production moving gave me an appetite for a taste of it). I sure hope it doesn't change. I share yours and Dan's concerns about the production moving overseas, I'm just not up for debating it with "Leonard the Lane guy.". I am enjoying watching you do so, though opcorn:


----------



## DanR

Jim, I'm starting to think that you should package your "PPP" and sell it as a premium blend!

It is an absolutely gorgeous day here in San Antonio, and I'm off work - yippie! As soon as the teenage sloths wake up, we're gonna find something fun to do. Until then, a cob full of ennerdale and a mug of hot coffee...


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Jim, I'm starting to think that you should package your "PPP" and sell it as a premium blend!


"A random assortment of tobaccos from all over the world. No two batches alike."

Damn! The Berkebile stem just cracked at the lip. sigh. :frown: Since "normal" stems are so impossible, I'm think about ordering some tapered stems that fit military mounts. Wonder if that would work? I have several estates that need new stems, but I know that fitting a new stem is somewhat more difficult than making the wooden part of the pipe from scratch.

Cranking up a Country Gentleman full of this Christmas Blend 2011 that DanR sent me. Nice stuff!


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> "A random assortment of tobaccos from all over the world. No two batches alike."
> 
> Damn! The Berkebile stem just cracked at the lip. sigh. :frown: Since "normal" stems are so impossible, I'm think about ordering some tapered stems that fit military mounts. Wonder if that would work? I have several estates that need new stems, but I know that fitting a new stem is somewhat more difficult than making the wooden part of the pipe from scratch.
> 
> Cranking up a Country Gentleman full of this Christmas Blend 2011 that DanR sent me. Nice stuff!


Sorry to hear about the Berkebile Jim. But can you believe this... I decided with help from captainenormous to take a stab at making my own pipe. I just yesterday ordered an assortment of stems from pimo pipecraft, including a few tapered stems for military mounts (about 5). I'll drop one into your package, as I suspect they'll be here about the same time. They were only $4 each and acrylic too. At least that way you can see if it works before you buy a bunch. What luck!


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Sorry to hear about the Berkebile Jim. But can you believe this... I decided with help from captainenormous to take a stab at making my own pipe. I just yesterday ordered an assortment of stems from pimo pipecraft, including a few tapered stems for military mounts (about 5). I'll drop one into your package, as I suspect they'll be here about the same time. They were only $4 each and acrylic too. At least that way you can see if it works before you buy a bunch. What luck!


Fantastic! (The only downside to this is that I am facing years of indentured servitude for all these favors Dan's been doing for me lately. :lol: ) It'd be really cool if I can figure something out.

Added some 5Bos to the raw PPP for a VitN supplement. The Patriot is doing the work right now. ipe:


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All, or I guess afternoon now. My week long "vacation" is almost up and I'm up to my elbows in tile and grout. Mrs StoneDog insisted I finally make use of the stack of bathroom tile that's been sitting in the garage for two years...

Although I did not find a Cavicchi under the Christmas tree I decided to pull my pipes and baccy out of storage and immediately enjoyed a nice big bowl of University Flake mixed with PA Choice Blend.

I also stopped by a new-to-me cigar shop and picked up a tin of Sutliff's Field Master. The tin reads "_Luxurious English mixture with Latakia and Matured Virginias_" and at $3.50 for the tin I really had no choice. If it's any good I'll post a review of it in a few weeks.


----------



## Hambone1

Frog Morton across the pond in one of my Boswell's


----------



## gahdzila

My four year old daughter was kind enough to let me sleep until 7:45 before rapping on my forehead with a pink princess flute and demanding cereal. Actually....that was preferable to her _playing_ the pink princess flute.

Orlik Golden Sliced with my morning coffee


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> My four year old daughter was kind enough to let me sleep until 7:45 before rapping on my forehead with a pink princess flute and demanding cereal. Actually....that was preferable to her _playing_ the pink princess flute.


:biglaugh:

Starting off late. This requires an emergency treatment with the PA/FiveB/PA sandwich -- right after I go get another cup of coffee! :cp


----------



## DanR

Sort of a PPP morning for me. I had some AJ's VaPer sitting on my paper plate, but needed something else to add to it, so I sprinkled some Billy Budd on top. I'm smoking it outside as I work on my new project:


----------



## freestoke

Holy Precision, Dan! You're doing the drill too! Impressive! No sissy predrilled blocks for you, eh? 

Just finishing the last of the Christmas 2011 you sent in the Country Gentleman. I think I've finally had enough for a while, but it was a great aromatic bender!


----------



## gahdzila

Good luck, Dan! Be sure and let us know how they turn out!

Some after lunch Purple Cow in the LePeltier.


----------



## freestoke

Waking up to 2012 with some plain ol' PA. Enjoying another warm day in the 30s, possibly 40s in a bit, then it's straight downhill to a high of 12 on Tuesday. Yikes!  I'm gonna need a lot of coffee this morning.

Just noticed that Gahdzila and I have identical RG counts with back to back posts! :shock:


----------



## Black

Started off the morning with some Squadron leader.

Wonderful new year ahead of us.


----------



## gahdzila

Yeah, mine just got bumped a bit yesterday.

A little PA for me as well. Then moving on to cigars :smoke2:


----------



## freestoke

A standard PA/4Dot start this morning with some coffee. Calling for 4-7" of of snow overnight. Since it's lake effect, that would be about 12-15" in *my* driveway. :wacko: But with zero snow on the ground on 2 Jan, we're way ahead of the game! :tu


----------



## DanR

I was digging through the back of my cabinet and found the mason jar labeled "virginias/vapers", which is where I store samples (in baggies). I'm having a bowl of Former's straight grain flake that contrabassbry hit me with back in September. It's a nice, peppery smoke this morning (it must have some perique) accompanied by a Starbucks house blend coffee from my Keurig.

I'm sitting outside listening to the birds chirp. One more day off before it's back to the salt mines...


----------



## freestoke

Threw a pinch of 3BM into the PPP. Haven't smoked this Savinelli 120 Anni in AGES! What a good pipe, too! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Dodged a bullet! Just a dusting of snow this morning! Smoking some PA and drinking Columbian fresh ground contemplating the expiration of threads. Strange how they have that set up, eh? I responded to Nachman on the movie thread, went and got more coffee and when I got back, there were no subscribed threads for the time period! It happens on this thread a lot, too. I guess when it's 9:16, all the threads turn to pumpkins or something. Bizarre. :ask:


----------



## Hannibal

Morning Brothers! 

Fired up some Kendall Kentucky this morning in a bent peterson. I'm really liking this tobak!


----------



## DanR

Bright CR Flake on the way to the office. This is one of my new favorites.


----------



## Stonedog

This morning's commute was augmented by the last bits of Exhausted Rooster under a layer of PA.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

I had my second bowl Field Master this morning. So far I'm enjoying it. Not quite up there with Squadron Leader but it does have just the right level of latakia. A bit more virginia sweetness to round it out and it would be a viable replacement. It also burns quickly, a bit like PA, probably because the cut is very thin.


----------



## TanZ2005

Morning all and Jon, (seeing you were first to post today)
Went to order some Squadron Leader however they were out so with any luck I will get some on the next order. Started my Day with some 1888 Early Day and after a short rest my second bowl today was of some Frog Morton on the Bayou. Hope everyone has a good day. 

James


----------



## asmartbull

Back to EMP in a Meer.
A great morning combination

Good day gents.....


----------



## freestoke

After my breakfast of PA, I'm heading for the Ennerdale that's been drying on the plate for the past 10 minutes. (Gotta smoke it before the house starts smelling like a candle shop!)


----------



## gahdzila

"Breakfast PA" is exactly what I'm having now. I blended mine half and half with 5 Brothers today...fantastic combo!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> "Breakfast PA" is exactly what I'm having now. I blended mine half and half with 5 Brothers today...fantastic combo!


Yep, it is! Think I might give that a spin myself, now that I've stunk up the house with Ennerdale. I understand the PA/5B combination works like Fabreze. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Which one of you guys stole my bowl of PA/5B? Really. I had it all mixed up on the paper plate, but had to mix another batch because it was gone. My cats don't smoke, so it had to be one of y'all. Whatever, the second batch was excellent! Now I'm trying to figure out if I want to eat lunch or smoke something else...the Jackknife Plug? Nah. Maybe later. Right now...hm...SWR+5B! ipe:

Wow! Giant discovery! Hey Joe, I figured out how to smoke this clay pipe you sent me! You put a chunk or two of SWR in there before the rest of the tobacco and it keeps the airway clear! :tu


----------



## Hannibal

Morning Brothers!

Well this mornings poison was Petersons Irish Oak. Between this and Kendall Kentucky I think, for at least now, I have found my two likes for the morning smoke. They both seem to have just the right flavor, body and strength for a very nice start of the day.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All!

LNF in the Bertram this morning. I'd really like to know how this compares to other Va/Perique blends (Escudo, etc) because LNF seems to be the most enjoyable of the staples in my rotation.


----------



## freestoke

After an opening 4Dot/PA, I went for some MacBaren Cube that Matt sent me. (Thanks Matt! :wave Can't say Cube did much for me, being a bit too insubstantial for my tastes. I'm moving on to SWR+5B in my Savinelli 120 Anni and it's getting the job done. :tu I don't smoke this pipe enough for sure! ipe:


----------



## Nachman

Stonedog said:


> Morning All!
> 
> LNF in the Bertram this morning. I'd really like to know how this compares to other Va/Perique blends (Escudo, etc) because LNF seems to be the most enjoyable of the staples in my rotation.


LNF is fairly mild, and a little sweet. Escudo is a step up in strength, sweetness and quality. Another couple of steps up in all three is Petersons Irish Oak. Anni Kake is comparable quality and strength but sweeter. Bayou Morning is about the same quality but less sweet and quite a bit stronger. I have smoked a lot of other Vapers, but my head is not working all that well this morning. That should give you something to work on. If you have specific questions let me know and I'll see if I can remember. Edit: If you can fond it, the best IMO is SG St. James Flake.


----------



## DanR

A little Sugar Barrel for me this morning. 

I tried a little of that Bayou Morning last night (thanks again Jim!) and I agree with Nick, it was strong. I will be adding more to my cellar soon...


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Bayou Morning is about the same quality but less sweet and quite a bit stronger.


Bayou Morning Flake is a good deal stronger than Bayou Morning, too. (That's the BMF you have Dan, not the Bayou Morning.) One of the better VaPers in my opinion is Reiner Long Golden Flake, but it has a bit of burley in it. It's a mild/medium potency, but pretty tasty.

Testing the Country Gentleman's patience with an Ennerdale musketball right now. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

Glad you were finally able to enjoy a smoke in your clay, Jim. I thought I told you (if I didn't, I meant to) that that's pretty much how I always smoke it - a wad of something packed tight in the bottom (whatever I'm smoking if it's the right consistancy...or else I use PA)...packed tightly enough to keep anything from coming up into the stem, but not tight enough to make my face cave in when I draw on it. These clay tavern pipes seem to like to be packed much tighter than my other pipes, for some reason.

Started out with PA in a cob, and working on some Orlick Golden Sliced in the LePeltier now.


----------



## Stonedog

Nachman said:


> LNF is fairly mild, and a little sweet. Escudo is a step up in strength, sweetness and quality. Another couple of steps up in all three is Petersons Irish Oak. Anni Kake is comparable quality and strength but sweeter. Bayou Morning is about the same quality but less sweet and quite a bit stronger. I have smoked a lot of other Vapers, but my head is not working all that well this morning. That should give you something to work on. If you have specific questions let me know and I'll see if I can remember. Edit: If you can fond it, the best IMO is SG St. James Flake.


Thanks you for the helpful response Nick. I enjoy the sweetness of the LNF (and more so in Exhausted Rooster which has burley). Looks like I need to track down Escudo (as I had expected) plus Irish Oak (didn't realize this was a VaPer). After reading a bit on Bayou Morning that sounds right up my alley. I tried Anni Kake a while back and enjoyed its sweetness but I haven't been able to find another batch that matches my first sample. Anyway, if LNF is on the low end of VaPers then I am certainly looking forward to exploring these blends further.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Glad you were finally able to enjoy a smoke in your clay, Jim. I thought I told you (if I didn't, I meant to) that that's pretty much how I always smoke it - a wad of something packed tight in the bottom...


You did! Seems like there was always a strand that broke loose and bolixed the operation. The SWR has nice big chunks that work really well for the purpose. And yes, it definitely needs a pretty tight pack!

Just drawing a bowl of RY to a close, that I was smoking writing my January review. This stuff is really good, ya know. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Following up the 4Dot/PA with the Paper Plate Potpourri that was getting out of control again. The Country Gentleman never complains, no matter what chore I ask of it. ipe: The PPP has been better, but not too bad this morning. And the coffee is going down easy.


----------



## Nachman

I wanted something different this morning so I popped open a tin of GL Pease Piccadilly.


----------



## freestoke

I can remember when I would just be waking up from throwing darts until 4 in the morning and playing chess until dawn, so we'll call it "virtual morning". More PA in the Diplomat. ipe: Really nice out! Usually, we'd have a couple of feet of snow out there this time of year, but only an inch or so on the ground, quickly disappearing. I think we'll be setting some records for average temps in January, almost no matter what happens for the rest of the month.


----------



## DanR

Nachman said:


> I wanted something different this morning so I popped open a tin of GL Pease Piccadilly.


What'd you think about the Piccadilly Nick? Hopefully it had a little age on it, as I'm finding (and many others have said it here before) that the GL Pease tobaccos need a little time before they get really good. I have a tin of Piccadilly with several years on it, and I've contemplated opening it a few times. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I had a little Former Straight Grain Flake this morning. Nothing at lunch due to a business meeting keeping me tied up. I hate it when work gets in the way of my smoking! Luckily I have my snuff...


----------



## Nachman

DanR said:


> What'd you think about the Piccadilly Nick? Hopefully it had a little age on it, as I'm finding (and many others have said it here before) that the GL Pease tobaccos need a little time before they get really good. I have a tin of Piccadilly with several years on it, and I've contemplated opening it a few times. I'd love to hear your thoughts.


The Piccadilly just turned one year old. It is a mix of a couple of Virginias and just a touch of Latakia and of Preique. You can't taste the condiment tobaccos, but they add to the overall body and taste of the blend. It is a dry (ie non-sweet) type of blend which is fairly mild, but still has a lot of flavour. I hate those wimpy blends that leave you wanting another pipeful. This is not one of those. It is quite satisfying.


----------



## freestoke

On my second after the 4Dot/PA, a stout mix, 2(5B)+1Q. That "1Q" disturbs me: not only can you not start a sentence with it, but it makes for an ugly mathematical phrase. I will henceforth refer to 1Q as simply Q: Q+2(5B) ipe:


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> On my second after the 4Dot/PA, a stout mix, 2(5B)+1Q. That "1Q" disturbs me: not only can you not start a sentence with it, but it makes for an ugly mathematical phrase. I will henceforth refer to 1Q as simply Q: Q+2(5B) ipe:


Ugh! Jim, it's Saturday morning for cripes sakes. Don't make my head hurt with math already! Am I the only fool that took a second to check the formula and see if it could be solved? ound:

I have a bowl of Blackwoods Flake loaded in my McCarter and at the ready. I'm brewing my second cup of Starbucks Pike Place roast in the Keurig, and I shall soon be "big pipin".


----------



## freestoke

Sorry, Dan. How about two parts Five Brothers, one part Q, more like a food recipe? 

Right now I do not know what I'm smoking. I suspect PPP+3BM...uh...equal parts Paper Plate Potpourri and Three Blind Moose. Sometime yesterday I filled the Legend and never smoked it, but its time has come. ipe:


----------



## PinkFloydFan

Good Morning Brothers..

Well, I was up early today. 
Went to Church. 
Made the coffee. 
Did the dishes.
Started the laundry.. LOL

Now I am firing up a DGT packed bowl of Stonehaven ( packed last night) .. in my SPS gifted Brebbia Pipe.

Should be able to "enjoy" the 55 degree weather later today.. ( It's Crazy.. it should be 15 degrees out here this time of the year, and I would rather have it that way personally.. LOL ) 

Have a great day 

- Vin


----------



## freestoke

Yep, the weather's crazy this winter. We should have a foot or two of snow on the ground and there's nada. Think I'll start with some Louisiana Red this morning with some Columbian freshground coffee. :cp


----------



## gahdzila

Same here, mid-upper 50s this morning. Nice enough that I skipped breakfast at home (to have a little more time) and chose a bowl of Orlick Golden Sliced over my usual early morning pre-work quickie cigar. Picked up some donuts on the way to work for me and the crew. It's a nice calm quiet day at work so far, as Sundays usually are. Knock on wood, maybe it will stay like this!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Same here...


:ask: You're supposed to have a foot or two of snow in Louisiana right now? oke:

Broke out the Sasieni Canadian for a big bowl of Tilbury. It's colder than yesterday, but still, anything above freezing is a bonus for these parts in January. Supposed to warm up again as the week rolls on.


----------



## gahdzila

HA! I meant "same here that the weather is unusually warm." Not "same here, we should have a couple feet of snow."

Actually, it does snow here! To a fashion. We only get a couple of inches at a time, and that only happens once every 3 or 4 years, and only here in the northern part of the state. It actually is unusual for it to be this warm in January....we should have lows in the 30s, highs in the 40s or 50s, but we've had lows in the mid 50s and highs in the low 70s for a couple of days now.


----------



## freestoke

Sorta like Savannah, where I spent my mid teens. Loved being able to play golf over xmas break! 

Some bowls are just better than others. Right now I've got a fully satisfactory load of the HHMV fueling the Country Gentleman, with the fresh Columbian on the side. Excellent!


----------



## x6ftundx

well I am also breaking out the SPS Hearth and Home gift and watching Football all day! GO STEELERS!!!


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning Puff!

I enjoyed a bowl of Stonehaven in my Bjarne Viking this morning as I contemplated leaving my current employer. I've been here seven and a half years and don't see much of a future. The growing frustration is putting a strain on my family life and the software development market in Metro Atlanta seems to be picking up...

I'm also trying to figure out what to send RJpuffs (this month's pipe lotto winner). Sounds like he has an extensive cellar, so perhaps I should pick something a little less mainstream but still highly rated. The question is, what to pick...


----------



## freestoke

It's generally not wise to leave a job until you have the next one lined up, Jon. And don't badmouth your current employer in interviews, just say you're looking for advancement or more interesting work, something along those lines. If you complain about your current job, they'll write you off as a complainer and nobody likes a complainer, even when they have valid complaints. 

This PA/4Dot combination is a real advice generator, huh!  Maybe it's the coffee. :cp


----------



## DanR

Jon (Stonedog), I can make a suggestion for you. I received a few tins of McClelland Brindle Flake recently, and it's really good. It is a Virginia flake and I think RJ might like it.

Here's the tin description: _Flue-curing captures the natural sweetness of the fine Virginia tobaccos in this flavorful blend. Aging in cakes softens them into elegance. This partially rubbed flake harkens back to English days of old. It burns with regal restraint to a mottled white ash. It is a friend with strong character and considerable charm._

That, or you could get him some more Escudo - it looks like he's running low with only 57 tins...

I fired up a bowl of Bald-Headed Teacher this morning for the ride to the office...


----------



## Hannibal

Well today's hour and fifteen minute drive was very pleasurable thanks to Kendall Kentucky in my HUGE double apple bjarne. It's amazing how much tobak you can pack in that pipe. I'm a fairly fast smoker with most of my pipes maybe lasting 30-45 minutes but that will never happen with this baby.....


----------



## freestoke

Jumpin' on some Ennerdale in the Patriot. Thinking about some fresh ground Columbian, but settling for a "regular" cup of coffee for now.


----------



## freestoke

Damn! Got to reading and forgot to get my coffee out of the microwave! I'm running a caffeine deficit!!  Stoking up the last of my PPP+Q mixture which is pretty fine. I love this Sasieni Canadian. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

Jack at Sterling Tobacco emailed me that he's having a 20% off sale on 7 ounce containers of some of his newest blends. It's been a while, so I smoked some Sterling American Patriot this morning to refresh my memory before I commit to buying 7 ounces. YESSIR! Good stuff!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Jack at Sterling Tobacco emailed me that he's having a 20% off sale on 7 ounce containers of some of his newest blends. It's been a while, so I smoked some Sterling American Patriot this morning to refresh my memory before I commit to buying 7 ounces. YESSIR! Good stuff!


I don't see that at tobakrevs. What's in it?

I hitting some Sail Green at the moment.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> I don't see that at tobakrevs. What's in it?
> 
> I hitting some Sail Green at the moment.


Here's the description from the website:


> AMERICAN PATRIOT (English) A bold English Blend. More Latakia makes this blend bolder. Sadly it also makes it a more expensive, but it's worth it if you love English. A smooth solid blend with full body. Just smell its Smokey aroma. Not a cake but has wonderful structure and complexity. This outstanding blend will leave a pleasant room note.


Despite the description, it isn't a Latakia bomb. In fact, I barely taste Latakia at all. There's a sort of sweet-spicy flavor to it, ...hard to describe. It's fairly new to his lineup. I read on another pipe message board that it was blended to taste like Penzance. I've not tried Penzance yet, so I can't tell you how close it actually is. Anywho...I like it enough that I'm sure I'll eventually smoke through 7 ounces, and 20% off is too good a deal to pass up.

Jack has already emailed me that he's mailing it today, so I should get it Thursday or so. I'll send you a little taste to try.


----------



## TanZ2005

Good Morning everyone, Today I am trying some Orlik Golden Sliced, In my Dr. Grabow Omega Pipe. Just got the Tobacco yesterday, along with a few others. Have to say with the Mixed reviews I have seen on it, Wasn't sure what I would think, But I like it. Enjoy your day everyone safe Puffing.

James


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Everyone,

I enjoyed some University Flake on the way in this morning. I find it interesting how the burn rate can vary so widely when moving from blend to blend. PA would be done and gone by the end of my commute (with time to spare airing out the Jeep). With the Uni Flake I I still have half a bowl in my trusty Bjarne Viking and it has an average sized bowl.

Had a phone interview yesterday that went fairly well and will probably progress to the next stage. And, to your point Jim, I certainly wouldn't leave my current employer without another one lined up. This ain't my first rodeo, as they say.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> And, to your point Jim, I certainly wouldn't leave my current employer without another one lined up. This ain't my first rodeo, as they say.


Glad to hear it! Sometimes when people are unhappy with work they just quit, ya know? It's generally a bad move.

The big difference between flake and ribbon is that flake is compressed, so even when you rub it out a lot of it is still very dense. The actual amount of tobacco by weight in the bowl is greater with flake. You can put 4 oz. of flake in an 8 oz. jar but only 2 or 3 of ribbon.

Taking the Savinelli out for a morning run. Smoking it more, now that I have my new pipe rack and can see it. Red Rapparee, courtesy of Dan! :tu


----------



## karatekyle

TanZ2005 said:


>


Dang, James. That's a well packed bowl, brother! Mine look like that for about 10 seconds :lol:


----------



## gahdzila

TanZ2005 said:


> Good Morning everyone, Today I am trying some Orlik Golden Sliced, In my Dr. Grabow Omega Pipe. Just got the Tobacco yesterday, along with a few others. Have to say with the Mixed reviews I have seen on it, Wasn't sure what I would think, But I like it. Enjoy your day everyone safe Puffing.
> 
> James


I have the same pipe. It's a good one. Mine is the carved, and I wish I would have gotten smooth. Oh wells.

OGS is good stuff. When I first popped the tin and that orange smell hit me, I just knew I was gonna hate it. But I ended up enjoying it a LOT! It's a great morning smoke. Heck, it's a great all day smoke, IMO.


----------



## DanR

Clifford, I had the last of your Sterling Tobacco Millionaire's Blend this morning. Nice tobacco, especially for the morning commute. I swear there's a hint of vanilla in there...

Now, on to the afternoon smoke break.


----------



## TanZ2005

To Clifford, I have had this pipe for a few many years now. I like it however I think it is going to need to be Replaced soon. The Finnish is coming off sadly and the next one will be a Smooth. But there is so many better pipes out there I may just go with a different type all together. 

To Kyle, Yes it was hard to take this Picture. I kept want to Lite it up and get to smoking. and wow was it nice just under an hour smoking time. Well Better get my pipe lit now in my Bowl is some Hearth & Home Black House. 

Hope everyone has a Wonderful day, Safe Puffing

James


----------



## gahdzila

Glad you liked it, Dan! I enjoy it a lot. Just ordered more, actually!

James - It would be a shame to toss out a pipe that you've enjoyed for that long. What about refinishing it?


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning All,

Terrible storms in Atlanta this morning made the commute a real mess. I enjoyed some Sutliff Field Master (this is growing on me) but at times had to roll up the window completely. That, combined with the general latakia-ness of the smoke, must have left a rather strong scent on my jacket. The boss was hovering over my shoulder 5 minutes after arriving and I noticed him sniffing a few times. He was kind enough not to say anything... 

The interview process continues. I have an online programming test (even though I don't really program anymore) with a technology that I haven't used in a while. Should be interesting. I have 90 minutes to solve 3 problems. Wish me luck!


----------



## freestoke

He probably thinks you were smoking some weed on the way in, Jon. :hippie: 

Just getting under weigh this morning. Too zooed out to do much more than fire up the 4Dot with some mindless PA. I don't think I'll be able to form a coherent thought for at least another two cups of coffee. :cp


----------



## gahdzila

Good luck, Jon!

PA/5 Brothers in a cob while I contemplate shaving.

I hate shaving with a passion. Though I am a professional and interact with people in my job, my boss hates shaving almost as much as I do....so I can get away with being lax about it. Actually, I like the way I look with about two days worth of fuzz. Anyway...I decided this winter to grow a full beard. Though it sure is nice to not even think about whether or not I should shave today, it's becoming a nuisance. It's long enough now that I actually have to comb it at least once a day, food gets caught in it, and I don't think it's very becoming on me to be honest.

I have a funeral to attend this afternoon, so I'm gonna clean up before then. I was considering maybe just trimming it way down, or going down to a goutee. But I think I'm just gonna lose the whole thing. If I change my mind, it'll grow back


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> But I think I'm just gonna lose the whole thing. If I change my mind, it'll grow back


I used to grow a pretty decent beard, but gray beards are seldom becoming, so I gave that up completely. Gray mustaches aren't so bad, but I hate getting food and whatnot in it, plus a mustache is especially messy after snowblowing the driveway. I just shave now and have done with it.


----------



## karatekyle

I need to go get some more PA so I can ramp up my post count here with a few "PA in the 4dot while I gulp down coffee" posts :lol: It only seems fitting that I work my new 4dot with a bit with PA as the great Sir Freestoke would. This was my Christmas gift, every time I look at it, it gets a little prettier.

But, alas, it is a bowl of EMP in a Butz Choquin I find quite beautiful as well. MMiller was kind enough to wait until I was here to crack the tin and try it out! Looking forward to seeing how it tastes with the poor man's Americano I'm drinking. Instead of a few shots of espresso with water, its just espresso made in a drip coffee maker diluted to taste. Quite good, actually.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I need to go get some more PA so I can ramp up my post count here with a few "PA in the 4dot while I gulp down coffee" posts :lol:


Is that a 4Dot or a Four Dot, Kyle? It may not be the "quality pipe" that my old estate Sasienis are, but the 4Dot really smokes nice all the same.

Got my Country Gentleman beating down some Bayou Morning Flake and will start to form complete sentences before long.


----------



## Stonedog

Speaking of shaving... I can't quite seem to get a full beard to grow. At least not one that covers the cheek acceptably. I'm resigned to chinstrip beards and goaties/van *****. The later make me look like a "child molester" according to my father-in-law so I've given up completely. Now I'm growing in sideburns for the heck of it. Not porkchops mind you, just long sideburns. My kids want me to go for the Mr Gibbs look:


----------



## freestoke

Just don't do one of those Amish things, okay? :lol: Those things creep me out as bad as lip piercings. Makes people look like extras from Planet of the Apes -- without the makeup.

Now that I've laid down a nice base with the BMF, time for some tasty HHMV in the FourDot pot.


----------



## gahdzila

No problems with the cheeks here. The only spot mine is thin is the transition point between the tips of the mustache and the beard. I'd probably trim this down to a goatee, but a goatee just doesn't look right on me...it ends up being a mustache with a disconnected chin beard without the smooth transition. I've done just the chin beard (goatee without a mustache) a few times, but I've decided that's more of a younger man's beard and doesn't fit me as well anymore. I used to do a chin curtain (sort of an Abe Lincoln look), and that actually looks really good on me, but it's too high maintenance - I had to trim and shape it daily, and the tiniest bit of scruff on the cheeks just ruins the whole effect.

Nope, I've decided - shaving it all. Finishing up an Oliva Serie G Special G, then off to do the deed!


----------



## mmiller

I had a bowl of EMP for the first time and I might have to say that this is my favorite tobacco so far. We will see how it holds up after I have some RY later today.


----------



## freestoke

mmiller said:


> I had a bowl of EMP for the first time and I might have to say that this is my favorite tobacco so far. We will see how it holds up after I have some RY later today.


They won't be anything alike, Matt. EMP is really nice stuff, though, huh? :smile:


----------



## mmiller

freestoke said:


> They won't be anything alike, Matt. EMP is really nice stuff, though, huh? :smile:


Oh yeah im loving it but yeah I know they are completely different tobaccos. Kyle says its his favorite so Im seeing how it holds up in my book. :tu


----------



## Nachman

mmiller said:


> I had a bowl of EMP for the first time and I might have to say that this is my favorite tobacco so far. We will see how it holds up after I have some RY later today.


If you like EMP, you ought to try GL Pease Piccadilly. It is similar but less Oriental, more Virginia base. Light but hearty, if that makes any sense.


----------



## karatekyle

Having a bit of SB in the 4dot en route to Anthropology.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

Late start this morning made better by a big bowl of FVF.


----------



## mmiller

Nachman said:


> If you like EMP, you ought to try GL Pease Piccadilly. It is similar but less Oriental, more Virginia base. Light but hearty, if that makes any sense.


That sounds good, I will have to put it on my list of baccys to try!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Having a bit of SB in the 4dot en route to Anthropology.


Physiological or social? I really liked physiological, not so much social.

On to pipe number two, the Dunhill bulldog with a mix of SB and a few scraps of JKP from yesterday. (This stupid pipe has the worst stem ever -- and it's the original, too. What's with these Dunhill stems, are they meant for people with jaws like Neanderthals or something, or are they meant to enforce the "Do not clench!" rule?) Quite tasty, the JKP definitely adds a little something to the SB -- or visa versa.


----------



## gahdzila

How's the JKP, Jim? I know you've been itching to try it.

1776 Tavern. Two bowls last night, and one this morning make it three bowls in a row! That's how much I'm loving this stuff!!


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Physiological or social? I really liked physiological, not so much social.


Cultural Anthropology (so social, basically). And as a Microbiology student with a lot of interest in evolutionary theory, I agree. It won't be nearly as fun as Physiological Anthropology. But a gentleman must be appreciative of all things intellectual. As much as I'd like to take nothing but hard science and hard science-related classes, I should aspire to add as many facets as possible to the diamond that is myself.

So Jim; anthropology, classical guitar, language, and pipe smoking. Next you'll tell me you're a chess player as well? A true man of credit you seem to be!

And, pardon me for the belated consideration, thank you for the bomblet! I look forward to trying a bit of that HHMV. I'm sure Matt will steal a bowl or two of it as well.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> How's the JKP, Jim? I know you've been itching to try it.
> 
> 1776 Tavern. Two bowls last night, and one this morning make it three bowls in a row! That's how much I'm loving this stuff!!


A Revolutionary bender! :lol: Sounds like it would go great with a stout. :tu

The JKP was very nice indeed. :tu Just the one bowl so far, rubbed out scraps from the can, but today I'll slice a little up and musketball it. I'm very glad I opened it yesterday, since I was jiggering between opening Dunhill Flake or FVF for some straight Va to have in the rotation. (And I just noticed!  I pulled out my antepenultimate pack of pipe cleaners! I need to start figuring out how to reach free shipping immediately!) Think I'll go for some -- *ENNERDALE*! Now where is that Country Gentleman hiding? :behindsofa:


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Think I'll go for some -- *ENNERDALE*! Now where is that Country Gentleman hiding? :behindsofa:


Hiding from that Ennerdale no doubt!

(couldn't resist)


----------



## gahdzila

Brrrrr! It's nothing compared to what you gentlemen from north of the Mason-Dixon endure, but it's a very cold (to me) 31 degrees here this morning. I'm glad I got this little smoking spot sorted out. Sitting in this little narrow cubbyhole with an electric space heater, it's at least tolerable.

Last night, I finished cleaning up the first pipe from the lot of estates that I won - a Lorenzo churchwarden. I couldn't help grabbing it this morning and taking it out for its inaugural smoke of Prince Albert mixed with a little 5 Brothers. Smoking great!


----------



## mmiller

gahdzila said:


> Brrrrr! It's nothing compared to what you gentlemen from north of the Mason-Dixon endure, but it's a very cold (to me) 31 degrees here this morning. I'm glad I got this little smoking spot sorted out. Sitting in this little narrow cubbyhole with an electric space heater, it's at least tolerable.
> 
> Last night, I finished up the first pipe from the lot of estates that I won - a Lorenzo churchwarden. I couldn't help grabbing it this morning and taking it out for its inaugural smoke of Prince Albert mixed with a little 5 Brothers. Smoking great!


31 degrees? Thats the temp where us up north shed the jackets and go out in sweatshirts and long sleeves haha


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

The commute was extended because of an exceptionally nice bowl of LNF. It's cold again here in Georgia, though things aren't even close to what most of you yankees are getting.


----------



## [OT] Loki

currently "working" by trying to find another job


----------



## karatekyle

mmiller said:


> 31 degrees? Thats the temp where us up north shed the jackets and go out in sweatshirts and long sleeves haha


No Matt, that's 21. At 31 we go swimming :lol:


----------



## mmiller

karatekyle said:


> No Matt, that's 21. At 31 we go swimming :lol:


Oops my bad, btw it is a whopping -6 out here in SD right now


----------



## freestoke

mmiller said:


> Oops my bad, btw it is a whopping -6 out here in SD right now


Wait a minute! You're looking at a high of 33F in Pierre. :shock: You talkin' centigrade?

It was 37F earlier this morning, heavy rain, but it went over to snow about 8 o'clock and the temp is headed down, currently 27F. Looking at about half a foot by tomorrow, but for the middle of January it's nothing to complain about!

Got a really late start this morning and just now engaging the 4Dot with some PA.


----------



## mmiller

freestoke said:


> Wait a minute! You're looking at a high of 33F in Pierre. :shock: You talkin' centigrade?


Nope Fahrenheit, it is up to -2 with a high of 17 here in Brookings


----------



## freestoke

mmiller said:


> Nope Fahrenheit, it is up to -2 with a high of 17 here in Brookings


I couldn't come up with a place name in SD other than Pierre! (A quick glance at the avatar would have helped, huh? :doh: ) Quite a big temperature gradient! You're looking good for the weekend, though! :tu

Gotta get some more coffee and take the Royal Yacht out for a spin with the new TwoDot at the helm! ipe: Got it at specials. Here's a sample of Marty's honesty in action! His description of the pipe:









*Right up front, let me tell you that there is a dark spot on the
bottom of the bowl...dead center. I think that the pipe was
smoked hot there, although testing with a pipe tool reveals no
burn out. Should you buy this, and it burns out, I'll certainly
provide a full refund. My suggestion, however, would be to
build up a little firewall...maybe a paste of a dram of water
mixed with cigar ash to make a paste. I've used that to great
effect on a real burnout on the side of a bowl. There is also a
touch of a burn on the outer rim of the bowl, but that means
nothing more than one of the prior owners was a bit klutzy with
his match or lighter. The rest of the pipe, including stem, are in
excellent condition and the draw open. Cross grain is good, too
6.4" long, bowl 1 5/8" tall. 1 3/8 oz., 38 grams. Price: $35.

*

I mean -- really. How can you possibly beat THAT, huh? :tu

Somebody took a torch lighter to the bottom and scorched through to the finish if you ask me, but it smokes just fine! I love these Sasieni's!


----------



## Troutman22

I am having a bowl of "Strep Throat" followed with a bowl of "I hate my life right now". Someday soon I plan to smoke some FVF again.


----------



## karatekyle

Yep, all the way up to 4 degrees right now! Get your lawn chair and Hawaiian shirt, Matt! It's smokin' weather! :lol:

A bit of CAO cherry mixed with a good bit of SB. That is easily my favorite cherry blend but I can't smoke it straight. Wayy sweet.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Wait a minute! You're looking at a high of 33F in Pierre. :shock: You talkin' centigrade?


...and no Jim. He's talking Kelvin! mg:


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> ...and no Jim. He's talking Kelvin! mg:


:rofl: South Dakota, where pipe tobacco becomes superconductive.


----------



## Firedawg

Enjoying a bowl of C&D Afterhours in my trusty 80s Peterson, sitting at my desk watching neighbor kids build an igloo. If it wasnt 1:30 pm I would poor myself a glass of Jamesons. Enjoy the weekend pipers!


----------



## gahdzila

Orlick Golden Sliced in a cob with a big mug of Green Mountain Dark Magic


----------



## karatekyle

To the gun show and then to the B&M with the WHOLE pipe club! FVF and Commonwealth on tap, alsong with a Gran Habano 2002 Vintage. Looking forward to a few hours of puffing.


----------



## keen smoke

I cleaned and reamed an old Svenborg brandy last night so this morning I'm re-breaking it in with some Carter Hall. A lovely cup of Adagio's Irish Breakfast tea on the side.


----------



## freestoke

A bracing 16F, with 10 mph wind, not too awful for snowblowing the foot of fresh white crap in the driveway. Could have been worse! :smile:

I've at least got a bowl of PA under my belt and a cup of coffee. Time to suit up and start the engine!


----------



## freestoke

Beautiful out there, as long as you don't have to GO out there! It's a roasting 2F, but at least the sun is shining, with blue skies in abundance and a male cardinal at the bird feeder. Got to at least -11F last night, the house was creaking and popping. Got the Scotch Flake Aromatic in the Bari warming my hand. (Looks like only one bowl of this left that's open, too. sigh.)


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Puff Pipers! I was staring at my tobacco cabinet this morning trying to decide between two old favorites; Red Rapp or Louisiana Red. Ultimately the Louisiana Red won out, and I'm happy for it. It is pairing nicely with my morning dark roast coffee.

The weather here in San Antonio is slightly overcast and 45 degrees this morning.


----------



## karatekyle

Yesterday's day raid to the B&M was a success. 2 bowls of FVF, 2 of SB, and a GH 2002 made for a very sore throat and very shaky knees.

Nursing my smoker's hangover (sore throat) with some great coffee and a bit of snuff. Maybe a pipe later tonight if it sounds good.


----------



## mmiller

karatekyle said:


> Yesterday's day raid to the B&M was a success. 2 bowls of FVF, 2 of SB, and a GH 2002 made for a very sore throat and very shaky knees.
> 
> Nursing my smoker's hangover (sore throat) with some great coffee and a bit of snuff. Maybe a pipe later tonight if it sounds good.


Haha so no coffee and PA this morning?


----------



## karatekyle

mmiller said:


> Haha so no coffee and PA this morning?


Gimme a half hour? Drank the whole pot of coffee, cleaned the room, STILL haven't showered. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Gimme a half hour? Drank the whole pot of coffee, cleaned the room, STILL haven't showered. :lol:


You always have to smoke some more afterward your shower, otherwise you won't be able to upset the Tobacco Nazis. :spy:

Feeling self conscious and boring about the PA, I'm going to shake it up this morning -- no I'm not. It's too hard to think about. PA/4Dot. :faint:


----------



## PiperPilot

First weekday off that I could sit and smoke a pipe in a long time. So I smoked two this morning. Well, actually just the bottom halves of two I'd left sitting from last night. I was smoking Balkan Sobranie, but it's still way too moist in the tin, so I had to let it sit after smoking half the bowl. Wouldn't stay lit and was gurgling like crazy. Switched to a bowl of RY, but the nic started going to my head. So I let that sit. And here I found myself this morning. 
Can't say I mind it a bit. Still waiting for my 8 yr old to wake up. Life 'aint bad this very moment.


----------



## ramanujan

I had a bowl of Orliks Golden Sliced together with a nice cappucino this morning. Unfortunately it was waay to cold for me outside (-5°C here in Germany) so i stopped after half the bowl


----------



## Stonedog

Jens, you have my respect for making it through a half bowl of _anything_ at -5°C!

This morning I finished off a bowl of Stonehaven. Considering dropping down to PA in my CG cob for the ride home tonight.


----------



## freestoke

Two puffs on the PA, then out to snow blow. (Bummer. Supposed to rain today and the driveway would have been a major mess when it goes back to freezing tonight. Big wind tomorrow!) Now I'm finishing it off with my second cup of coffee. And I found the TwoDot apple in the living room, full of something from last night and never lit! Guess it's up next no matter what --looks suspiciously like more PA, but that's okay. :tu


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning everyone. 

This morning's commute was extended a bit so that I could finish off a bowl of Universtity Flake in my handy CG cob. I think I need to add another full-sized cob to my collection. I'll probably go with either Great Dane Egg or the Diplomat, but only if they have bowls equal to or larger than the CG.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Good Morning everyone.
> 
> This morning's commute was extended a bit so that I could finish off a bowl of Universtity Flake in my handy CG cob. I think I need to add another full-sized cob to my collection. I'll probably go with either Great Dane Egg or the Diplomat, but only if they have bowls equal to or larger than the CG.


The Diplomat's bowl is scarcely larger than a Legend or Pride, it merely looks bigger because of the thicker walls. I really like the Dip, though. You could prefill two Dips for your commute. :smile:

Right now it's the 4Dot/PA, but I have some Ennerdale left in the Alfa Litewate from yesterday, so there's a Lakeland DGT on the horizon. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

Stonedog said:


> Good Morning everyone.
> 
> This morning's commute was extended a bit so that I could finish off a bowl of Universtity Flake in my handy CG cob. I think I need to add another full-sized cob to my collection. I'll probably go with either Great Dane Egg or the Diplomat, but only if they have bowls equal to or larger than the CG.


There doesn't seem to me to be a huge difference in the sizes of the CG vs the Dip vs the Great Dane Egg. I like all three, TBH. The CG is more tall and slim, the Diplomat and the Egg are shorter and wider. Both the Diplomat and the Egg have the hardwood bottom. The Diplomat and the Egg appear to me to be very similar in shape and size, except of course the Egg has that pointed bottom and the Diplomat is flat bottomed.

Here's some comparison reading material for ya:
Pipe Size Chart - Aristocob
Missouri Meerschaum Corncob Buying Guide - Pipedia


----------



## DanR

I finished off the last of my Three Blind Moose sample from FreeStoke this morning. It went well with the Kona coffee I had on the way to work. I like throwing in an Aromatic like TBM into the mix every now and then, but I am not sure I'd buy more of this for the cellar. I just don't crave Aros like I used to, and I have enough to tide me over for awhile. However, I do appreciate the sample Jim!


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> The Diplomat's bowl is scarcely larger than a Legend or Pride, it merely looks bigger because of the thicker walls. I really like the Dip, though.


You think? It seems larger than that to me :hmm:

I slammed some cereal and coffee and went to the gym. After the gym, that monkey on my back was tapping my shoulder, so I went with some straight 5 Brothers in the Grabow Omega. It's hitting the spot for sure! I think I'll follow it up with PA in a cob. And, of course, more coffee!!!


----------



## Guest

DanR said:


> I finished off the last of my Three Blind Moose sample from FreeStoke this morning. It went well with the Kona coffee I had on the way to work. I like throwing in an Aromatic like TBM into the mix every now and then, but I am not sure I'd buy more of this for the cellar. I just don't crave Aros like I used to, and I have enough to tide me over for awhile. However, I do appreciate the sample Jim!


Heh, some of the guys and I were telling our Portuguese Air Force co-workers about Kona coffee. They smirk and look at the cleaning lady and keep asking us questions about this'Kona' coffee. Turns out that kona is a very crude word to describe ladyparts, and the cleaning lady almost had a stroke!


----------



## Stonedog

Sounds like if I want something wider and deeper than the CG I might as well go for the General or even a freehand. Works for me!


----------



## mmiller

Stonedog said:


> Sounds like if I want something wider and deeper than the CG I might as well go for the General or even a freehand. Works for me!


I have the general and I love it, It is a solid 1.5-2 hr smoke and it smokes very cool and dry


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> You think? It seems larger than that to me :hmm:


You're right!  I smoke this one Diplomat an awful lot and it's caked up pretty good, probably a nickel's width! Even my small wooden tamper is getting to be a tight fit. :lol: I have a new Diplomat that I measured with the CG and it looks like 2 cm CG versus 1.8 cm Dip? The CG is a little bigger, but not as much difference as I made it sound.

Smoking some LGF in the TwoDot apple at the moment. ipe:


----------



## szyzk

Boswell's Christmas Cookie this morning. I had it on the brain when I woke up, so I dug myself in.

I'm now preparing myself for a bowl of Darth Waffle!


----------



## gahdzila

Using exacting measuring techniques that involved sticking various fingers in the bowls and guesstimating, I have determined the following:

The Diplomat is almost the exact diameter as the Egg. The bowl of the Egg is slightly deeper. So of those two, the Egg is a hair larger. It isn't enough of a difference to count, I don't think.

The CG is shaped differently than the Diplomat or the Egg. The CG is slimmer and taller. As for which is actually bigger volume-wise, that would involve more exacting measuring and calculating than I feel up to doing right now :mrgreen:. But I would wager that they're pretty close.

I also have a Great Dane Spool. The Spool is shaped more like the CG (taller slimmer bowl than the Diplomat or Egg). I believe the Spool might be a hair bigger (both taller and wider bowl) than the CG, but I wouldn't swear to it.

So I'll stick to my first guesstimation and say I think they're all pretty close and you should pick the one you think looks the nicest ipe:



Stonedog said:


> Sounds like if I want something wider and deeper than the CG I might as well go for the General or even a freehand. Works for me!


I had a General at one time, but it burned out and I didn't buy another one. I was still pretty new to the pipe, and I had trouble keeping it lit, and it burned out on the wall near the top...so I think it was my fault that it burned out due to constantly and carelessly relighting it with a lighter. It's a huge pipe. As Matt pointed out, it's a solid 2 hour smoke.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> You're right!  I smoke this one Diplomat an awful lot and it's caked up pretty good, probably a nickel's width! Even my small wooden tamper is getting to be a tight fit. :lol: I have a new Diplomat that I measured with the CG and it looks like 2 cm CG versus 1.8 cm Dip? The CG is a little bigger, but not as much difference as I made it sound.
> 
> Smoking some LGF in the TwoDot apple at the moment. ipe:


I'm confused. Did you measure height or diameter?


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I'm confused. Did you measure height or diameter?


Interior chamber width. It's all I can eyeball in with the 1969 vintage flowchart template. (I have meager measuring devices.) Once again, the CG has some cake and I was trying to figure out where the edge really was...so I'll make a second guess, based on my second measurement -- 1.9 CG 1.8 Dip. But they could be the same! :dunno: The Country Gentleman always seemed wider, though. In any case, if they are the same width, the Country Gentleman still holds considerably more tobacco. The chamber seems to be about 1/2" taller.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Interior chamber width. It's all I can eyeball in with the 1969 vintage flowchart template. (I have meager measuring devices.) Once again, the CG has some cake and I was trying to figure out where the edge really was...so I'll make a second guess, based on my second measurement -- 1.9 CG 1.8 Dip. But they could be the same! :dunno: The Country Gentleman always seemed wider, though. In any case, if they are the same width, the Country Gentleman still holds considerably more tobacco. The chamber seems to be about 1/2" taller.


There's something fishy going on! There must be some pipe to pipe variability. There MUST be, I tell ya!

My CG is most definitely a smaller chamber diameter than my two Diplomats. I didn't measure with a ruler or caliper, just used my finger, but there's definitely a difference. My ring finger will slide easily into the Diplomats, but stops at the first knuckle past the fingernail and won't go any further in the CG. My pinky will fit in the CG and go all the way to the bottom, but it's a snug fit...and my pinky has lots of room to play in the Diplomats.

Same as yours, my CG is definitely taller than my Diplomats.


----------



## Nachman

In cobs, I have two Legends, a Patriot and a General. The two Legends are different sizes. The Patriot larger than either of the Legends, and the General is ginormous.


----------



## gahdzila

C&D Burley Flake #1 in a cob. It's taken a while, but I'm finally beginning to enjoy this stuff for what it is. Still, it's probably gonna take me a while to finish this jar, and I have another tin cellared that I may end up giving or trading away.


----------



## freestoke

I've only had one can of it, but the BF#1 was pretty good for bracing an aromatic which would be too flimsy otherwise -- or pretty good after flavoring with an aromatic, however you want to look at it. 

Whatever, I'm smoking the end of a jar of Tilbury in the Diplomat sizeshifter. oke: Very tasty. ipe: And coffee, of course. :cp


----------



## karatekyle

I have ONE cob, a MM something or other. It's the red headed step child of my rotation. It is neither seen nor smoked.


----------



## DanR

Have you guys tried the BF#2. I've been contemplating the #1 or #2, and you guys just talked me out of the #1. Was curious about the other...

I had a bowl of FVF this morning. I had it staged to smoke last night originally, but never got around to it.


----------



## freestoke

Never had the BF#2. Finally got around to carving up my JKP and I'm smoking the broken scraps now (effecively rubbed out) in the FourDot pot. Certainly burns nice. Quite tasty, actually.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning all, 

LNF in my "basket" pipe. This is the same one I went through several iterations of mudding, etc to fix the excessively high draft hole. It also had a wannabe "P-lip" that I modified to be more like a normal bit. Anyway, it smokes very well now and is primarily used for latakia blends. It's nice though with LNF to get a bit of spiced smokiness from the ghosting. In summary, don't give up on a problem pipe it may just need a little work.


----------



## karatekyle

DanR said:


> I had a bowl of FVF this morning. I had it staged to smoke last night originally, but never got around to it.


I had two bowls the other day at the B&M. Pardon my language: 'twas the shittiest two bowls of virginia doth ever smoked. I rubbed it but I rubbed it coarsely. I won't ever do that again. For what my opinion is worth, FVF is one of the finest blends out there when finely rubbed. Fold and stuff, cannonballed, or coarsely shredded? Give me OGS 10 times out of 10.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I had two bowls the other day at the B&M. Pardon my language: 'twas the shittiest two bowls of virginia doth ever smoked.


You made me look it up! Whodathunkit, that BF#1 was a VaBurPer! :shock: And that BF#2 is VaBur! :ask: Silly me, I was thinking it was just burley.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> You made me look it up! Whodathunkit, that BF#1 was a VaBurPer! :shock: And that BF#2 is VaBur! :ask: Silly me, I was thinking it was just burley.


Oops, pardon me, I sloppily quoted Dan. I was referring to the bowl of FVF he had today. FVF is what I had two bowls of at the B&M. Fixed my previous post.


----------



## DanR

karatekyle said:


> Oops, pardon me, I sloppily quoted Dan. I was referring to the bowl of FVF he had today. FVF is what I had two bowls of at the B&M. Fixed my previous post.


My FVF was really good Kyle. I did rub it out though, so maybe you are on to something? This summer I tried to fold and stuff a nice flake that I had, and I couldn't get it to smoke right. I just started rubbing it out and letting air dry appropriately from that point forward.


----------



## freestoke

I'll keep that in mind when I pop my next can of FVF! Right now, this JKP is kicking my ass! Maybe it's just a weak morning or something. The TwoDot pot is a pretty substantial load, though. Whatever, I need some lunch!


----------



## Max_Power

Wow, you guys have me really craving some JKP or Burley Flake #12 right now. Those are both at the top of my faves list; though they do pack a bit of a punch. I think its the burley flake that's been known to give me the hic, hic, hiccups.


----------



## gahdzila

DanR said:


> Have you guys tried the BF#2. I've been contemplating the #1 or #2, and you guys just talked me out of the #1. Was curious about the other...


Haven't tried #2.

#1 isn't bad, I just keep passing over it for stuff I like much better. As Jim pointed out, it does have Va and Per in it, but the flavor to me is just straight burley. If that's your thing, you might like it. Personally, I actually prefer 5 Brothers for a straight burley. It has a bigger flavor alone, and it works better as a mixer (which is primarily what I was using the BF#1 for).

PM me if you want the rest of this jar of #1 and it's yours. There's almost an ounce left.


----------



## Stonedog

While not directly related to the good morning thread, I just stopped into the local B&M. They have a sandblasted Neerup handmade in sort of a dublin / freehand style that I just fell in love with. $85 seems a fair price though it would be cheaper online. Hmm....


----------



## freestoke

There's the advantage that you can personally eyeball the drill before you buy it, too, Jon. 

Smoking some American Patriot that Clifford sent me, and damn fine it is too! Almost 1000 Hours and my first pipe of the day! :shock: The Sasieni FourDot pot has the morning mission. This seems like the 1776 Tavern with more Latakia, although I smoked the 1776 last night and may be remembering it wrong. I think I like the 1776 a bit more, but they're both excellent! Thanks, Cifford! :tu


----------



## DanR

I had some Hermit's Rest this morning, another one of our fellow piper's (WWhermit) fusion lab blends. I will write up a review this weekend, but I will say it's another terrific blend!


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Smoking some American Patriot that Clifford sent me, and damn fine it is too! Almost 1000 Hours and my first pipe of the day! :shock: The Sasieni FourDot pot has the morning mission. This seems like the 1776 Tavern with more Latakia, although I smoked the 1776 last night and may be remembering it wrong. I think I like the 1776 a bit more, but they're both excellent! Thanks, Cifford! :tu


Glad you liked them, Jim!

You know what that 1776 Tavern reminds me of? That GLP Latakia blend that we did for the tobacco of the month that no one liked...what was it called? Lagonda? The 1776 Tavern is much much better, though. I like it a lot.

American Patriot is the one that is supposed to taste like Penzance (I can't say, I still haven't tried Penzance, though I do have a bag cellared). Jack's description on his website makes it sound like a Latakia bomb, but I don't really taste that much Latakia in it...though it sounds like you did!

The two of them don't taste all that similar to me per se, but the sweetness in them (whatever it is...a topping or a specific condiment tobacco) is very close. I taste that same sweet-creaminess in his Millionaire Blend too, which I also enjoy very much. And of course Jack's friendly customer service is second to none!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Glad you liked them, Jim!
> 
> You know what that 1776 Tavern reminds me of? That GLP Latakia blend that we did for the tobacco of the month that no one liked...what was it called? Lagonda? The 1776 Tavern is much much better, though. I like it a lot.
> 
> American Patriot is the one that is supposed to taste like Penzance (I can't say, I still haven't tried Penzance, though I do have a bag cellared). Jack's description on his website makes it sound like a Latakia bomb, but I don't really taste that much Latakia in it...though it sounds like you did!
> 
> The two of them don't taste all that similar to me per se, but the sweetness in them (whatever it is...a topping or a specific condiment tobacco) is very close. I taste that same sweet-creaminess in his Millionaire Blend too, which I also enjoy very much. And of course Jack's friendly customer service is second to none!


I guess I was keying on the topping. I wouldn't call the AP a Lat bomb at all and the 1776 has precious little Lat presence -- as I recall! Having smoked each only once -- I think? -- I may not have them sorted out yet. Right now, I'm struggling into awareness with the PA/4Dot and my first cuppe of cafe. Just reading that my head is older than my feet, because time slows as gravity increases. Since my feet are closer to the earth than my head, the gravity is greater for them and they age slower. Over a lifespan of 80 years, the standard human's head will be 300 nanoseconds older than his feet.


----------



## freestoke

I had another bowl of that nice 1776 and have moved on to some Golden Age that Sather sent me. So far a lightweight nicotine Saturday, but I'm enjoying it!


----------



## Stonedog

I had to come into the office today to put out a few fires so I ripped through a bowl of SL on the way in. 

My stash is getting a bit low, hopefully SG ships another big batch to US distributors soon.

One minute before noon, so technically this is still a Good Morning post!


----------



## freestoke

Halfway through a PA/4Dot spiked with Five Brothers. Yesterday was quite light on the nicotine side of things -- lots of pipes but mostly mild tobacco and no really stout smokes at all. The Dart Mix is medium strong, but that's about the strongest I had yesterday. Today will be different! I'm already eyeing that BMF. :spy:


----------



## Stonedog

Well, back in the office this morning. Had a marvelous half bowl of stoney on the way in. I seem to get better results with this blend when I put a bit more emphasis on the puffing and have smoke clouds rolling?


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Well, back in the office this morning. Had a marvelous half bowl of stoney on the way in. I seem to get better results with this blend when I put a bit more emphasis on the puffing and have smoke clouds rolling?


There's a lot to be said for stokin' it up. :smile: I'm puffing this Bayou Morning Flake pretty hard right now, as a matter of fact. Front loading the nicotine. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

That BMF fixed things up pretty well and I discovered the Country Gentleman from last night, a full bowl charred but not smoked. What's in it? I THINK it's PPP and 3BM. No complaints.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> *There's a lot to be said for stokin' it up.* :smile: I'm puffing this Bayou Morning Flake pretty hard right now, as a matter of fact. Front loading the nicotine. ipe:


Yes, although one might consider it an advanced technique? Try it with nearly anything that's too wet, or many aromatics, and you risk tongue bite, burn or both. An effort must be made to ensure things don't get too hot while stokin' it.


----------



## Max_Power

Just packed a bowl of bobs chocolate flake to smoke while I roast up some coffee beans for the upcoming week.


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Walnut for me today. I haven't visited this one in a while, and I was happy that I did this morning. A really nice tobacco to pair with the morning coffee.


----------



## DanR

Max_Power said:


> Just packed a bowl of bobs chocolate flake to smoke while I roast up some coffee beans for the upcoming week.


This is another slope altogether, isn't it. I bet your home smells lovely while those beans roast!


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> This is another slope altogether, isn't it. I bet your home smells lovely while those beans roast!


Really! And I thought I was doing good grinding a few beans. :mrgreen:

I'm working my may through some BMF in the Alpha Litewate and some plain ol' Chock Full o' Nuts. It's an astonishing 40 degrees out there! :shock:


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning fellow pipe smokers!

I had my first bowl GLP's Fillmore (thanks RJpuffs!). It seems to have a bit more vitamin N than LNF... Perhaps a bit more than I needed this morning :smile: but I quite like this blend.


----------



## freestoke

Having a hell of time getting in gear this morning. Must be the hot weather, 37 out there, and the snow (what little we've had) is vanishing in a hurry. I think I'm going to need more than this PA to break out of the fog, but for now that's what's in the 4Dot. And the coffee tastes good too. :cp


----------



## karatekyle

Just coffee this morning. A pipe on tap for this afternoon.


----------



## DanR

I popped a tin of LGF yesterday, and smoked a bowl on the way to work this morning. I've only ever had this as samples from other BOTL. The flakes are quite amazing and oh, this stuff is sooo good!


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> I popped a tin of LGF yesterday, and smoked a bowl on the way to work this morning. I've only ever had this as samples from other BOTL. The flakes are quite amazing and oh, this stuff is sooo good!


Yep, I'll be burning some of that today at some point. Not many days go by without a bowl of LGF. And those flakes are LONG, aren't they? :lol:

I have a 5B/PPP sandwich going, with dry PPP on the bottom and hydrated 5B on the top half. Making for an interesting smoke, as the lower dry tobacco hydrates from the 5B above, it's starting to reveal its components, Christmas 2011, Ennerdale, PA, BMF, JKP...and much needed VitN. ipe:

And a quick rant! Saw that Liberty Mutual Insurance ad again last night. I don't watch many ads by virtue of DVR, but occasionally I get stuck with a few, and when I see this one I detect the collapse of the Social Contract; indeed, the symptoms of the decay of Western Civilization are manifest: A yahoo peels the damaged parts off his car, revealing brand new fenders, hood and bumpers, and tosses the scrap into a downtown street. The last scene shows him driving happily away from the hazardous litter he's left for somebody else to clean up. Nice.


----------



## Stonedog

This morning was my first taste of Escudo. I musket-balled a coin and very much enjoyed this vaper. I guess the Perique adds the cooler smoothness that seems to bridge over the top of the virginias. I hear others call it pepper but I don't get any. For you guys that get pepper from perique, is it a spicey pepper, black pepper or something else?


----------



## freestoke

Black pepper, which seems to vary with me. Sometimes I taste it a lot, some times not, but I load up everything but frozen desserts with black pepper, so I'm not the best person to be picking out that flavor. I like the snorkiness of it, personally, ie, it makes my nose burn a bit -- like salsa for the sinuses. 

Just getting around to my first pipe! Yeah. PA/4Dot.


----------



## DanR

Stonedog said:


> This morning was my first taste of Escudo. I musket-balled a coin and very much enjoyed this vaper. I guess the Perique adds the cooler smoothness that seems to bridge over the top of the virginias. I hear others call it pepper but I don't get any. For you guys that get pepper from perique, is it a spicey pepper, black pepper or something else?


I tend to get pepper (black pepper) from Perique, but it varies in degrees of intensity. I don't remember it being very intense with Escudo, but it's been awhile since I smoked it.

This morning I smoked a bowl fo Rattray Red Rapparee. It pairs surprisingly well with coffee in the morning. I really love this blend, and it's seems that it smokes great any time of day!

Edit: yep, what he said ^


----------



## freestoke

I agree, Dan, Escudo is light on perique. LGF has more perique than Escudo and I'm pretty sure I like LGF better than Escudo. If you want some heavier perique, go with Bayou Morning Flake, Louisiana Flake, or Louisiana Red (thanks, Dan! :tu). As a matter of fact, I think I'll dip into that Louisiana Red right now! Let's see...hmmm...yeah, here comes the Country Gentleman walking in from the bullpen to take the mound. ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Black pepper, which seems to vary with me. Sometimes I taste it a lot, some times not, but I load up everything but frozen desserts with black pepper, so I'm not the best person to be picking out that flavor. I like the snorkiness of it, personally, ie, it makes my nose burn a bit -- like salsa for the sinuses.


You and me both. I can't get enough pepper. Two slices of good, chewy french bread with some butter. Fill it with lots of fresh ground pepper. Pepper sandwich. I eat them everyday.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> You and me both. I can't get enough pepper. Two slices of good, chewy french bread with some butter. Fill it with lots of fresh ground pepper. Pepper sandwich. I eat them everyday.


sigh. Chewy French bread. sigh. I had to give up wheat a bit over a year ago. sigh. Gliadin allergy! (Baker's asthma.) I'm not glycemic, though, so it's only wheat at least. Audrey has become extraordinarily proficient at baking gluten free bread, rolls, cookies, _et hoc genus omne_. Thanks to her, I really don't miss it! She even makes a very good hamburger bun, so all is well! I think she's found a crust recipe, too, so my incomparable pork pot pies may resurface!

I wonder how many people die every year from asthma after eating a pizza or a piece of cake? "Heart attack..." Well, yeah, but he probably wouldn't have had one if he wasn't having such a hard time breathing *all* the time. Most gliadin sensitive people go undiagnosed. Hell, my DOCTOR still doesn't believe me! The numbers tell the story: No more methyl prednisolone that I used to take all too often -- really screws you up over time. Albuterol cut in half. A persistent rash that defied the dermatologists for years finally vanished completely. What makes this weirder is that these are the very symptoms of gliadin allergy, yet I never hear anybody being diagnosed with it. Probably for the same reason I wasn't, that they weren't tested. I figured it out myself by accident. Bear in my mind that I was literally dying at the time, so it was of more than passing interest to me to find a solution to my breathing difficulties, besides sometimes taking 20 hits off the inhaler to stop an attack so I wouldn't have to go the hospital. (That's basically what they do there, so it's not really the big deal one might think, especially since I have zero blood pressure or heart problems.) By chance, I had gone 4 days without any wheat products. Homemade chili, a rice meal, potatoes and corn...and miraculously I noticed it. It was almost like I didn't have asthma all of a sudden, so I studied my recent activities to see what had changed. I have never been troubled with food allergies, but one never knows...and there it was, no wheat. I looked it up and there was my rash, my persistent asthma, and all kinds of actual medical reports. So I cut out the wheat (not as easy as it sounds, it's in everything!) and I am in the best shape I've been in for the past 10 years. Apparently, the allergy keeps getting worse over time. Things were dire. For what it's worth, something like one in twenty have a gliadin allergy. I doubt that one in ten of those know it.

So, that little foray into wool-gathering territory took care of an entire bowl of BMF! ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> sigh. Chewy French bread. sigh. I had to give up wheat a bit over a year ago. sigh. Gliadin allergy! (Baker's asthma.) I'm not glycemic, though, so it's only wheat at least. Audrey has become extraordinarily proficient at baking gluten free bread, rolls, cookies, _et hoc genus omne_. Thanks to her, I really don't miss it! She even makes a very good hamburger bun, so all is well! I think she's found a crust recipe, too, so my incomparable pork pot pies may resurface!


Aww man, thats terrible! Thank goodness you've found a way around it. Taylor's best friend is allergic to a lot of things (including wheat, perhaps? I don't know, she can't eat wheat for one reason or another). I feel terrible when I see her pull the bun off her burger.



freestoke said:


> (That's basically what they do there, so it's not really the big deal one might think, especially since I have zero blood pressure or heart problems.)


It's probably good that you have zero heart problems. But zero blood pressure might not be good :lol:


----------



## DanR

Jim, sounds like quite the event, and I'm glad you were able to figure it out. Now, go get that blood pressure back up to normal! :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Well, at least the BP's not sub zero. That would be bone-chillingly cold-blooded indeed.


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning Brothers (and Sisters) of the Leaf,

I get the black pepper perique thing now. I tried Haddo's Delight last night (thanks again RJpuffs!) and didn't catch it. This morning I went to finish the bowl and sure enough, black pepper and quite a bit of it. So, mystery solved. In other news, PA in my Bertram this morning.


----------



## ramanujan

I had a bowl of Rattray's Hal O'the Wynd this morning. I think it was the second bowl i smoked from this tobacco. I don't like the tin smell (it has some strange fruity aroma) but i really like it in the bowl. Nice full aroma.


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen.

PA/5 Bros in an estate pipe I cleaned up. It's only marked "Made in the republic of Ireland" and "Irish Seconds". A little research revealed this to be a Peterson second. It's Peterson's XL90 shape, a big bent billiard. I haven't done much to this pipe, only cleaned it a little, buffed the stem, salt alcohol treatment, and a coat of Paragon wax on the stummel. I wanted to smoke it and see how I liked it before I did much else to it (full refinish)...since it's got a few fills, along with some nicks and bumps and bruises from the previous owner, and might not turn out all that well even after a lot of work. It seems to smoke ok. It's a big pipe, but not all that heavy, and it's well balanced, so it's a pretty decent clencher. It had better be, because it does not sit on a table (a minor nuisance, but a nuisance nonetheless). No, I've decided...I think it looks decent enough now to be a yard pipe, and probably not worth the effort to strip and sand and refinish. At least for now :mrgreen:


----------



## freestoke

Since when does a yard pipe have to look decent, Clifford? oke: I have some PA with a pinch of the PPP burning in the 4Dot (just trying to get rid of what's there...).


----------



## freestoke

This is definitely different. Last night's Chocolate Flake was a bit too wet, and while not bad, it surely would have smoked better drier. This morning, I pulled one of those beautiful 6 inch flakes out of the jar intact and laid it on the plate to dry a little, then took some scissors and cube cut it into something resembling SWR. I have never done this with flake before!  I figured the FourDot pot would work pretty well with this and so far so good. Very good, actually! ipe: I mixed a scoop of the freshly ground Columbian in with the Chock Full o' Nuts and it really makes for a nice cup of coffee, too! :cp


----------



## Xodar

Ahhh, a day with time to not only smoke but think about it for a moment. Stokkebye Navy Flake in the diplomat and the forecast here calls for two whole days without a biblical deluge. Drinking some coffee a friend brought me back from Mexico, and it's surprisingly dark and oily. It's looking to be a decent Thursday.


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning Everyone,

Reviewing my company's global compensation guide in prep for the fiscal year merit increases. Trying desperately to keep a smile on my face as the process is somehow three times as complex this year! But, some good news, enjoyed a nice bowl of Fillmore in my CG. I believe I may fall into the category of people that prefer a slightly lower perique level, but still this blend is fantastic. I also noticed that P&C is offering free shipping today. Time to pull the trigger on that GLP Robusto I've been wanting try, and maybe throw in an MM Dane Egg and Stawell Vanilla too. Hmmm, and some Irish Flake. Maybe that Wessex Campaign dark flake too. And some SG Perfection...


----------



## freestoke

Good morning! Really late start, so I figure I missed the PA train. Going straight to the PPP. That's all I know, PPP, from a jar that I haven't looked at in a week or three. Some small amount of aromatic in the pile, I know not what, has permeated the other stuff and has turned out very well indeed. Whatever, I wish I had a few ounces of this instead of a few bowls. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Getting off to an early start as opposed to yesterday. Going for some more Chocolate Flake in the Mayfair. Glad I have a lot of this! Columbian this morning, too! :cp


----------



## freestoke

I rubbed out a little JKP, then looked for something throw in with it. :spy: Aha! Sugar Barrel! This is a strong team, it really is. ipe:


----------



## szyzk

Morning pipers!

I'm on my second flake of Orlik Golden Sliced this morning. Tasty, tasty stuff that just gets sweeter the further down it gets into my Killarney 69.


----------



## szyzk

Mmmm... Ennerdale Flake in my Mr. Moo Hackert Cob. I'm glad I ordered another half pound of this stuff!

So, what other Lakeland-y tobaccos do I need to try?


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> Mmmm... Ennerdale Flake in my Mr. Moo Hackert Cob. I'm glad I ordered another half pound of this stuff!
> 
> So, what other Lakeland-y tobaccos do I need to try?


Kendal Flake is another excellent piece of weirdness, though not quite the boutique ambiance of Ennerdale. From tobakrevs, "The dominant flavour is one of scented almond and this complex top note is achieved by the combination of over 10 different flavours, including Rose Geranium, Vanilla, Rum, Tonquin, Musk, Heliotropin and Rose Fragrances." A tad more Vit N umbladee, too.

I'm toward the other end of the spectrum right now, some basic PA in the Country Gentleman. ipe:


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> Kendal Flake is another excellent piece of weirdness, though not quite the boutique ambiance of Ennerdale.


Excellent, weird tobacco is good tobacco! I'll add some to my next order.

So, does the Lakeland flavor stick around with age or does it diminish when cellared? I want to make sure I don't waste any Ennerdale by letting it sit for too long if the flavoring leaves the tobacco.


----------



## Firedawg

Goodmorning all. Started this morning out with opening a small jar of Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bulleseye Flake with just over 7 months on it. I was curious to see how it was since I do have many other larger jars still ageing. I can say yes it has aged some and honestly makes it a much better smoke. My trusty handmade flake pipe (small bowl) really showed what some time can do with this tobacco. Guess I need to get more mason jars soon


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> Excellent, weird tobacco is good tobacco! I'll add some to my next order.
> 
> *So, does the Lakeland flavor stick around with age or does it diminish when cellared? *I want to make sure I don't waste any Ennerdale by letting it sit for too long if the flavoring leaves the tobacco.


I don't know for sure, but I suspect it fades. The jar I just finished seemed a shade less disgusting than when I started on it a few weeks back. Perfume does evaporate, I figure, and one of the reasons I bought 5 cans last time instead half a pound, since it cost the same per ounce, the other being I didn't want to turn my order into a paranormal experience. You can smell the Ennerdale right through the can, so ziplocks are hopelessly ineffective. Potent stuff. ainkiller:

Having a 4Dot full of Five Brothers with a little PPP sprinkled on the top for flavor. I desperately need nicotine this morning.


----------



## freestoke

Finishing up a Chocolate Flake from last night. CF DGT's pretty well! :tu Gotta take my car in for a service shortly. pita. At least there's a good ferry ride home from the dealer. And I have a coupon! :smile:


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Puff Pipers! The In-Laws have been visiting this weekend (through tomorrow), and it's put a little cramp on my usual pipe smoking breaks. I'm in some serious need for some "me" time. Luckily they are planning lunch with my wife, so I should have the house to myself for my lunch break. I'm already planning my smoke - needs to be something special since it has to last. In the meantime, I had a few puffs of Old Gowrie this morning on the way in.


----------



## freestoke

Just back from taking the car in. Smoked it up pretty good with a Diplomat of Sugar Barrel. :evil: With any luck it'll be out this afternoon. Sitting in wait mode with a hefty pinch of well-hydrated 5B mixed with a little of the crispy PPP. 

A mile away the snow belt ends. There, maybe an inch, here, seven inches. Looks like the old snowblower will be springing into action eventually. The worst thing about it all is how happy it will make the snowmobilers, whining around in the woods until 3 in the morning. There should be some way for the rest of us to enjoy snowmobiling without actually getting on one and I'd suggest 22 short rounds with plastic casing filled with paint. At 100 yards, the slug won't carry much impact at all and since snowmobilers are pretty much covered with bulletproofing already, it shouldn't pose much danger either for the snowmobiles or the drivers. Buy your ammunition on a hillside shooting range and win prizes as your color splats on the driver and vehicle to score hits as they ride by. :laser: Ten free plays for a head shot. (Use pistols and the odds are definitely stacked with the house. )


----------



## dj1340

freestoke said:


> Just back from taking the car in. Smoked it up pretty good with a Diplomat of Sugar Barrel. :evil: With any luck it'll be out this afternoon. Sitting in wait mode with a hefty pinch of well-hydrated 5B mixed with a little of the crispy PPP.
> 
> A mile away the snow belt ends. There, maybe an inch, here, seven inches. Looks like the old snowblower will be springing into action eventually. The worst thing about it all is how happy it will make the snowmobilers, whining around in the woods until 3 in the morning. There should be some way for the rest of us to enjoy snowmobiling without actually getting on one and I'd suggest 22 short rounds with plastic casing filled with paint. At 100 yards, the slug won't carry much impact at all and since snowmobilers are pretty much covered with bulletproofing already, it shouldn't pose much danger either for the snowmobiles or the drivers. Buy your ammunition on a hillside shooting range and win prizes as your color splats on the driver and vehicle to score hits as they ride by. :laser: Ten free plays for a head shot. (Use pistols and the odds are definitely stacked with the house. )


Being a former avid snowmobiler, I can agree the noise from those things is crazy. Never thought about it until I did a short ride with no helmet. I do know the new 4 cycle ones are much quieter though. 
Also enjoyed a bowl of Classic Samsun on the way to work. Forgot how much I love that stuff.


----------



## freestoke

dj1340 said:


> Being a former avid snowmobiler, I can agree the noise from those things is crazy. Never thought about it until I did a short ride with no helmet. I do know the new 4 cycle ones are much quieter though.
> Also enjoyed a bowl of Classic Samsun on the way to work. Forgot how much I love that stuff.


Yeah, I have 4cycle tiller that's really quiet. The pollution from snowmobiles is brutal, too. On a windless winter day, it can smell like downtown Los Angeles during rush hour and a gray haze sits over the local cornfields. I think that 2cycle engines should be illegal, actually, and not just for snowmobiles. My snowblower is a 4cycle, too, as is my emergency generator. Just better all around.

I'm enjoying some more Chocolate Flake this afternoon. ipe: Good stuff, Chocolate Flake.


----------



## dj1340

freestoke said:


> Yeah, I have 4cycle tiller that's really quiet. The pollution from snowmobiles is brutal, too. On a windless winter day, it can smell like downtown Los Angeles during rush hour and a gray haze sits over the local cornfields. I think that 2cycle engines should be illegal, actually, and not just for snowmobiles. My snowblower is a 4cycle, too, as is my emergency generator. Just better all around.
> 
> I'm enjoying some more Chocolate Flake this afternoon. ipe: Good stuff, Chocolate Flake.


I agree, noisy and smelly.
Have a bowl of Pease Meridian loaded up for the drive home


----------



## freestoke

Thirty seven! Snowed just a wee bit too much last night, but I think I can get away with not snowblowing and let it melt. It's 38F and rising! Rain tonight and supposedly well above freezing again tomorrow, so it might all go away by Thursday. :tu

Getting things under weigh with the 4Dot and some PA/PPP. ipe: Gotta get a care package together for a guitar friend in England. You know, "hobby supplies", Scotch Flake Aromatic guitar polish, Long Golden Flake string wipes, and an MM tuner crank. His music's gonna really be smokin' in a week or two. lane:


----------



## Stonedog

I've been away from the pipe for a few days thanks to a sore throat, so this morning it was a coin and a half of Escudo rubbed out to celebrate my return to the hobby.


----------



## karatekyle

Stonedog said:


> I've been away from the pipe for a few days thanks to a sore throat, so this morning it was a coin and a half of Escudo rubbed out to celebrate my return to the hobby.


Same here! DGT'd from last night. Honestly...not a big fan of escudo. I think there are much better VaPers out there.


----------



## Hannibal

Morning Brothers!

Had my usual huge bowl of Kendal Kentucky in my bjarne double apple on the way to work. Just finished rubbing out some FVF to let dry for the day's smoke break.


----------



## Stonedog

karatekyle said:


> Same here! DGT'd from last night. Honestly...not a big fan of escudo. I think there are much better VaPers out there.


To each his own. I've not tried many true vapers yet and I found Escudo to be quite nice. I've had tons of LNF and only two bowls of Escudo. LNF holds a slight edge only because it can be had in bulk and has been my go-to blend for a long time. If only Escudo could be had in bulk! :smile:

If you step into the world of VaPer-ish blends things change dramatically. I'm a big fan of Exhausted Rooster, for example, which is a VaBuPer(??). Fillmore may become a solid "occasional" for me thanks to the latakia lurking quietly in the background. Anni Kake has a big following but because of the topping I wouldn't place it in the same category as LNF and Escudo. Haddo's Delight is another primarily VaPer blend with extra stuff mixed in, though the perique content is a bit high for my fledgling palate.


----------



## freestoke

Reiner LGF is mighty fine. I like it better than Escudo or LNF (not that I don't like those too). I'd have to pop another jar though, so I'll have to settle for Bayou Morning Flake. Such a travail. ipe:


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

On the way out this morning I quickly fold-twist-and-stuffed some FVF. I'd only had a few bowls of this and wasn't too impressed. Different pipe this morning and it made a world of difference. OK, I _get_ FVF now and join the ranks of pipers scouring the interweb for it.


----------



## freestoke

The Szabo's been sitting in the pipe rest for two days, so what it may contain extends beyond my historical event horizon. The DGT makes it hard, but I'll take a guess with BMF. Sort of like a Solitair Blind Taste Test for seniors. As soon as I finish it, I'll head for the PA to finish up a giant 8 oz. jar! :smoke:


----------



## karatekyle

Stonedog said:


> Morning All,
> 
> On the way out this morning I quickly fold-twist-and-stuffed some FVF. I'd only had a few bowls of this and wasn't too impressed. Different pipe this morning and it made a world of difference. OK, I _get_ FVF now and join the ranks of pipers scouring the interweb for it.


If I fold and stuff or musket ball FVF, I hate it. Just terrible stuff. Rub it super fine? One of the best Va's out there.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> If I fold and stuff or musket ball FVF, I hate it. Just terrible stuff. Rub it super fine? One of the best Va's out there.


Yeah, the wide-thread flakes don't musketball worth a damn. Doesn't matter what you do with PA, it always behaves itself -- like now, in the 4Dot. But all this talk of FVF...I think I need to crack a can.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Yeah, the wide-thread flakes don't musketball worth a damn. Doesn't matter what you do with PA, it always behaves itself -- like now, in the 4Dot. But all this talk of FVF...I think I need to crack a can.


What, did Sam Gawith move to the US? FVF comes in tins... the suspiciously British form of tobacco packaging :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

karatekyle said:


> If I fold and stuff or musket ball FVF, I hate it. Just terrible stuff. Rub it super fine? One of the best Va's out there.





freestoke said:


> Yeah, the wide-thread flakes don't musketball worth a damn. Doesn't matter what you do with PA, it always behaves itself -- like now, in the 4Dot. But all this talk of FVF...I think I need to crack a can.


Interesting... The pipe I used had a wider and deeper bowl than my others and the wad I stuck in there didn't want to stay lit _but_ the flavor was subtle and sweet when I kept it stoked up. Will have to rub some out and give it a try. I only have a few flakes left but I know what I'm smoking on the way home tonight!


----------



## mmiller

I cant get anything to fold and stuff right, it just burns down the middle, musketballs work for me sometimes but I prefer to rub out all my flakes.


----------



## gahdzila

Breakfast, morning jog, now relaxing with a pipe. PA/5B in the Falcon for me.










NO.










NO.










Yes!!!! ipe:


----------



## szyzk

A gifted pinch of Condor Long Cut in a gifted lakeland-dedicated cob. A wonderful start to my morning!


----------



## freestoke

That's Matt's car, right? oke:

Nice Falcons! All three of them.

I used my big 40 year old Sabatier chef's knife to chop up a Chocolate Flake about an hour ago. (Breaking it up is such a hassle, but I'm damn good at dicing vegetables, had it done _tout de suite _. ) Got me the Little Big Bowl, the FourDot pot, primed and ready. This should be grand. ipe: One of those 6 inch flakes cut up fits perfectly into this pipe!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> What, did Sam Gawith move to the US? FVF comes in tins... the suspiciously British form of tobacco packaging :lol:


When I lived in England, they called a can of beans a tin of beans and I never could adapt. Anglophile nonpareil though I be, I never liked using "tin" for "tin can", especially since they haven't used tin in cans since the late 1950s. All the CANS are aluminum now, which makes "tin" much like calling a golf club made of tungsten and steel a "wood", I guess. Anyhow, I'm tired of calling them tins. I never used to call tobacco containers tins, even though most of them came from England, just like I wouldn't call an elevator a "lift" or the subway "the tube". I'll bet you'll never get reciprocation from the Limeys to properly call GL Pease cans "cans"! :lol: (Yeah, Pease probably calls them "tins", against all sense and sensibility. They're made out of ALUMINUM, Greg! And I don't mean aluminium.)

And this diced Chocolate Flake is fantastic! (It came in a box.)


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> I used my big 40 year old Sabatier chef's knife...


Color me jealous! Or, given the Brit speak of the last few posts, is it "Colour me jealous!"?

The glory of a well-made, well-worn chef's knife...


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> All the CANS are aluminum now, which makes "tin" much like calling a golf club made of tungsten and steel a "wood", I guess.


:lol:

Completely true. Oh the decadence of our language. Do words mean anything anymore?


----------



## gahdzila

A big cup of strong coffee with PA and BF#1 in the newly restored 4 Dot for its inaugural smoke. Though this pipe has a big and heavy look to it, it's surprisingly light between the teeth. Smokes like a dream, too!!!


----------



## Stonedog

Back to basics for me: PA in my CG...


----------



## freestoke

First, a diversion: I have just received wisdom from the inhabitants of TVLand, that the state of Nevada is pronounced with the "ad" pronounced as in "advertising" -- and no alternative! While I have little doubt the non-Hispanic white population of the state pronounces it this way (perhaps even a law has been passed that recognizes this as the "official" pronunciation), I wonder if the Hispanic population pronounces it that way, or even the American Indians who live there. It seems like a typical American mispronunciation of a Spanish word, so why wouldn't they accept the Spanish pronunciation, as in, "Most Nevadans say Nevada, but Nevahda is older and just as acceptable."? I've heard this "Nevada Pronunciation Lecture" many times before and find it very strange.

Second, I'm finishing the last of a quart of PA in the Sasieni Canadian. "Sasieni" and "Prince Albert", how can we go wrong, right Clifford? :lol:


----------



## freestoke

I need to pull out some more PA. I have an open tub ready to shovel into this 26oz Smucker's peanut butter jar that I use for day to day PA, so it's really a matter of pure laziness that brings me to this first morning bowl of SB mixed with Chocolate Flake cubes left from yesterday. Smoking the Alpha Litewate, which I now know shares a model name with Sasieni! Yes, there was a Sasieni Litewate, too, same spelling! :shock:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I need to pull out some more PA. I have an open tub ready to shovel into this 26oz Smucker's peanut butter jar that I use for day to day PA, so it's really a matter of pure laziness that brings me to this first morning bowl of SB mixed with Chocolate Flake cubes left from yesterday. Smoking the Alpha Litewate, which I now know shares a model name with Sasieni! Yes, there was a Sasieni Litewate, too, same spelling! :shock:


I always thought your Litewate was a Sas! I thought Alpha was some sort of grading scale!


----------



## Nachman

Not feeling great this morning so I am smoking a light tobacco. PS LBF in an Eriksen Dublin.


----------



## 36Bones

Who needs a energy drink. Great big cup of joe along with some Darth Waffle, (review coming soon) in my new MM Great Dane Egg. Ready to hit the day!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I always thought your Litewate was a Sas! I thought Alpha was some sort of grading scale!


Nah, it's an Israeli cheapo, from the 80s(?) I think. Got it in a lot with a few other pipes. Seems the Berkebile was in the group, too, but that's now defunct with a cracked stem. I need one of those little 1"+ oval stems or pay to have it fixed. I may start sanding the bowl to change the shape and see what happens on that (big piece of nice wood, so there's room to play), and if it turns out okay I'll put a new stem on it. The Berkebile does smoke nice!


----------



## dj1340

Sorry to hear that Nick, hope you fell better soon.

Just opened a tin of McClellands' Virginia Woods. Been cellared for a couple of years waiting to try it.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Not feeling great this morning so I am smoking a light tobacco. PS LBF in an Eriksen Dublin.


Hope it perks you up, Nick! I was feeling just fine this morning until I read the post about trashman buying a rare, unsmoked, gold-banded Peterson for $25 at a garage sale. Made me ill. :lol: I'm considering changing my username to "garbagecollector" and heading for the yard sales this spring.


----------



## Stonedog

Fillmore in my Viking this morning. Now I'm waiting for Brown to deliver my P&C order.


----------



## freestoke

I cannot be*LIEVE* how filthy my Forever stem had gotten.  I use it a lot, I really do, but I always run a pipe cleaner through it after every smoke: I run it all the way to the bowl, move it around a little, remove the stem and pull it the rest of the way through. Then I use the "cleaner" end to redo the Forever stem. Habit. Done in a brizado. Just got finished with an ordeal worthy of an ebay lot! Holy Stale Nicotine, Cobman! :shock: Get this. I had the Forever stem in my hand, ready to change to the Country Gentleman and I paused. What the hell, I run an alcohol soaked cleaner through it. It came out absolutely filthy. Used both ends soaked in 160 proof vodka. Another cleaner, the same. Then I switched to the fat, extra-absorbant cleaners soaked in vodka. Filthy. Filthy. I moved on to bristles, tarring up two of them, with extra scrubbing, both ends. Another couple of fatties and a regular. Here...let me count, they're right here in the ashtray ------ all told, 6 fatties, 3 bristles and 3 regulars, plus a shot of vodka. Appalling.

You know, these things are really insidious. This Country Gentleman is smoking better all of a sudden. Wonder if my other cobs will see any improvement? :lol: Fresh PA!


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Here...let me count, they're right here in the ashtray ------ all told, 6 fatties, 3 bristles and 3 regulars, *plus a shot of vodka*.


I find taking a shot of Vodka makes my cleaning go better too, but maybe you should've had two? ound:

Digging around in my jars this morning, I found that I had approximately 1 bowl of SG Squadron Leader left. I loaded it into my Dunhill for the ride into work this morning and can now mark that container "finshed" in my cellar. I wasn't blown away by SL the first time I tried it, but I seem to like it more everytime I smoke it.


----------



## freestoke

Two nights ago, I opened the HOTW and grabbed a wet musketball out of it and stuffed it in the Legend. Just a terrible smoke with a bad load, tobacco too wet, packed too tight. Not the tobacco's fault at all. This morning, I put a big pinch on the plate to dry, then filled the faultless Bari Dana. This is MUCH better! :tu I'd go so far as to call it good! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> I find taking a shot of Vodka makes my cleaning go better too, but maybe you should've had two? ound:


It's not so much the cleaning goes better, it's just that you don't worry about it so much. TIP FROM THE TOP: If you can't quite seem to get your pipe clean, take two shots of vodka and smoke it dirty.


----------



## freestoke

The Golden Age has come to the Alpha Litewate this morning. I always think "Black Cavendish" means BCA or something like it, but not this time. Not an aromatic, having very little flavoring of any kind. A little perique but not a lot. I like it! ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

Brrr. After a week or so of positively balmy weather, it's cold again today. Go figure. At least it's February now, so we don't have too much longer to go.

A heavy coat, and Orlick Golden Sliced in a cob before work


----------



## 36Bones

gahdzila said:


> Brrr. After a week or so of positively balmy weather, it's cold again today. Go figure. At least it's February now, so we don't have too much longer to go.
> 
> A heavy coat, and Orlick Golden Sliced in a cob before work


Clifford you took the words right out of my mouth. Sat. 73, Today 51 for the high. Cold weather smoking gear, coffee and some FMOTT with my Savinelli Natural.


----------



## freestoke

36Bones said:


> Today *51 for the high*. Cold weather smoking gear....


I'd be on the golf course! We're looking at 40s tomorrow, today right at freezing, so it's downright HOT for around here in early Feb. NOAA says we're five feet below normal snowfall. I have the 4Dot burning PA as I ponder the weather. Slept late this morning and need at least another two cups of coffee to become fully conscious.

*I'd also like to direct everybody to the "What kind of Peterson is this?" contest. You have until midnight to get in a guess at the final bid that wins it on ebay.
*


----------



## freestoke

I'm putting one of those pipe "truisms" to the test. I remember back in school, I'd sit with my graph paper, textbooks and slide rule, chain smoking the Sasieni FourDot prince, doing my homework, then head down to the lobby to watch some TV and have a few more beers before oversleeping the next morning and missing class. Bowl after bowl, Nightcap, Balkan Sasieni, Three Nuns, Four Square...I never had any problems. So right now, I'm recreating ontogeny by chain smokin' the 4Dot. The opening PA has been following immediately by some more Middleton, the redoubtable Sugar Barrel. I'm looking forward to a bowl of Sail Green, then perhaps some JKP. Or in a different order. Same pipe all day today. Screw it! ipe:


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning all, I spent most of the weekend lighting a bowl of English Chocolate only to have to put it down. Well, I was finally able to finish it this morning. I'm happy to report it DGTs just fine. This is the first pipe tobacco I've tried that comes close to replicating a decent maduro cigar. This will definitely be part of my rotation. :smile:


----------



## freestoke

While I did have a bowl of PPP in the Country Gent riding in the car, yesterday was an all 4Dot day. Let's assess the damage, shall we? PA should suffice for experimental purposes.

It's okay. After (if memory serves) 8 straight bowls out of the same pipe yesterday, I'm still here to tell about it, they all smoked fine, and the 4Dot is STILL delivering the goods. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

This spastic software tricked me into another dupe! :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Taking out the TwoDot apple for a ride with Hal o' the Wynd. I think I like this a tobacco a lot. Trying to pay a little more attention than normal, so I'll be prepared for the "test" later in the week.


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Gents! I had a bowl of McClelland RGB on the way to work this morning. I drove the long way to make it last a little longer. I believe this RGB is last year's International Pipe Smoker's Day tobacco? This sample was gifted to me by User Name (remember him?) and had been resting gently in the bottom of a mason jar since last year. Anyway, I let it sit out overnight because I was told it smokes best "bone dry". He was right, and it was really nice. It had a nice clean tobacco flavor that I really enjoyed for a first morning smoke.


----------



## freestoke

User Name is missed! :wave: I still have some Hamborger Veermaster he sent me that's been waiting patiently in a jar for quite a while now. Got SO much stuff I need to finish before getting to that, though. And my pipe cleaner order should be here today! If I had used my head, I could have retrieved an almost-full pack from the dart table last week and not had to suffer with these bristles and tapers the past few days. My PC-deprivation ordeal is nearing an end. :hippie:

Just another heads up for some free tobacco if you win: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/305537-what-kind-peterson.html#post3495264


----------



## szyzk

Mornin' pipers! It's a brisk day here in PA.

I debated opening a tin of Hamborger Veermaster from 2001 this morning but I don't need another tin open. I debated opening a tin of Escudo from 2000 but again, I don't need another tin open. So I decided on a bowl of Gordon Pym in my newly refurbished Guildhall (Comoy) and I have a bowl of FVF ready for later this morning... I think it's going to be stuffed into my new (to me) Sasieni 4 Dot.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

My first taste of Mac Baren Navy Flake this morning, fully rubbed out and stuffed into a MM Patriot. It's a funny looking cob but smokes very well.


----------



## karatekyle

Some SB en route to anthropology.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Some SB en route to anthropology.


You never said whether it was cultural or physiological, did you? I took both, but preferred the physiological course. I recall my cultural anthropology professor's name at UVa being Dr. Green, but I'm not sure. I don't remember whether he was claiming HE was doing fieldwork or somebody else, but the story he told was of an expedition to Borneo or New Guinea, can't remember which. The head of the field team apparently got bored and drunk one night, so he decided to shake things up by firing a pistol by the campfire to see what the tribe would do having never seen firearms. The tribe they were studying promptly came out of their huts and killed him, so the others decided it was time to head home the next morning. They apparently left the body behind.

Ah, college days. :smile: Reminiscing with a little PA in the 4Dot, which is regaining its comfort level after the severe reaming I gave it the other day. ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

Jim, it's cultural. Not as fun as physiological would be (I'm a science guy) but I'm really enjoying it. That story is freaking crazy, I can't imagine ever being an anthropologist. It would be an exciting job though.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Jim, it's cultural. Not as fun as physiological would be (I'm a science guy) but I'm really enjoying it. That story is freaking crazy, I can't imagine ever being an anthropologist. It would be an exciting job though.


I liked cultural too! I also took two semesters of sociology also, which was also interesting but "soft". The main thing I learned from sociology is that there are always "primitives" living in the cities and countryside, who seem "normal" but have no more idea of what's happening in the world than a tribe in New Guinea. There are people in New York City who have never seen or heard of the Hudson River, for example. :lol: Every civilization is layered, with representative cultures within them that span the eons. Think *The Hunter-Gatherers of the Bronx *might make for a good paper? :lol:

Been low nicotining the past few days sort of by accident, so I'm stepping up the ante with some BMF in the TwoDot Canadian. Excellent! Haven't had this in a week maybe. ipe:


----------



## Nachman

G&H Sweet Rum Twist. Nicotine satisfaction. I wouldn't call it sweet, but it is their tobacco and they can call it what they want to. It is Brown Bogie tamed just one notch by a rum casing. I like ropes. I smoked it in a big Eriksen Apple.


----------



## gahdzila

Finally - a day off! SWR plus a pinch or two of PPP in the Falcon with my morning coffee.


----------



## Michigan_Moose

I smoked Squad leader all the way to work this morning. What a great smoke it was.


----------



## freestoke

Bayou Morning Flake in the Mayfair, left over from last night. BMF DGTs nicely, BTW. Tried a coffee experiment! Put 4 "coffee-maker" cups of water in the coffee maker (a drip job) and 2 cm-cups of hot tap water in the carafe. I then put 3 heaping scoops of Columbian in the strainer, somewhat more than I would use normally for half a pot and fired it up. Somewhere in the back of my mind was something I read from one of the coffee-crazies, about the unpleasant components in coffee being less soluble, so it takes a while for them to start leaching out. With that in mind, I decided to up the ante on the amount of coffee grounds brewing and dilute it back down to a more potable, sub-Xodar level. I think it works! :tu Tastes REALLY smooth and I used fresh ground Columbian, too!


----------



## Stonedog

This morning was a sample of Connecticut Yankee (P&C fusion lab blend). This mix of VA, white burley and maduro cigar leaf was quite nice and forced me to take the very long way to work.


----------



## freestoke

This coffee is delicious and I've now smoked a bowl of the Kendal Kentucky in the Szabo. Like it a lot! Think I'll do that again, since the Szabo is ready, willing and able to go extra innings. Looks like smokingpipes mixed the labels on two outgoing orders, so somebody has a bag of Balkan Mixture labeled Kendal Kentucky. :lol: It's definitely KK.


----------



## szyzk

Ehhhh... No pipe this morning, though I'm hoping all of you who were/are able to spend some time with your favorite briar are enjoying yourselves. I couldn't decide on a blend before I left the house and then I ran out of time so I had to leave things be. :lol:

I did, though, steal a few moments to open a package that arrived in the mail - very much piping related. As soon as I can dig up the Recent Acquisitions thread I'll post a few pics.


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> I couldn't decide on a blend before I left the house and then I ran out of time so I had to leave things be. :lol:


Hope things are better today, Andrew. I'm giving my 4Dot its standard morning PA priming and waking up with some nice Columbian coffee. Gonna crack a can of *Ennerdale* in a bit. :hippie:


----------



## Stonedog

English Chocolate in my MM Patriot this morning. The dynamics of this cob change the flavor profile quite a bit. Much more of the spiced latakia and very little of deeper sweetness that comes from the cocoa... I think I'll reserve this blend for my wider bowls.


----------



## gahdzila

Bah! Last week, I finished my opened PA and opened some SWR to try. I don't need two OTCs open, and I'm not in the mood for SWR. Oooh! How about OGS? It's smoking great in the 4Dot!


----------



## freestoke

Bummer. I find it odd that I never smoked PA until a little over a year ago, being an English tin smoker during all those previous years, but now I'm hooked on it. I'd really miss PA in short order. I have both SWR and PA open right now, but the SWR generally gets mixed with 5B or something, merely as a burn enhancing substrate to the mix.

As a matter of fact, I think I'll smoke another PA in the 4Dot. Eat your heart out, Clifford. oke:


----------



## freestoke

Popped a fresh tin of *Ennerdale* just now. When there's dirty work to be done, no better than the Country Gentleman to take it on! Nice and "fresh" from the can, maximally potent. ainkiller:


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> As a matter of fact, I think I'll smoke another PA in the 4Dot. Eat your heart out, Clifford. oke:


:cheeky:

I've got two pouches on hand, and I'm off work for the next 3 days. I'll probably cave and open one before it's all said and done.

That said....the OGS smoked grrrrrreat! It's no PA, but I do really like OGS in the morning!


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Popped a fresh tin of *Ennerdale* just now. When there's dirty work to be done, no better than the Country Gentleman to take it on! Nice and "fresh" from the can, maximally potent. ainkiller:


Have you tried Dark Flake Scented? I can't imagine that Ennerdale is more potent than this stuff.


----------



## szyzk

gahdzila said:


> Have you tried Dark Flake Scented? I can't imagine that Ennerdale is more potent than this stuff.


This is on my "need" list. Edit: Grousemore Plug is on it too.

I honestly can't imagine it being more potent... Ennerdale is very fragrant!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Have you tried Dark Flake Scented? I can't imagine that Ennerdale is more potent than this stuff.


I've got the Brown Flake Aromatic/Scented (I think they're synonymous) and it's really not quite in the same league with *Ennerdale*. Haven't tried the DFS, so I couldn't say, but with the ominous maple as one of the flavorings, it could well be equally devastating. (I'll give that one a miss, though. I dislike maple flavors in tobacco. :frown: )


----------



## gahdzila

SWR and a pinch of 5B in a cob.

SWR is growing on me. It's no PA, but I'm enjoying it for what it is. Is that a hint of vanilla I taste?

Since I finished off that Dark Flake Scented, I can let myself open something else today. I think I'm going to try something new to me....1792? Ennerdale? FVF? Bob's Chocolate? Bayou Morning Flake? I'm leaning towards Ennerdale if for no other reason than it sounds so unusual. Plus the fact that Jim likes it, and our tastes seem to run pretty close so far!


----------



## karatekyle

Not a nice day here today. -2 with 70% humidity. Wind was blowing like crazy earlier. I don't know if this weather would either blow out the flame from my zippo or freeze it solid!


----------



## Stonedog

50's and overcast here in Atlanta... :smile:

Stonehaven in my Bertram this morning. My sweet tooth has been satisfied after a few bowls of Stanwell Vanilla and English Chocolate so I'm back to the normal rotation now. Almost out of PA though, will have to pick up a few more pouches, or maybe a whole tub, this weekend.


----------



## szyzk

Pulled out a few flakes of FVF from a jar that I put away early last year. This is what I found...



















Mmmmmmmm... Sugar!


----------



## gahdzila

Ennerdale it is!

The fruity-vanilla is FANTASTIC! The floral perfume is....kinda weird. Not unpleasant at all, but it feels out of place to me. Different is what I wanted and different is definitely what I got! I have a feeling I will grow to really like this stuff.


----------



## gahdzila

Looks fantastic, Andrew! You just convinced me that I made the right call to leave my FVF alone for a while longer!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Ennerdale it is!
> 
> The fruity-vanilla is FANTASTIC! The floral perfume is....kinda weird. Not unpleasant at all, but it feels out of place to me. Different is what I wanted and different is definitely what I got! I have a feeling I will grow to really like this stuff.


Audrey always asks if I'm smoking Bug Spray again. :lol:

Just finished the morning PA ritual with the faithful 4Dot. Now, more coffee. Let's see...I need to break out something with some umbladee to it. 5B and...and...Holiday Spirit! That should work. ipe: Yes, I think this is working out just fine! Like spiked punch. :tu For a cheap pipe from an estate lot, this Szabo is a surprisingly nice pipe, even though it takes one of those huge 9mm filters. I never use one, but I do have a bunch of those Savinelli balsa filters. (Just saw somebody asking $35 for a couple of packs of "vintage" Dill pipe cleaners. "Exotic 9mm wooden pipe filters.  Far better than ordinary paper filters. Four 15-filter packs, only $300!")


----------



## freestoke

Time to punish myself for being such a sloppy pipe loader. I have probably 1/4 ounce of various crap piled on the plate. I have conscripted the Country Gentleman to smoke it ALL today, no additions! Right now it's pretty decent, if very dry, a strange amalgam of Chocolate Flake, Holiday Spirit, BCA, 5B, Kendal Kentucky, PA, SB, BMF, Golden Age, SWR, JKP and* Ennerdale*. In the cob it smokes nice, however, crispy though it be! p And believe it or not, I can barely detect the * Ennerdale*.


----------



## szyzk

gahdzila said:


> Looks fantastic, Andrew! You just convinced me that I made the right call to leave my FVF alone for a while longer!


Definitely do so! I want to hate the stuff, I really do, because I'm turned off by how scarce it can be, but when I smoke a flake that's been sitting for awhile all my negative thoughts float away.


----------



## freestoke

The place is vacant this morning. :ask: 

Looking for something else, I discovered a year-old 1.5 ounce pouch of Altadis Black Cavendish. Some should have been added to the Voyager payload, since it would almost certainly survive a few million years in space. Added some to the PPP and it tastes pretty good! :shock: I guess the stale PPP evens things out. Whatever, more coffee!! :cp


----------



## szyzk

I puffed on SG Navy Flake all morning. Great stuff!


----------



## 36Bones

Good morning folks. Colder than all get out this morning. :smow: Bundled up, some coffee and a quick smoke of Darth Waffle, in my MM Pride.


----------



## gahdzila

Yessir, it's been particularly cold these last couple of days.

Starting off with SWR in a cob. You know something? It's really grown on me! PA has been the undisputed champion OTC in my rotation so far, but it might have to move over and make a little shelf space for SWR!


----------



## freestoke

Ain't nothin' wrong with SWR! Following your lead, Clifford, my second of the day is some SWR in the CGent. It's 15F right now and not likely to get out of the teens today. Was supposed to go to 3F last night, but I think it was only about 8F. Positively balmy compared to a normal winter around here. I remember one winter a while back where the temperature stayed below zero, night and day, for something like two weeks; not quite Siberia cold but chilly nonetheless. Winter never arrived this year. 

Ya know...I'm thinkin' SWR needs aging. :ask: Is that possible? I've had these jars that I filled from a tub sitting for like a year, just opening one a week or three ago, and it's certainly better than I remember it. (Not that I thought it was bad before, it's just better now.)


----------



## freestoke

Lonely in the breakfast nook this morning! There was some Chocolate Flake on the plate this morning, crispy dry from last night's last smoke, so I dumped that in the bottom of the 4Dot and smothered it with a layer of PA. I think the PA moistened up the CF as it burned and the whole pipe was a joy to smoke! Now I'm on to some fresh *Ennerdale*. And could I have another cup of coffee, please?


----------



## Stonedog

Nothing this morning or the morning before though Saturday morning I enjoyed a nice bowl of University Flake mixed with PA Choice Blend. Fantastic combination, in my opinion.


----------



## Stonedog

Mac Baren Navy Flake in my Bjarne Viking. This blend is really growing on me. It has a nice subtle sweet flavor when enjoyed slowly and the vitamin N is just right (mild to medium) to get things going on a dreary Tuesday morning.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning guys. DGTing the rest of my F&T Special Brown Flake. Coffee is good today!


----------



## Natedogg

Had myself a bowl of Sterling Hunnicut on the way in to work this morning. I will be posting a review of it later. We'll just say I was pleasantly surprised with it.


----------



## Firedawg

Watching local news and sipping on a Savinelli 320s Treve' with some LTF and a little danish flake added for a kick. Good day to all.


----------



## freestoke

Getting ready to produce one of my beef bourguignon masterpieces for V Day. Bracing myself for the challenge with a DGT of the HOTW from last night that I barely got burning in the Bari last night. Very good! And lighting it with a Zippo with a pipe insert! Audrey got me one of the Zippos with the little pipe emblem on it! Huzzah! Works nice, doesn't it? :kiss:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Getting ready to produce one of my beef bourguignon masterpieces for V Day. Bracing myself for the challenge with a DGT of the HOTW from last night that I barely got burning in the Bari last night. Very good! And lighting it with a Zippo with a pipe insert! Audrey got me one of the Zippos with the little pipe emblem on it! Huzzah! Works nice, doesn't it? :kiss:


For DGT, there's none better. Gets that pipe talkin' pretty quick, eh?


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> For DGT, there's none better. Gets that pipe talkin' pretty quick, eh?


Really! Just back from a walkabout with a CGent of *Ennerdale.* Actually, I'm still puffing on it as I type. ipe: A basic musketball that's burning REAL nice. There may be no PA today at the rate things are going!

And that HOTW isn't exactly a WEAK tobacco, now is it?


----------



## RupturedDuck

I just (well last week) got an Old Boy lighter. I haven't used a pipe lighter since I bought my first pipe, and picked up the $8 pipe lighter they had at the shop. It does seem to work really well for rekindling last night's bowl as compared to book matches. I only made it through about half of my bowl of HotW last night, and so like Jim, I'm also rehashing that. 

RD


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Getting ready to produce one of my beef bourguignon masterpieces for V Day. Bracing myself for the challenge with a DGT of the HOTW from last night that I barely got burning in the Bari last night. Very good! And lighting it with a Zippo with a pipe insert! Audrey got me one of the Zippos with the little pipe emblem on it! Huzzah! Works nice, doesn't it? :kiss:


Beef Bourguignon, wow, now that sounds fantastic. Are you doing an all day braise, or taking the filet mignon shortcut? Either way, I am sure Audrey deserves it for putting up with you, Jim! :lol:


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Beef Bourguignon, wow, now that sounds fantastic. Are you doing an all day braise, or taking the filet mignon shortcut? Either way, I am sure *Audrey deserves it for putting up with you, Jim! *:lol:


You got that right! :lol:

I use round, nothing so amazing as filet mignon, 1/2 " cubes, floured. Cook 4 cut up strips of bacon completely, remove to a casserole dish. Add a tablespoon olive oil and butter to the bacon drippings, add meat and brown until browned, toss in some diced onion and brown a little longer -- takes a while. Dump the meat in the casserole dish. Add cup of burgundy, can of beef broth, teaspoon thyme, tsp dried parsely, two minced cloves garlic, and tablespoon tomato paste to the browning pan and cook off the stuff stuck to the bottom. Pour it in the casserole and mix everything up. Cook it in a 300F oven for 3 hours. While that's happening, boil some pearl onions with the skins on and then pop them out per package instructions. (I normally just use regular sliced onions, but it's V Day, ya know? :lol Saute a bunch of mushrooms (I like 'em just halved) in a massive amount of butter for a while and then dump in the pearl onions with them for a while longer -- you want to get the onions done, too. Try to time this last operation with the casserole being done, say starting about 2.5 hours into the oven cooktime. When the meat's done, take it out of the oven, add the mushrooms and onions and stir it all up. I like it over noodles, but anything works, mashed potatoes, rice...whatever.


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> You got that right! :lol:
> 
> I use round, nothing so amazing as filet mignon, 1/2 " cubes, floured. Cook 4 cut up strips of bacon completely, remove to a casserole dish. Add a tablespoon olive oil and butter to the bacon drippings, add meat and brown until browned, toss in some diced onion and brown a little longer -- takes a while. Dump the meat in the casserole dish. Add cup of burgundy, can of beef broth, teaspoon thyme, tsp dried parsely, two minced cloves garlic, and tablespoon tomato paste to the browning pan and cook off the stuff stuck to the bottom. Pour it in the casserole and mix everything up. Cook it in a 300F oven for 3 hours. While that's happening, boil some pearl onions with the skins on and then pop them out per package instructions. (I normally just use regular sliced onions, but it's V Day, ya know? :lol Saute a bunch of mushrooms (I like 'em just halved) in a massive amount of butter for a while and then dump in the pearl onions with them for a while longer -- you want to get the onions done, too. Try to time this last operation with the casserole being done, say starting about 2.5 hours into the oven cooktime. When the meat's done, take it out of the oven, add the mushrooms and onions and stir it all up. I like it over noodles, but anything works, mashed potatoes, rice...whatever.


Your recipe sounds terrific, and very classic in it's preparation. I bet the meal will be phenomenal, and I am sure that Audrey will appreciate your efforts! Just so you know, I will be stealing this recipe and adding it to my cookbook (my own personal journal with grandma's recipes and such). Thanks for sharing it!


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Your recipe sounds terrific, and very classic in it's preparation. I bet the meal will be phenomenal, and I am sure that Audrey will appreciate your efforts! Just so you know, I will be stealing this recipe and adding it to my cookbook (my own personal journal with grandma's recipes and such). Thanks for sharing it!


Couple of clarifications. Dump the oil/grease out of the browning pan before adding the wine and other stuff, otherwise there's going to be too much oil in the casserole. Also, the casserole is covered while it's cooking. And it turned out great this evening!


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Couple of clarifications. Dump the oil/grease out of the browning pan before adding the wine and other stuff, otherwise there's going to be too much oil in the casserole. Also, the casserole is covered while it's cooking. And it turned out great this evening!


I'm glad you mentioned dumping the oil. I might have had a greasy mess on my hands. I have a Dutch oven that works great for stews, roasts, etc, so I'll probably employ that. I may try this recipe this weekend. It sounds great!

We had a German meal tonight. Traditional Bratwurst with sauerkraut, german potato salad, pickled vegetable assortment, and spicy mustard. Not romantic at all, but it was still good.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> beef bourguignon


One of my wife's favorites when it's served over mashed potatoes. I don't make it often, but it's always a hit in my house... And what makes her happy, makes me happy!

I go less on the beef broth and liberally add a bit more wine, plus some baby carrots. Otherwise we share very similar recipes, Jim.


----------



## DanR

szyzk said:


> One of my wife's favorites when it's served over mashed potatoes. I don't make it often, but it's always a hit in my house... And what makes her happy, makes me happy!
> 
> I go less on the beef broth and liberally add a bit more wine, plus some baby carrots. Otherwise we share very similar recipes, Jim.


Andrew, I'm going to be in your home state for business next week. Unfortunately, I'll be pretty far away from you. I'm flying into Pittsburgh and driving to Altoona for a day.


----------



## szyzk

DanR said:


> Andrew, I'm going to be in your home state for business next week. Unfortunately, I'll be pretty far away from you. I'm flying into Pittsburgh and driving to Altoona for a day.


Dang, you'll be about 3 hours south of me.

I assume you're taking 22/119 across from Pittsburgh? Have fun in the sticks!


----------



## DanR

szyzk said:


> Dang, you'll be about 3 hours south of me.
> 
> I assume you're taking 22/119 across from Pittsburgh? Have fun in the sticks!


I'm not sure what route we're taking, we've got someone picking us up. We'll be visiting a manufacturing facility (yes, there's still good stuff being made in the USA!), so we are staying the night in Pittsburgh. If you happen to know any good cigar shops, or cigar friendly restaurants, let me know.


----------



## freestoke

Today the 4Dot/PA gets a new look -- the Zippo pipe lighter! It took me a while to remember how they work, but it really is nice not having to hold down a button to keep it lit. :tu The other thing I notice is that it DOES NOT BLOW OUT when you puff on the pipe like a Bic will. And its over freezing! :smile: G'Morning y'all!


----------



## quo155

Good morning fellers...I hope life's a treating you good...and that you each had a "Happy Valentines Day"!


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning All,

This morning I loaded up my basket pipe with a 50/50 mix of Stanwell Vanilla and C&D Opening Night straight VA. The Stanwell Vanilla can be a little strong on the vanilla and the VA helped tone it down a bit. Nice combo, I will definitely do that again. 

I'm toying with bidding on a few oom pauls on fleabay. My basket pipe is a 3/4 bent and I've taken to just letting it hang. Works surprisingly well and if a 3/4 is a good hanger then a full bent 'Paul will be even better right? :smile:


----------



## freestoke

Moving on to the BMF in the TwoDot apple. Haven't smoked this pipe in days! I needed something stout after a long V Day and the BMF is delivering the goods. ipe:


----------



## RupturedDuck

Last night when I checked my mail, I had received a handwritten letter from a name that I did not recognize. Upon opening the mysterious envelope, I found a bag filled with a generous amount of Five Brothers, a care package sent from Jim as a reward for guessing the closest as to how much a fellow Puffer's Peterson Gold Spigot would go for on eBay. Thanks Jim!

I have to admit that looking at the tobacco, I was not prepared for its appearance. To look at it, I am reminded of Zware Shag RYO tobacco. That and the nicotine may be the only two things these tobaccos have in common. From what I have read about this tobacco, I was wary of its nicotine punch. So I packed it in my Peterson prince (shape 407). It has a smaller bowl than most of my pipes, and I really don't get a chance to use it as much as I should...nice little pipe. Anyway, I'm now contentedly puffing away. The tobacco is very smooth, and burning perfectly. I am not noticing the nicotine yet...but we'll see as I get further down the bowl.

Hope everyone is having as nice a day as I am!

RD


----------



## karatekyle

Having some old Louisiana Red Dan gave me. Good stuff but sweeter than I remember it.

Also, I have some new Award bling. Pretty snazzy, eh?


----------



## freestoke

Well, my nic hit landed with that BMF! Hope that 5B serves you equally well, Gabriel! 

One more bowl of the BMF and I'll be finishing the jar. I've got to break out something a little more tame to replace it, since I seem to have rather a lot of strong stuff open at the moment. Maybe the Reiner LGF...

Right now, though, I think it's going to be some SB to even things out a bit. Time for the Diplomat to report for codger OTC duty. ipe:


----------



## gahdzila

Same old same old - SWR and 5 Brothers. I smoked it in the Lorenzo churchwarden...it's a fairly large pipe, perhaps too big for my first pipe of the day before breakfast. Either that, or I was heavy handed with the 5 Brothers, because I couldn't quite finish it. I think I'll go finish it now!


----------



## freestoke

Had a straight 4Dot/PA start, but now moving on to the Savinelli 120 Anni full of Louisiana Red that Dan sent. After I have pictures of it unsmoked, I'll be firing up the new pipe he made for me!! (Just a beautiful pipe, Dan! I'll have more to say about it on another thread.)


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning Gents! I'm looking forward to a nice long weekend. The wife and kids are off Friday and Monday but I only have Monday. Seriously considering burning a vacation day to spend the full 4 days with them. I tend horde my vacation (4 weeks saved up now) as it provides extra buffer should the axe start swinging. Gotta love the software industry...

This morning I tried a little experiment and cut a few flakes of MacB Navy Flake into cubes. I was curious how it would differ from fully rubbed and found it burned quite well. Flavor was about the same although the ash is more dense. With careful management of the ash this could be my first ever two-match experience. :smile:


----------



## karatekyle

Packed a bowl of Virginia Spice I got from Mr Miller. Smells good, very perique-y.


----------



## Firedawg

Good morning all, feeling adventurous so I pulled out the SG 1792 to give me the ol kick in the ass! With the cup of joe I am wide awake! Smoking in a Sav Trevere 320ks Rusticated (big wide bowl!)


----------



## karatekyle

The rest of yesterday's VA Spice!


----------



## szyzk

5B/SWR a la Ghadzilla!


----------



## freestoke

Straight Kentucky Kendal for an early Vitamin N constitutional. ipe:


----------



## szyzk

Morning Puff! Finishing a bowl of Erinmore Flake in the 4Dot. I have a few coins of Escudo on tap for this afternoon.


----------



## freestoke

Erinmore! I think that might be my next can to pry open. A really good musketballer, too. Might even put the rest of the big jar of Chocolate Flake back in the cellar. Lotta flakes in an 8 oz. Mason, and I've smoked half of it the past few weeks. I need a change in the rotation and Erinmore seems the very thing.

Had to back off any more of that Kentucky Kendal or similar weapons grade materials, so I'm stokin' up some SB in the Diplomat, with a sprinkling of PPP on top. And more coffee! :cp


----------



## Staxed

on my way out to smoke a bowl of Early Morning Pipe in my Squat Bulldog


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Erinmore! I think that might be my next can to pry open. A really good musketballer, too. Might even put the rest of the big jar of Chocolate Flake back in the cellar. Lotta flakes in an 8 oz. Mason, and I've smoked half of it the past few weeks. I need a change in the rotation and Erinmore seems the very thing.
> 
> Had to back off any more of that Kentucky Kendal or similar weapons grade materials, so I'm stokin' up some SB in the Diplomat, with a sprinkling of PPP on top. And more coffee! :cp


I've got a pipe full of Erinmore sitting here too! I sprinkled a bit of Toque Absinthe on the top. We'll see if that amps up the anise.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I've got a pipe full of Erinmore sitting here too! I sprinkled a bit of Toque Absinthe on the top. We'll see if that amps up the anise.


Snuff!? :shock: You are plumbing new depths of depravity here, Kyle. Good thing children aren't allowed on the forum, that's all I've got to say. :spy:

I've decided on a Frank fill with HOTW in the Mayfair. Might even kick out my monthly review here in a bit.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Snuff!? :shock: You are plumbing new depths of depravity here, Kyle. Good thing children aren't allowed on the forum, that's all I've got to say. :spy:
> 
> I've decided on a Frank fill with HOTW in the Mayfair. Might even kick out my monthly review here in a bit.


Read the bottom one! It doesn't do a whole lot for flavor but it does help light a flake.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Erinmore is definately on my list to revisit as my proficienciy with flakes. Meanwhile, this morning I'm enjoying a little more of the Old Ironsides in one of my my Peterson Emeralds. This is how a weekend is supposed to start!

RD


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> Erinmore! I think that might be my next can to pry open.


I had a few flakes here from 2006. I woke up wanting to smoke the 4Dot and it seemed right to combine the two...

Did I mention to you guys how much I LOVE Erinmore? It's a great smoke.


----------



## karatekyle

szyzk said:


> I had a few flakes here from 2006. I woke up wanting to smoke the 4Dot and it seemed right to combine the two...
> 
> Did I mention to you guys how much I LOVE Erinmore? It's a great smoke.


That's where my Erinmore is sitting! Going to stoke up this 4 Dot after teatime, I think.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Read the bottom one! It doesn't do a whole lot for flavor but it does help light a flake.


"Many pipe smokers have also taken to the old English act of adding a sprinkle of their favorite snuff into their burning bowl of pipe tobacco for an added aroma, taste, and nicotine boost."

Apparently we few have to raise our game!

Just finished that HOTW a while back and taking to the road with the SAPouch. Dart Mix to follow. Cobs in ascendance.


----------



## Nachman

karatekyle said:


> I've got a pipe full of Erinmore sitting here too! I sprinkled a bit of Toque Absinthe on the top. We'll see if that amps up the anise.


light the pipe first, get a good cherry going, then sprinkle a good pinch on top while smoking. It gives a blast of flavour and nicotine. I do that with Molens 1860 latakia.


----------



## Firedawg

we need to stop talking about snuff here people! I am already suffering from TAD and PAD! 

Good morning puffers! Breaking out the old 999 Peterson chubby prerepublic with some LNF (some burley flake added to remove the bite.) Cup of Nantucket Dark magic for the beverage. Cold outside so maybe even might actually go icefishing today if the slush froze up some on the lake.


----------



## 36Bones

Firedawg said:


> we need to stop talking about snuff here people! I am already suffering from TAD and PAD!
> 
> Good morning puffers! Breaking out the old 999 Peterson chubby prerepublic with some LNF (some burley flake added to remove the bite.) Cup of Nantucket Dark magic for the beverage. Cold outside so maybe even might actually go icefishing today if the slush froze up some on the lake.


Good Morning folks. I hear you Todd, a co-worker picked me up and threw over the cliff, for Swedish Snus. :behindsofa: Raining and 35F this morning. Undaunted, Darth Waffle and some coffee, with my MM Dane Egg. I'm sure glad I installed that roof on the deck.


----------



## freestoke

After DGTing some HH Vintage Syrian in the FourDot from last night, I've gone with a musketball of Kentucky Kendal in the 4Dot this morning. The KK seems curiously suited for the air pocket, a sturdy tobacco which, even a little dry, resists crumbling. And little shorter smoke with KK is probably a good thing, especially in the morning on an empty stomach.


----------



## freestoke

Think I'll be checking in here today ->> http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/306475-ipsd-bowl-count-thread.html.

Happy Pipe Day! Keep on puffin! We shall oversmoke! Since nobody knows exactly when he was born, I say we establish that Sir Walter Raleigh's birthday is IPSD -- Merrie Sir Walter Raleigh Day!


----------



## szyzk

Happy IPSD everyone! Just lit a bowl of Penzance to start off my day!


----------



## freestoke

Having a bowl of Chocolate Flake this morning, late start. I didn't realize it had such a nice room note! Not in your face like 1Q or Vanilla Flake, but nonetheless pretty pleasant. Took a few puffs for my first pipe of the day, the Pride, left the room to do a few thing and when I came back I noticed it. Normally, I don't register room note of "non-aromatics" much when I smoke and never noticed that this had a decent one. :tu And who knew it had Latakia in it!? :lol:


----------



## karatekyle

Trying to get in gear this morning. It is horrifying outside today. Windy, snowy, icy. Ugh. Didn't have enough coffee or breakfast. I'm too hungry to take a nap, too tired to go get food, and too hungry and tired to go smoke a pipe. Maybe some McChrystal's will change my mind.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Trying to get in gear this morning. It is horrifying outside today. Windy, snowy, icy. Ugh.


We get really sick of you people to the west not controlling your stinking bad weather, no apparent containment strategy whatever. It's always, "A storm is developing in the Great Plains," or, "A strong low with violent thunderstorms and a threat of tornadoes is moving northeast from the Ohio Valley." Annoying. Just when the weather was getting nice around here, too. (And I don't think "tornados" should be spelled with an "e", either. REALLY hacks me off that it is.)

I'm in such a terrible mood now, what with the weather threat and all, I'm forced to hit the Kentucky Kendal.

Edit: I reconsidered. PA in the 4Dot, coffee...things are starting to level out. KK might have sent me over the edge into a meteorological malaise and free-floating atmospheric anxiety.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> I'm in such a terrible mood now, what with the weather threat and all, I'm forced to hit the Kentucky Kendal.


Checking your mail might give you a little pick-me-up!


----------



## freestoke

You're right, Andrew. That DID cheer me up! Wow! Think I might have to choke down a little Stonehaven this evening! Haven't had that in forever! (Photos at 11.) Thanks! :smile:

Heading out for darts with a CG of Erinmore Flake! (Haven't had that in a while, either! Thanks Andrew!) Dart Mix to follow in the Pride!


----------



## freestoke

I did not notice that the Erinmore from Andrew that I smoked on the way to darts was (gasp) SIX YEARS OLD!! http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...b-war-has-officially-begun-2.html#post3509905 I thought it tasted even nicer than I remembered it, but attributed that to not having had it in a while. At LEAST I had the presence of mind to smoke it in the Bari Dana and do it some justice! 

Right now, I'm smoking the Darth Rader pot, full of American Patriot that Dan ALSO sent me! I have a meeting with my Council of War later this afternoon, to discuss the battle plans. :fencing:


----------



## gahdzila

The little Kaywoodie 500 is smoking a little better already on only it's second bowl. I started with PA, only got to smoke about half of it before I had to set it down. So I just topped it off with 5 Brothers to finish it off.

This is my first Kaywoodie. But it looks like this pipe was actually _designed_ to gurgle! The drill hole in the bowl is perfect, but there seems to be a void _below_ the draught hole in the shank where condensation collects. Then there's the stinger on the stem, which only has one opening on top of it to let smoke through. So it looks to me like this thing will always gurgle a bit, even though it doesn't appear that the juice will ever make it to the mouth. And it's hard to get that little void clean as well. An interesting design. My initial thought is that I don't care for it, but maybe I'll get used to it.

Either way, it was an estate that cost me $5 and some elbow grease


----------



## szyzk

Gotta smoke through what's already opened... Can't open more tins... Gotta smoke through what's already opened...

Balkan Sasieni it is!


----------



## freestoke

Well, it was really open already, but I moved the Brown Flake Scented officially into the "opened" category on tobaccocellar. I pulled some out for a gift and have continued to smoke it. Over a year old and very smooth. MUCH better than I remember it -- or reviewed it! The Legend is doing quite well with it, to be sure. Rubbed out then musketballed, it required a crowbar, awl and a hammer to get it in there, but true to the remarkable properties of flake, the draw was still very easy. More coffee! I think I'll brew up a fresh pot of Columbian! :cp


----------



## Nachman

Had some London Mixture this morning. It has long been my favorite Balkan, but latakia mixtures just aren't doing it for me lately. It started off well but by half bowl it had gotten old to me.


----------



## karatekyle

DGTed some FVF, 2 bowls of SB, setting out a bowls worth of Sweet Mystery! It's a puffing sort of day!


----------



## RupturedDuck

I'm with Andrew in the finishing what is open kick. Last night I finished my tin of GL Pease Westminster. Currently puffing on Old Ironsides that the local B&M gave me when I purchased a couple of pipes from them. Also in the rotation: HotW, HH Syrian, Five Brothers, Marlin Flake, and as a late afternoon treat, Alexander Bridge to sweeten it up. When the Five Brothers is finished (maybe this weekend) I think I'll open a tin of Dark Twist....

Have I ever mentioned that I love working from home?

RD


----------



## freestoke

I definitely have too many open containers too. Working on the JKP right off the bat this morning, and the perfect pipe for JKP seems to be the Legend. The coffee is especially good this morning, as I check the terrifying weather that Kyle and Matt have blown this way. Should be awful for a few days starting late tonight. I think we can all agree that the SD posters are grossly negligent with their weather management program.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I definitely have too many open containers too. Working on the JKP right off the bat this morning, and the perfect pipe for JKP seems to be the Legend. The coffee is especially good this morning, as I check the terrifying weather that Kyle and Matt have blown this way. Should be awful for a few days starting late tonight. I think we can all agree that the SD posters are grossly negligent with their weather management program.


Snow today. Sorry Jim, our weather is highly contagious!

Going to DGT some Solani Mystery on the way back from signing my apartment lease. I'm wondering how it'll taste, being aromatic. We'll see.


----------



## freestoke

Keeping the Legend in play since it's doing such a good job this morning. Burning up some scraps off the plate, the ever-unpredictable PPP. Better than I expected. ipe:


----------



## szyzk

Carrying over the UKOTC thread from yesterday's St. Bruno, Walnut Flake is in the batter's box.

HH Vintage Syrian is on deck.

I have no idea why I'm making baseball references.


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> Carrying over the UKOTC thread from yesterday's St. Bruno, Walnut Flake is in the batter's box.
> 
> HH Vintage Syrian is on deck.
> 
> I have no idea why I'm making baseball references.


Indeed, it's getting to be golf season! How about, "Walnut Flake is on the course, HHVS is waiting to tee off next."

And Walnut Flake!? Never heard of it! Same people who make St. Bruno, I see. Sounds great! :tu

I'm going for more of the PPP, stiffened a tad with Kentucky Kendal. Oh wait...NO!...WAIT!...NOT "TAD"! I didn't mean to bring up such a sore subject.


----------



## gahdzila

PPP (Tambo + Captain Black) with some PA in a cob while I contemplate what to tackle today in my kitchen remodeling project. I'm thinking it's going to be a ceiling painting day. I hate home improvement projects in general, but I particularly loathe painting. I really think I'd prefer an ass-whipping to a day of painting.


----------



## karatekyle

gahdzila said:


> I really think I'd prefer an ass-whipping to a day of painting.


There's something to be said for a good ass whipping. I read somewhere that rough housing with kids helps them be better problem solvers, more ethical, gives them perseverance, self control, indomitable spirit, etc. Humans may be domesticated now but letting out your inner caveman every now and then is good for the soul.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I hate home improvement projects in general, but I particularly loathe painting. I really think I'd prefer an ass-whipping to a day of painting.


Me and you both! I also have no talent for painting, so it looks worse when I'm through than when I started. My sympathies, Clifford.

I'm starting off with the 4Dot/PA for the first time in a few days. Just glanced at the riDICulous weather forecast. Winds at 20 mph gusting to 40, snow and ice for the next few days, perfectly timed for the weekend -- nice going SD. oke: At least I don't have to paint.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> There's something to be said for a good ass whipping.


Vinny Gambini: I understand you played a game of pool with Lisa for $200, which she won. I'm here to collect.
J.T.: How 'bout if I just kick your ass?
Vinny Gambini: Oh, a counter-offer. That's what we lawyers - I'm a lawyer - we lawyers call that a counter-offer. This is a tough decision here. Get my ass kicked or collect $200. Let me think... I could use a good ass-kickin', I'll be very honest with you... nah, I think I'll just go with the two hundred.
J.T.: Over my dead body.
Vinny Gambini: You like to renegotiate as you go along, don't you? Well here's my counter-offer... do I have to kill you? What if I were just to kick the ever loving shit out of you?
J.T.: In your dreams.
Vinny Gambini: Oh no no... in reality. If I was to kick the shit out of you, do I get the money?
J.T.: You kick the shit, out of me.
Vinny Gambini: Yeah.
J.T.: Yeah. you get the money.
Vinny Gambini: So, here are my options. Option A: I get my ass kicked or Option B: I kick your ass and collect the 200. I think I'm gonna go with Option B: Kickin' your ass and collecting $200.
[Takes off his jacket]
J.T.: We're gonna fight now?
Vinny Gambini: Yeah. But first, show me the money.
J.T.: I have it.
Vinny Gambini: You have it, then show it to me.
J.T.: [pause] I can get it.
Vinny Gambini: You can get it? Okay, get it. Then we'll fight.



> I read somewhere that rough housing with kids helps them be better problem solvers, more ethical, gives them perseverance, self control, indomitable spirit, etc. Humans may be domesticated now but letting out your inner caveman every now and then is good for the soul.


I think a problem in the US now is that we no longer let them rough house among themselves. All children's activities are monitored 25 hours a day by parents, teachers, supervisors, coaches and the police. Nothing is allowed unless it is totally safe, unless it's organized athletics, snowmobiling or driving an ATV, in which case threats of death, permanent paralysis or disfigurement is simply the price kids have to pay for entertaining the parents.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I think a problem in the US now is that we no longer let them rough house among themselves. All children's activities are monitored 25 hours a day by parents, teachers, supervisors, coaches and the police. Nothing is allowed unless it is totally safe, unless it's organized athletics, snowmobiling or driving an ATV, in which case threats of death, permanent paralysis or disfigurement is simply the price kids have to pay for entertaining the parents.


I saw on the same article that schools were banning tag. The tagging was getting out of hand and becoming slapping.

Thank God they banned slapping, a slap once broke my arm clean off.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I saw on the same article that schools were banning tag. The tagging was getting out of hand and becoming slapping.
> 
> Thank God they banned slapping, a slap once broke my arm clean off.


And we don't want to hurt their feelings any more either. Personally, I LOVED the spelling bees in school, but in some states (so I've heard), spelling bees are not allowed, because the children who haven't bothered to learn to spell feel bad when they have to sit down and be quiet while the bee continues.

The "big spelling bee" I entered involving lots of schools I busted out on my very first word. Unreal. Talk about HUMILIATING! I misspelled "lawyer", leaving out the "y". Just like a typo. Believe me, I knew how to spell it.  Oddly enough, in an age without school psychologists and crisis counseling, I was able to shake it off and be almost back to normal later that afternoon when we went out, ALL BY OUR nine year old selves, ALL ALONE, and played baseball, wrestled, rode our bikes, climbed trees, went swimming and jumped off rooftops into the bushes. The worst thing that could happen to a kid when I was a kid was that we'd have to do something with our parents. Pretty much always a bummer or a bore.

It's this weather making me grumpy, Kyle, so it's all your fault. Going on to some KK plus PPP. I need a nicotine boost to bring my brain back on line.


----------



## szyzk

karatekyle said:


> I saw on the same article that schools were banning tag. The tagging was getting out of hand and becoming slapping.


Not to make light of a terrible chunk of history...

_When the school boards came for the dodge ball,
I remained silent;
I was already graduated.

When they banned tag,
I remained silent;
I was no longer a child.

When they came for protect the pin,
I did not speak out;
I had no children enrolled in school.

When they came for the rough-housers,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a rough-houser anymore.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out._



karatekyle said:


> Thank God they banned slapping, a slap once broke my arm clean off.


That would only be funnier if you followed with, "I got better."

On-topic: I'm minutes away from lighting up some SPC Plum Pudding.

And Jim, move a few hours south. The weather here is fine. We had HUGE flakes of wet, dense snow last night that covered everything in a matter of only an hour, but by dawn it was all melted. Now it's just rain. Winter? What winter!


----------



## gahdzila

After buying a few supplies and debating things, I decided to save the crown molding. Which means a bunch of sanding and cleaning. Which means I wont have time to paint. Part of it is almost certainly procrastination as well :mrgreen:

Speaking of ass whipping, Kyle - my little guy has belt testing tomorrow! Wish us luck!


----------



## szyzk

Yikes! I've shoveled the front of the store twice already this morning. The flakes coming down now aren't nearly as big as they were, but I don't know what to expect today... We have to be running close to a foot of snow since late last night when I went to bed.

Glengarry Flake a la Freestroke in the 4Dot this morning!


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> Yikes! I've shoveled the front of the store twice already this morning. The flakes coming down now aren't nearly as big as they were, but I don't know what to expect today... We have to be running close to a foot of snow since late last night when I went to bed.
> 
> Glengarry Flake a la Freestroke in the 4Dot this morning!


Well, you wanted "weird". :lol: Actually, Glengarry isn't all that strange as GH&Co Lakelands go.

You might want to move a little farther north, Andrew. oke: We're supposed to get a few more inches today and tonight, but escaped with only about an inch last night. The ominous "lake effect" warning is up, though. I may be sorry I said anything -- sometimes that gets entirely out of hand...

Firing up a basic PA/4Dot this morning. More Columbian coffee!! :cp


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Gents. Interesting topic this morning. My son is 14 and we still roughhouse, except that my goal now is to prove to him that I can still kick his ass if I need to, or at least make him think that!

I have my own PPP going from last week, so I'm about to load that up and go sit outside with my coffee. It's a mixture of LGF, Blackwoods, Red Virginia, and Louisiana Flake, so it should be tasty.

It's only slightly chilly here today. Sorry to hear about all the crappy weather everywhere.


Edit: Oops, I see now that conversation was from yesterday, just missed it...


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Edit: Oops, I see now that conversation was from yesterday, just missed it...


How about if we just kick your ass? :sl

Trying out this Whiskey Biscuit Gravy that Sather sent me. Not bad at all! I didn't expect it to be quite this good, actually, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it. So many of these Cavendish mixes have a ton of PG, but even though it was pretty moist it wasn't BCA-like, if you know what I mean. Maybe I've merely been toughening up with the KK and stale PPP, but it seems very, very smooth, no snorkiness whatsoever.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> Well, you wanted "weird". :lol: Actually, Glengarry isn't all that strange as GH&Co Lakelands go.
> 
> You might want to move a little farther north, Andrew. oke: We're supposed to get a few more inches today and tonight, but escaped with only about an inch last night. The ominous "lake effect" warning is up, though. I may be sorry I said anything -- sometimes that gets entirely out of hand...


I feel bad for the 4Dot. I've slobbered all over it. It should be treated with more respect but I can't help - this Glengarry is absolutely beautiful! Just enough sugary taste to, well, make me slobber, just enough Lakeland to pinch that craving. Wow. Thanks for adding another tobacco to my growing list of "I'll never have enough of it", Jim!

As for the weather - still snowing. Flakes just keep getting smaller, though. Haven't had to shovel since my last update, which is nice. I don't know what tonight will bring, but I have a feeling this afternoon will be typical for this winter so far - a foot of snow melted in just a few short hours.



DanR said:


> It's a mixture of LGF, Blackwoods


I need to throw those two in with my Glengarry order. I'm tired of you guys talking about them all the time!


----------



## freestoke

A bit more oomph on this smoke, JKP in the Legend. 

Still dodging the snowbands, but it's going to keep up until 7PM, so I have to remain vigilant. Not as much snow as I feared for sure. :smile: Usually, my driveway is where the heaviest squalls hit, so this is a refreshing change. Fifteen miles down the road they've got 6+"!


----------



## DanR

LGF is pricey, but it's a must have in my opinion! Blackwoods is reasonably priced, and it's a tasty stoved pressed flake with a little of that McClelland vinegar aroma that you either love or hate...


----------



## Nachman

The trouble with Blackwoods is that it comes the consistency of petrified shoe leather. I smoked G&H Sliced Brown Twist this AM. kind of mellows out the day.


----------



## szyzk

Loaded up a second bowl of Glengarry.

The best part? Every time I sniff with my nose it smells like Lakeland!


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> The trouble with Blackwoods is that *it comes the consistency of petrified shoe leather*.


At least you're getting tobacco instead of water for your money!

Smoking another bowl of KK in the Patriot. Too bad more of the MM cobs aren't filterless.


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Gents!

Enjoying the breezy 60 degree weather with a bowl of Bald Headed Teacher, which I sprinkled with a touch of Larry's Blend to add a little more Latakia kick. I was in the mood for sweet and smokey this morning! 

We put up some new bird feeders last weekend, and the songbirds have discovered it. There's enough seed out here to feed a human army, yet these birds still fight each other over it. It's entertaining to say the least.

My IPSD order arrives tomorrow, and I think I have both Kendal Kentucky and Glengarry Flake. I can't wait to try each of them...


----------



## freestoke

Supposed to be in the low 40s today for a while, so some of the snow from the past couple of days should disappear. Not that there was very much snow, just enough to bring out the snowplows. 

Opened with 4Dot/PA, but now I'm on some Holiday Season 2011 mixed with the PPP. I decided to put that volatile Peterson Holiday Season 2011 into a proper jar and put the spills immediately to work. I just spotted the HOTW on the shelf. :spy: I'll be smoking that next, for sure. Then I'm jarring it up to let it sleep another year.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Good morning folks! It was a beautiful weekend in Salt Lake. Sun was up both days, and we got some nice snow in the moutains Friday night which made Saturday a blast. Monday morning, back to work, and enjoying some HH Vintage Syrian in an older W. Ø. Larsen billiard. If you have to go to work, this is a nice way to do it.

Today is particularly exciting because I am expecting my IPSD shipment from P&C to show up. 

RD


----------



## Stonedog

I still have a few minutes left in my morning so I'll jump in!

Stonehaven in my basket pipe this morning as I contemplated sending SmokingPipes.com a query about my February Lottery payment. Ron says he hasn't received it yet but it should have arrived a day or two ago...


----------



## freestoke

Thought I'd put this gigantic Tim West into action to help burn the preposterous pile of Paper Plate Potpourri I've managed to create over the weekend. Actually, a pipe this big works pretty well with stale tobacco, doesn't it? p Actually had to drill this one out with the drill that comes with the Senior Reamer. Something about the way the hole was cut caused it to *immediately* clog with a piece of tobacco and prevented a pipe cleaner from easily passing into the bowl to clear it, but I managed to gouge out it out a bit smoother and it smokes fine now. I'm always impressed how even a tiny piece of detritus in the draught hole can totally destroy the burn. Sort of analogous to the grain of sand in your sandel I guess.


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, Gentlemen.

Orlick Golden Sliced in a cob with some coffee, and off to work for me!


----------



## freestoke

Just finished a Legend of HOTW, trying to break out of this morning fog. Trying to bring my IQ up past the resting level of cabbage at the moment. Waitress, could we get a little more coffee at this table please? (Maybe I should add a couple tablespoons of instant to my cup...) More "big tobacco" this morning. Somehow the wimpier stuff just isn't appealing, so JKP with a sprinkling of the somewhat more than ordinarily aromatic PPP. p Giving this 4Dot a break from its boring diet of PA.


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Just finished a Legend of HOTW, trying to break out of this morning fog. Trying to bring my IQ up past the resting level of cabbage at the moment. Waitress, could we get a little more coffee at this table please? (Maybe I should add a couple tablespoons of instant to my cup...) More "big tobacco" this morning. Somehow the wimpier stuff just isn't appealing, so JKP with a sprinkling of the somewhat more than ordinarily aromatic PPP. p Giving this 4Dot a break from its boring diet of PA.


Jim - Have you ever eaten any of those chocolate covered espresso beans? I love them, and when I'm draggin-azz throughout the day, I crunch on a few of those to give me a nice boost. Mix that with a pinch of snuff, and wowzers!

I received my IPSD gift pack last night, and I got a lot of the same stuff you guys did, except that mine had "darkest caramel" instead of the dansk dark or dark chocolate. It's very wet and goopy, so I let it sit out overnight... This morning it was still very wet and goopy, so I mixed it in equal parts with some Haunted Bookshop and Middleton Apple. I was shooting for Caramel Apple Pie for breakfast - in short, it didn't work. This stuff smells a lot better than it smokes... I'll make up for it by having some more Glengary Flake - I had that last night, and love it!


----------



## szyzk

DanR said:


> I was shooting for Caramel Apple Pie for breakfast - in short, it didn't work. This stuff smells a lot better than it smokes...


:lol:

Live and learn, I guess! I haven't purposely blended anything, just threw together the hodgepodge dregs of my potpourri jar. There are times that it smells great and smokes great, and there are times when it smells like the wrong end of an elephant so I've left it alone!


----------



## freestoke

Good piping morning to y'all! HOTW in the 4Dot, then a road trip with the Szabo/HOTW and the Diplomat with 2 bowls of the SAP. Now some more COFFEE!! 

And we're getting your snow crap again, Kyle. Cut it out, okay? :frown:


----------



## RupturedDuck

Last night I received my IPSD shipment. I'm currently testing a concoction that was labeled Creme Caramel. Jim, did I see that you had received some of this as well? I finished yesterday with two large bowls of Marlin Flake (the first was so good...) so I figured, why not try something a little sweeter? Out of the bag, the tobacco smells like an ice cream factory, and looks very wet. So I grabbed a pipe I know has a nice cake buildup...a 1/4 Bend Peterson Bulldog I've had for quite a while, and lit her up.

The tobaccco is quite sweet (with a name like "Creme Caramel" what did I expect?), but pleasantly so. I'm a quarter of the way through the bowl, and so far, dry contented puffing, no gurgle. If this keeps up, Creme Caramel will make a nice dessert tobacco.

RD


----------



## freestoke

Nope, no Caramel Creme for me! (Please! :lol I have too many aromatics right now. ENTIRELY too many! 

Seems like I'm on a HOTW bender this morning, burning another bowl in the 4Dot right now. And I STILL haven't got that coffee!


----------



## RupturedDuck

RupturedDuck said:


> I'm a quarter of the way through the bowl, and so far, dry contented puffing, no gurgle. If this keeps up, Creme Caramel will make a nice dessert tobacco.


Good lord! It was dry through the end of the bowl! I never would have guessed looking at it. Goes pretty well with the coffee I finally got up and made after hearing Jim talk about it so much.

RD


----------



## gahdzila

Sterling Millionaire Blend followed by some good ole Prince Albert in a cob.

I'm getting estimates from contractors for a kitchen remodel today. UGH. I just want this done YESTERDAY.


----------



## Stonedog

Last night I cleaned my 3/4 bent basket pipe as best I could to try to remove the latakia ghost. I'm finding that after a year in this hobby the bent pipe is more to my liking than the straight and this pipe has a nice combination of light weight, big bowl and not-so-pretty finish so I don't mind it getting banged around a little. In fact, I'm even considering putting my viking and bertram up for trade/sale along with most of my collection of latakia blends so that I can pick up another bent pipe and just alternate between the two.

Oh, yeah, Prince Albert in my freshly cleaned basket pipe. I was enjoying it so much I ended up taking the extra scenic route to work.


----------



## freestoke

I'm getting under weigh with some PA in the 4Dot. I have got to get rid of some of these open containers! (At least the PPP is down to a few bowls now, so maybe I can make progress with the stuff in the jars today.) I think I'm just going to start cramming these "open" containers into the cellar. Things are cluttered and out of hand! :frown: More coffee!!


----------



## karatekyle

Home for a week, spring break finally. Sitting here with a medico and a pouch of SWR aromatic. This'll last me the week!


----------



## freestoke

Wow, SWR aromatic! Codgerish, Kyle. :lol: 

I'm smoking the 4Dot full of PA right now, just back from a walk in the sun with the Szabo full of Ennerdale. I'm beginning to think that Ennerdale leaves the most impressive ash of anything I smoke. Different somehow. Maybe my memory is failing me, but even the other GH&Co tobaks I've tried (and there are quite a few) don't produce this nice an ash. In any case, the smoke was fine, fine, fine!! p 

An update to the "End of Western Civilization Milestones Data Base": a college professor reports that she wrote a question on the board which included the word "chauvinism". Nobody in the class knew what the word meant. The curtain is falling. People who went to college with me knew what the word meant before "male chauvinism" became a cliche. Of course, people I went to school with also knew the value of pi to a couple of digits, even if they were English lit majors. You couldn't take a college degree, BS or BA, without calculus, either -- they were just introducing "alternative" math courses for those in the School of Education, so future teachers wouldn't have to know crap like calculus. Now you can get a Masters without even being able to add or subtract I think. They now estimate that an Associates Degree equals an 11th grade education when I went to high school in terms of the information content, and you have to take a Masters to equal a BS/BA. I'm assuming (for my own peace of mind) that places like Middlebury, Dartmouth and such still have reasonable academic standards, but I wonder.


----------



## szyzk

SWR+5B in a Peterson Dalkey here at work!


----------



## freestoke

Well, Andrew...I admit it. I've been dipping into your Escudo.  The perique all over my face gave me away, right? At least it's being well served in the peerless Mayfair. :tu


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Wow, SWR aromatic! Codgerish, Kyle. :lol:


I'll be gun show shopping with my grandfather next weekend, it's what he smoked. I figured I better have a pouch on hand to put a smile on his face!


----------



## freestoke

Kwai Chang Caine didn't need no stinkin' gun, Kyle! oke:

That bowl of Escudo was fine, Andrew! Just what I needed. :tu Think I'll back down to some basic SWR, mindmelding with SD, now that they've finally sent us some decent weather.


----------



## DanR

Morning Gents!

I just finished a bowl of my own Lakeland creation, 1 part Bob's Chocolate, 1 part Ennerdale, and 1 part Kendal Kentucky. My head's spinning a little bit, but the smoke is nice...

I'm taking the family bowling later today. It's been ages since I've been bowling!


----------



## gahdzila

szyzk said:


> SWR+5B in a Peterson Dalkey here at work!


I think I rubbed off on this guy :mrgreen:


----------



## RupturedDuck

freestoke said:


> I'm assuming (for my own peace of mind) that places like Middlebury, Dartmouth and such still have reasonable academic standards, but I wonder.


My Alma Mater still requires everyone, including History, English, Political Science, Majors to complete three semesters of Calculus, and two semesters of each Physics and Chemistry. There is also a requirement for two semesters of Electrical Engineering, although the non-engineering majors take a dumbed down version.

I'm continuing the FMotB theme I started a couple of days ago, puffing it from an Arley Curtz that I've been neglecting lately.

RD


----------



## szyzk

gahdzila said:


> I think I rubbed off on this guy :mrgreen:


Just a little. :lol:

Finishing up my work day with some Lancer's Slices and just a touch of SPC Plum Pudding mixed in.


----------



## freestoke

RupturedDuck said:


> My Alma Mater still requires everyone, including History, English, Political Science, Majors to complete three semesters of Calculus...


When I took calculus there was one textbook for three semesters, the "Thomas", that took you through triple integrals and an intro to diff-e. You could test out of the first semester, but it didn't count for your GPA. (I could have, probably, but it was nice to have one course that you didn't have to study much for! Why skip it if you still got full credit for taking it? There were parties to go to!! :beerchug Just curious, what were the hour totals for the semesters at your school? For me it was 5 credit hours per semester, classes every day. I think it was the only daily class? Even though chemistry and physics were also 5 credit hours per semester, they had a lab, so there wasn't a daily lecture class. Everything else was 3 hours, like English and German and History and such. You only needed 10 hours though, ie, two semesters, unless you were going for a BS.

Doing some PA in the Country Gentleman. Very old mannish, eh? :lol:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Kwai Chang Caine didn't need no stinkin' gun, Kyle! oke:
> 
> That bowl of Escudo was fine, Andrew! Just what I needed. :tu Think I'll back down to some basic SWR, mindmelding with SD, now that they've finally sent us some decent weather.


:lol:

Better enjoy it, we got freezing rain for two days and snow on top of it. Hopefully that disappeared before it got to NY!


----------



## freestoke

Yeah, it's snowing right now. Another couple of days of winter, then 50s on Wednesday! Might even go out and hit a few shots to see how much the hinges have rusted since there was golf to be played. Usually, about the time the season has ended, I've recapitulated ontogeny and finally started striking the ball like I did when I knew how to play (about 45 years ago), but over the winter, I "figure things out" and have to start all over come spring. sigh.

Pondering the delightful and rewarding evils of golf as I smoke some PPP+Black Cavendish in the Darth Rader. As they say, To err is human, to sin, divine! p


----------



## freestoke

The PA jar is empty. I have two tubs on ice, but I think I'm going to go on a PA holiday so I can eliminate some of these open containers. Right now, the last of the open PA is smoldering in the Szabo. Nice little estate pipe that would, if I chose, take one of those 9mm Savinelli balsa filters. Smokes just fine without one, though! p


----------



## RupturedDuck

freestoke said:


> Just curious, what were the hour totals for the semesters at your school? For me it was 5 credit hours per semester, classes every day. I think it was the only daily class?


There was a 3 credit version, and a 4 credit version. The 4 credit didn't cover more material, it was for folks who needed a little more lecture to grasp the concepts that were being presented. We also used a single text for all three semesters (Swokowski's). In lieu of the first two semesters of Calculus, I took a class called "Computer Calculus" which basically covered the principals of Calc I and Calc II, and an introduction to the Pascal programming language. My Calc III class was the same as everyone elses. The Computer Calculus class was 5 credit hours/daily lectures.

I'm back on that FMotB in my Astleys pipe. That stuff goes great with a cup of coffee!

RD


----------



## karatekyle

Jim, about how many ounces of PA do you smoke through per month? How long does a tub last?


----------



## gahdzila

karatekyle said:


> Jim, about how many ounces of PA do you smoke through per month? How long does a tub last?


I'm curious as well. Any advantage to the tub? Is it airtight? I've just been buying pouches. It's actually slightly cheaper by the pouch at P&C if you buy 5 pouches, though the difference is negligible ($30 = one 14 ounce tub or 10 pouches which nets 15 ounces).


----------



## karatekyle

gahdzila said:


> I'm curious as well. Any advantage to the tub? Is it airtight? I've just been buying pouches. It's actually slightly cheaper by the pouch at P&C if you buy 5 pouches, though the difference is negligible ($30 = one 14 ounce tub or 10 pouches which nets 15 ounces).


My tub of SB is _very_ airtight. I put it all in a jar and use the tub for sample storage.


----------



## freestoke

The tobaccocellar chalks up 5 days/oz for my last container. Seems about right, but it varies. As for the tub, I bought three tubs for like $25/tub or something, quite a while back, from Milan maybe? I think at one point I had 4 tubs, maybe 5, now I'm down to two. The idea was to have YEARS of tobacco in stock, during a tobacco supply panic attack, but it clearly hasn't worked out that way. They come double sealed, but I have had one of the tubs open for months before without noticing much of any change in the contents.


----------



## freestoke

The PA was in 20 ounce jar, so there is noticeably more room on my desk! :tu Letting this kickass Kentucky Kendal get the day started for me. Sun's out, but it's cold, only 13 out there. Going down to 5 tonight, maybe colder -- but then it warms up like crazy, into the 50s for the middle of the week! Golf is on the horizon!!:clap2:


----------



## Stonedog

Beautiful day here in Georgia now that the cold front has swept away most of the clouds. Should hit the mid 50's - my kind of weather!

This morning I polished off a 1/2 bowl of McB Navy Flake that had been sitting since last week. I think I've overdone the Navy Flake lately and will let the remaining 50g rest for a while. Back to Prince Albert as my go-to baccy.

I also enjoyed a Perdomo Lot 23 Gordito while reading Enemies Foreign and Domestic yesterday. It is an interesting read, but a bit too heavy on the tinfoil hat stuff for me. Anyway, I received Perdomo from jsnake in trade back in September (thanks Jake!). It was a darn fine cigar...


----------



## RupturedDuck

We've got warm weather in Utah also. I got two days of skiing in this weekend. I think the mountain will soften up quite a bit by the next time I get out there. I think here in the valley we are expecting mid-40s today. That is pretty close to motorcycle weather.

This morning, I fired up my pre-republic Pete for the first time. The mouthpiece was a little salty so I through a little polish on her and rubbed her up nice. The P-lip isn't quite the same as the newer models. The pipe is nice and light despite her largish size. It is comfortable to clench, and has a very nice draw. I'm going to enjoy this pipe. Currently it is filled with FMotB.

RD


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> The PA was in 20 ounce jar, so there is noticeably more room on my desk! :tu Letting this kickass Kentucky Kendal get the day started for me. Sun's out, but it's cold, only 13 out there. Going down to 5 tonight, maybe colder -- but then it warms up like crazy, into the 50s for the middle of the week! Golf is on the horizon!!:clap2:


Jim, I think I'm moving to Rome. Golf, pipes, classical guitar? You know the way to live, man.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Jim, I think I'm moving to Rome. Golf, pipes, classical guitar? You know the way to live, man.


Fortunately, those things are available practically anywhere I might go -- including SD! :lol:

Slow morning at the pipe! Only onto bowl number two, some Golden Age from Sather. Pretty good stuff! p


----------



## DanR

Kyle, you should have Jim share his Guitar Recordings with you. He's spectaular - not that you'd expect any less.

Sugar Barrel for me this morning. About to head home for a lunch and I'm already contemplating my afternoon smoke break. It's another wonderful fall day here in San Antonio. :biggrin:


----------



## karatekyle

DanR said:


> Kyle, you should have Jim share his Guitar Recordings with you. He's spectaular - not that you'd expect any less.
> 
> Sugar Barrel for me this morning. About to head home for a lunch and I'm already contemplating my afternoon smoke break. It's another wonderful fall day here in San Antonio. :biggrin:


They're converted to mp3s and on my iPod! Part of my study playlist!


----------



## DanR

karatekyle said:


> They're converted to mp3s and on my iPod! Part of my study playlist!


Oh, that's cool. Any chance they are e-mailable?


----------



## szyzk

DanR said:


> Kyle, you should have Jim share his Guitar Recordings with you. He's spectaular - not that you'd expect any less.


Less talk, more music.

Jim, where are the recordings!?!?


----------



## freestoke

sigh. I haven't been playing.  Last year, I had that stupid hernia surgery and got out of the habit after not being able to play at all for a month. Then golf season hit. By the summer, picking up the guitar was simply discouraging, but I HAVE been trying to play a little the past couple of weeks. It occurred to me that I would be REALLY sorry if I just let all those years of practice just go down the drain. This morning, I actually put in about an hour and will probably do another hour's worth this afternoon. Thanks for all the kind words, but on the guitar Richter scale, I'm about a 1! :lol: Hopefully, it'll start getting a little better. 

Just starting a bowl of Sugar Barrel in the absence of the PA. p In the Darth Rader!! 

But I'm thinking about making a CD of some REAL players. "Keep you eyes to the skies". lane: I used to pass them out all the time, since they only cost 12c apiece! (And it's all public domain, too!! :shock Used to keep a stock of them in the car. :lol:


----------



## karatekyle

DanR said:


> Oh, that's cool. Any chance they are e-mailable?


Check your inbox!


----------



## DanR

karatekyle said:


> Check your inbox!


Got em'. Thanks!!!

For all following this thread, Jim is being seriously modest. He's much more like a 2... ound:

No, seriously, he's incredible!


----------



## freestoke

Nice day today and fantastic day tomorrow! Mid to high 50s Wed and Thur! Definitely be striking a few! :smile:

Starting with some Kentucky Kendal with a little SB for flavor. p


----------



## Nachman

I smoked some Rattrays Accountant's Mixture for a change this morning.


----------



## szyzk

Started out with a coin of Escudo in the Herbaugh, and now I'm happily puffing away on HOTW in my McCarter semi-warden. This format - a 7 to 8" pipe - is perfect for me!


----------



## freestoke

Something a little different this morning, firing up the Darth Rader with some of Scotch's 20 year old Sail Green. Must be the weather, which is taking a turn for the better with full sun and temps close to 60 today -- and NO WIND!! The golf clubs are in the trunk! :tu

This area has more golf courses per capita than anywhere except Myrtle Beach, SC. The difference between here and Myrtle Beach is that there aren't as many golfers and not many truck in from out of state to play, so the courses are much less crowded. Having lived in nightmare golfing places like Dallas and San Francisco, it's a real pleasure to know that we can just walk out the door and go play somewhere anytime without having a tee time. Except for a few of the better courses, they don't even bother with tee times around here, and waiting even half an hour to tee off is rare. Even though there five or six unplayable months, the summers are much nicer than other places, with highs only occasionally in the 90s -- or even upper 80s. We had a summer a few years back where the high for the year was 86. I played a lot in Dallas when I lived there -- the wind roasts flesh right off the bone in August. I'll take 55 over 115 anytime.


----------



## Max_Power

freestoke said:


> Firing up the Darth Rader with some of Scotch's 20 year old Sail Green. Must be the weather, which is taking a turn for the better with full sun and temps close to 60 today -- and NO WIND!! The golf clubs are in the trunk! :tu


I hear you about the weather. I took a jar of Lousianna Red and a knockaround briar with me to work today for a late morning break.


----------



## freestoke

Max_Power said:


> I hear you about the weather. I took a jar of Lousianna Red and a knockaround briar with me to work today for a late morning break.


I learned recently that when the temp hits 110F, the wind chill is reversed, ie, it heats you up more than the evaporation of your perspiration cools you down. Just hitting 50 here and we're hitting the links at noon! March 7th!! That's really early for around here, but the snow is pretty much gone, just some piles here and there. Probably going to be packed as all the golfers flock to the course simultaneously, but who cares!? It's like that EVERY day in Dallas! :smile:

And I should add that I'm now smoking a KK-PPP-KK sandwich. p


----------



## freestoke

I find myself reaching for the Kentucky Kendal again this morning, straight up. Nothing fancy here! p  Coffee's good this morning too -- made it extra strong. :cp

The Music Fairy looks to be about ready to land, Andrew! lane:


----------



## gahdzila

After my usual PA/5B/coffee, I loaded up the falcon with some Tambo and PS Dansk. Not bad!


----------



## freestoke

Stoking the Darth Rader with some *Ennerdale*! Your pipe is starting to behave itself, Dan! I figured I'd broaden its horizons a bit this morning. :lol:


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> Stoking the Darth Rader with some *Ennerdale*! Your pipe is starting to behave itself, Dan! I figured I'd broaden its horizons a bit this morning. :lol:


Pipe abuse!


----------



## BigKev77

Starting the smoking portion of my day with some LTF. I still can't see peoples appeal of this over LNF but to each his own.


----------



## Stonedog

I took the extra _extra _long way to work today. Several days of very long hours and a fantastic bowl University Flake mixed with PA Choice Blend and I really didn't have a choice. It is a shame that the only time I have to partake is during my commute. It limits me to the more forgiving and simple blends as I just can't concentrate as much as I should...


----------



## DanR

Nachman said:


> Pipe abuse!


The "Darth Rader" can handle the beating!!


----------



## karatekyle

Just went and picked up a pouch of Half & Half. Smells wonderful, haven't had this in a few years.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Pipe abuse!


Tough love, Nick. Coddle your pipe and it'll start taking advantage of your good nature.


----------



## Nachman

Opened a five year old jar of Squadron Leader this morning. The Latakia has become so mild as to be almost unnoticeable and the Virginia has become sweeter. Now it is only suitable for a morning blend or when your mouth is beat to death by powerful blends and needs a rest.


----------



## karatekyle

Nachman said:


> Opened a five year old jar of Squadron Leader this morning. The Latakia has become so mild as to be almost unnoticeable and the Virginia has become sweeter. Now it is only suitable for a morning blend or when your mouth is beat to death by powerful blends and needs a rest.


I think I need to grab some EMP and bury it for awhile. Sounds yummy.

I can't quite grow into this Nightcap and Commonwealth. It very rarely sounds good. Maybe I'm just not cut out for the latakia game!


----------



## johnb

i just lit my forst ever bowl of emp


----------



## freestoke

johnb said:


> i just lit my forst ever bowl of emp


So whuddya think?

The 4Dot is trying to accustom itself to this SWR at the moment. I keep trying to tell it that the PA is on vacation, but it's like talking to a small child. It just doesn't understand.


----------



## Machine

Good morning just smoked some of my dun hill early morning


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning fellow pipe enthusiasts!

My commute enhanced with another round my PA Choice Blend / University Flake mix although this time I mixed in some Stanwell Vanilla. The burley + vanilla might not be everyone's cup of tea but I enjoyed it quite a bit.


----------



## BigKev77

Breaking from my norm and I am bringing a bowl of FVF with me in a little Savinelli straight billiard. Backup is Butternut Burly in a knock around Dr Grabow. Have a good morning folks.


----------



## RupturedDuck

One of the cons of working in Mountain Time for an office on the east coast is, of course, early meetings. The pros are that you can attend these meetings in your jammies and bathrobe, while puffing on your morning bowl. If you get up say, 10 mins earlier, you can enjoy a cup of coffee while attending the meeting. It is easy to see how the pros entirely outweigh the cons.

This morning, it is another bowl of FMotB, this time in my Talamona. Somewhere I misplaced my Old Boy, and so I'm using one of those free 1888 lighters that P&C gave out last month. Turns out it works great. 

RD


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Gents! I puffed a bowl of the MacBaren HH Highland Blend sample that P&C gave me in my IPSD goodie bag. It's a great smoke!


----------



## gahdzila

DanR said:


> Good Morning Gents! I puffed a bowl of the MacBaren HH Highland Blend sample that P&C gave me in my IPSD goodie bag. It's a great smoke!


Yeah? I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I may try to get to it sooner if you think it's good.

Same as yesterday for me. PA/5B in the Kaywoodie, followed by Tambo/PS Dansk. Finished off the tiny jar of Tambo this morning, and closing in on finishing off the PS Dansk. It is also a sample from the P&C IPSD goodie bag. IIRC, I got a 1/4 ounce each of Golden Dansk and Dansk Dark (or something like that). They're both black cavendish aromatic blends...neither of which I found to particularly stand out as anything special...so I just mixed them together and put them in a jar. It actually makes a pretty good blender with Tambo! But I don't anticipate buying more. Not that they're bad, just that it's not really the type of thing I smoke very often.


----------



## karatekyle

Three more days smoke free. Then I'm back to it!


----------



## RupturedDuck

DanR said:


> Good Morning Gents! I puffed a bowl of the MacBaren HH Highland Blend sample that P&C gave me in my IPSD goodie bag. It's a great smoke!


I just opened my sampler of HH Highland Blend. I was surprised at the texture of the tobacco...it was a little dry, and chunky...similar to HotW. It seems that small bowls are the theme of the day here in Utah. I'm smoking it through my Peterson Deluxe Prince (P-Lip).

There is an old B&M tobacco shop in downtown Salt Lake that has been around for years. Pipe maker Arley Curtz used to have a little shop in the back where he did pipe repairs. It was a well loved shop, but it closed a couple years ago citing tobacco taxes as the culprit. The owner leased the building to a person who owns several hookah shops around town. This person reopened the tobacco shop, with a few changes. He still carries pipe tobacco, although didn't know a thing about pipes, or tobacco it seems. He told me he as learning as he goes...which I respect. The last time I was in there though, the only pipes that were available for purchase were uninspired units made from oak. Oak?

Apparently, the building owner had said that he was leasing the building, not the name of the business he had owned and operated for quite a while. Unfortunately, it seems that the original owner had not registered his business name, but the new proprietor had, and so the name stands. Lease renewal seems unlikely.

Ok, tying it all back to the HH Highland. There are number of bulk tobaccos that are sold in this shop that were passed down from the previous proprietor, one of which is incredible. I've never found anything like it. Because it doesn't look like the shop is long for this world, I was concerned that the recipe for this blend would wink out of existance. I asked the new proprietor if he mixed his own tobaccos in the back. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to learn that he didn't. The tobacco that I was smoking was a bulk tobacco that he bought and then renamed whatever he wanted. He told me that this particular tobacco he thought might have been a MacBaren's product, although he wouldn't look up the blend for me, stating that it wasn't in his interest. I quietly decided it wasn't in my interest to frequent his shop anymore.

So I started a crusade to try all of the MacBaren's until I find the one that Jeanie's Smoke Shop in Salt Lake City calls "Foggy Boggy." In the back of my mind, I understand that there is a great likelihood that "Foggy Boggy" isn't even a MacBaren blend, but I figure it is as good a place to start as any. HH Highland is a blend I hadn't checked yet. It is a good smoke, but it isn't "Foggy Boggy." And so the search continues.

RD


----------



## gahdzila

Nice story, Gabe. Good luck finding Foggy Boggy! What's it like? If you post a thread about it, it's possible that some gentlemen here have had it or at least something very similar and could point you in the right direction.



> he wouldn't look up the blend for me, stating that it wasn't in his interest. I quietly decided it wasn't in my interest to frequent his shop anymore.


I guess this is one of those "you had to be there" things. Renaming bulk aromatics seems to be pretty common practice, like it or not. IMO, it really isn't in his interest to tell you what it is. He wants you to come back and buy his rather than finding out what it is and going off and buying it from his competitor. A valid point. But (here comes the "had to be there" part) he could have been extremely polite about this, or he could have been a major douche about it. Douchebaggery is a great way to lose my business for sure...and if he was rude about it, you've definitely got a valid reason for not visiting his business anymore. The whole stealing the name of another man's business thing leads me to a certain conclusion opcorn:

ANYWHO.....

I think I'll load up a bowl of Sterling American Patriot ipe:


----------



## johnb

freestoke said:


> So whuddya think?
> 
> The 4Dot is trying to accustom itself to this SWR at the moment. I keep trying to tell it that the PA is on vacation, but it's like talking to a small child. It just doesn't understand.


honestly don't love it, i gave a tin of 965 away and i find this similar, i am more of a cavendish guy.. I'll sit on these maybe they will mellow and I will toughen up. .. a 50g tin is $28 here so i will learn to love it


----------



## RupturedDuck

gahdzila said:


> Nice story, Gabe. Good luck finding Foggy Boggy! What's it like? If you post a thread about it, it's possible that some gentlemen here have had it or at least something very similar and could point you in the right direction.


Good idea. I should swing by the shop one more time, buy a pound or two, and offer to ship off samples to anyone who would like to help in the search...many pipes are better than one (which also explains my growing pipe collection).



gahdzila said:


> I guess this is one of those "you had to be there" things. Renaming bulk aromatics seems to be pretty common practice, like it or not. IMO, it really isn't in his interest to tell you what it is. He wants you to come back and buy his rather than finding out what it is and going off and buying it from his competitor. A valid point.


I agree with you entirely. It is a fairly common practice, but one I don't understand. I don't see the difference between this and say, Dublin Dr Pepper ("." omitted for Kyle ) to steal a thread from yesterday. Ultimately it is detracting from the original blender's brand recognition, not to mention plagiarism of blends.

I guess my idea of a community tobacco shop would include chairs to smoke in, perhaps a little workshop in the back for pipe repairing, and buffing pipes customers may bring in, and a bench and a scale where the house proprietary blends are custom crafted. My perfect shop would have a experienced craftsman, imparting knowledge to those with the patience and interest to listen, and experimenting with new combinations, perhaps handing out samples to customers for price of their feedback. My mind's eye pictures a scene not unlike this picture of the Pipeworks & Wilke proprietor:









Interestingly, the original proprietor of Jeanies did make his own blends. He continues to do so, and sells them to the town's only other pipe shop, the Tinderbox. The Tinderbox may not be a perfect tobacconist. For one, it is a national chain that you might find in a mall (think the difference between the boutique record shop in the movie High Fidelity as compared to a "Record Town). You can't smoke in it, and the front end of it is filled with knick knacks and gifty stuff that has nothing to do with tobacco. That being said, it has a lot of things going for it, and I can understand that it is hard to run a tobacco shop at a profit these days. I think they are doing a hell of a job with what they have to work with. They have a very decent humidor, a great selection of quality pipes and tobacco. The folks that work there can talk about tobacco intelligently. Their bulk tobacco jars all display the label of the actual tobacco manufacturer...even the blends from the former proprietor of Jeanies are labeled clearly (e.g. "Jeanies Florentine").

The problem with tobacco shops these days is that it is impossible to run them the way that they should be run. As fond as we may be of pipe tobaccos, the general population overlooks its charm. In Los Angeles, I stopped entering new pipe shops that I had found, because pipe shops there, with a few notable exceptions, are head shops. Most "Smoke Shops" these days are high volume cigarette retailers who sell the same brands available in your grocery store. Between many states banning the smoking of tobaccos in retail establishments, higher taxes, the declining popularity of quality tobacco products, and online retailers, I can see it would be very hard to run a profitable shop. I know that when I wander into the Tinderbox, which I do more because I enjoy the shop and the people who work there than out of a need for a new pipe or tobacco, I pick up a tin or two of tobacco that I know is available online for 25% of the price because I appreciate having that store in town.

Ok...sorry about that. That post should probably have gone in the "rants" thread, and could use massive editing. At any rate, look for a Foggy Boggy thread in the nearish future.

RD


----------



## freestoke

johnb said:


> honestly don't love it, i gave a tin of 965 away and i find this similar, i am more of a cavendish guy.. I'll sit on these maybe they will mellow and I will toughen up. .. a 50g tin is $28 here so i will learn to love it


Wow, $28!? New York territory! :lol:

Smoking the Dunhill Shell bulldog right now. Reminds me of a pipe my father used to smoke on the golf course, but this one is just too heavy I think -- and I HATE these fat Dunhill stems. I think Dunhills are meant for men with big strong jaws and teeth -- or maybe they intentionally make it so that you avoid clenching, the supposedly "proper" way to smoke a pipe. Not going too badly, though. I think I can suffer through it. p Decided the easy thing for me in the morning is to musketball this Kentucky Kendal, not something you can do with PA, really.


----------



## freestoke

Ya know, I just don't like this estate Dunhill bulldog. First, it's heavy, 46gr; my Sasieni 120 Anni is substantially larger but only 49gr. Second, it has a mediocre drill -- I've seen better basket pipes. Third, I hate the stem. Hate it. Fourth, it doesn't even smoke very well. The Dunhill is officially retired! :frown:

Enough of that! I want a decent pipe this morning, dammit! 5B+BCA in the quasi-capacious Sasieni Canadian should take care that. (This pipe is WAY bigger than the Dunhill bulldog, but it feels like a feather by comparison.) This is pretty good! p


----------



## gahdzila

I got out the bent tomato this morning for some PA/5B....and noticed the ghost of ennerdale. :doh: Never smoke that stuff in a briar! I followed that up with some Orlick Golden Sliced. By the end of the OGS, I wasn't noticing the Ennerdale ghost anymore...so hopefully it won't be there in my next bowl either. Which reminds me....I haven't had Ennerdale in a while....


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Ya know, I just don't like this estate Dunhill bulldog. First, it's heavy, 46gr; my Sasieni 120 Anni is substantially larger but only 49gr. Second, it has a mediocre drill -- I've seen better basket pipes. Third, I hate the stem. Hate it. Fourth, it doesn't even smoke very well. The Dunhill is officially retired! :frown:
> 
> Enough of that! I want a decent pipe this morning, dammit! 5B+BCA in the quasi-capacious Sasieni Canadian should take care that. (This pipe is WAY bigger than the Dunhill bulldog, but it feels like a feather by comparison.) This is pretty good! p


That's a shame. I'd expect so much more out of a Dunhill pipe. Straight bulldog?


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> That's a shame. I'd expect so much more out of a Dunhill pipe. Straight bulldog?


Yep, just an ordinary straight bulldog -- and not a very elegant one at that, so make it FIVE things I don't like about it. :lol:

I'm forcing the 4Dot to endure some Kentucky Kendal this morning. Threw a couple of small pinches of the PPP in before stuffing a musketball of KK on top, so I have a full load. I think the musketball is starting to reach the lower levels now and has hydrated the dry PPP, so I'm picking up some various flavors from the eclectic blend below. All in all, very enjoyable for my first of the morning. (Sorry you can't join me, Kyle! :frown


----------



## DanR

Good morning Gents! (it's still technically morning here, even after the blasted time change)...

I'm breaking in my newest Darth Rader pipe with some Darth Waffle baccy. The pipe smokes great - lots of billowy smoke and easy airflow. It's lightweight and makes for a great clencher. The only problem is that Olivewood tastes terrible. I can't wait to get a cake built up!!!


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Yep, just an ordinary straight bulldog -- and not a very elegant one at that, so make it FIVE things I don't like about it. :lol:
> 
> I'm forcing the 4Dot to endure some Kentucky Kendal this morning. Threw a couple of small pinches of the PPP in before stuffing a musketball of KK on top, so I have a full load. I think the musketball is starting to reach the lower levels now and has hydrated the dry PPP, so I'm picking up some various flavors from the eclectic blend below. All in all, very enjoyable for my first of the morning. (Sorry you can't join me, Kyle! :frown


Gosh, that really is a shame it won't perform. I've been trying to think of anything I'd be able to do for it but I just don't know what would remedy the thing. Otherwise I'd offer to fiddle with it. Hell, if I had the cash, I'd offer to buy it; been looking for a straight bulldog. There was a straight bully I saw with a four pretty blue dots on it. But, alas, it went for more than I could afford. Shame, I sure would've enjoyed another Sasieni. The two I have are just darlings!

That pipe is quite a looker, Dan. Love the grain on the side there. And of course, obligatory "awesome hat" comment. I have to admit, I'm quite a trilby fan. They just seem so tweedy. Looking dapper, Dan.


----------



## karatekyle

Good morning, pipers! Heading out with some wonderful coffee and a nice pipe. Very codgerish today, it's Half & Half. I dried it overnight, hopefully now it won't burn so warm.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

After a long weekend of high school lacrosse I'm actually glad to be back at work. My throat is sore (apparently I was yelling a lot, or so says Mrs StoneDog) but I'm ready to face the week. A bowl of Escudo on top of just a pinch of Haddo's Delight helped perk things up, of course.


----------



## freestoke

Well, Kyle, about that Dunhill bulldog -- as Clark's father in-law says in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, "It was an ugly tree anyway." And I wouldn't sell it to you! My conscience wouldn't let me take money for this thing, even off a stranger on ebay. I don't think I'd even feel good about giving it away. I'm going to keep it just for bragging rights, as in, "I have a Dunhill."

Put in a PPP footer and installed a Kentucky Kendal musketball in the 4Dot again this morning. Gonna be a beautiful day out there and golf this afternoon! Things went pretty decent last Wednesday and we went to the range yesterday, so I might actually hit the ball out of my shadow today. I'm hitting it pretty short to start the year, but no roll and a golf ball near freezing doesn't help matters.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Well, Kyle, about that Dunhill bulldog -- as Clark's father in-law says in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, "It was an ugly tree anyway." And I wouldn't sell it to you! My conscience wouldn't let me take money for this thing, even off a stranger on ebay. I don't think I'd even feel good about giving it away. I'm going to keep it just for bragging rights, as in, "I have a Dunhill."
> 
> Put in a PPP footer and installed a Kentucky Kendal musketball in the 4Dot again this morning. Gonna be a beautiful day out there and golf this afternoon! Things went pretty decent last Wednesday and we went to the range yesterday, so I might actually hit the ball out of my shadow today. I'm hitting it pretty short to start the year, but no roll and a golf ball near freezing doesn't help matters.


Well that sounds like a good use for the thing! I mean, isn't that the reason most gravitate towards Dunny pipes anyway?

Hour long DGT-1 of my H&H was great. I like this stuff. Overnight drying makes it perfectly smokable.

We read and debated an essay this morning in Composition about reducing the use of tweedy language in academic essays. I was the lone student stalwart against the reduction, my teacher and I refused to compromise with a culture increasingly suggesting future idiocracy. God save intellectualism...


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> We read and debated an essay this morning in Composition about reducing the use of tweedy language in academic essays. I was the lone student stalwart against the reduction, my teacher and I refused to compromise with a culture increasingly suggesting future idiocracy. God save intellectualism...


"There are far too many hard words in your paper, Kyle." What next, an argument in favor of relaxing grammar requirements? Or eliminating the text completely, perhaps, wherein PhD theses are submitted as youtube videos. Surely you should be able to tweet that review of e e cummings' poem, right? :lol:

Having a little SB with PPP flooring. I might even get this plate cleaned up today!


----------



## DanR

karatekyle said:


> Well that sounds like a good use for the thing! I mean, isn't that the reason most gravitate towards Dunny pipes anyway?


I bought an estate dunhill from smokingpipes for what seemed like a high price at the time - but now I think it was well worth it! It is by far my best smoking pipe. It's a group 2 billiard that looks identical to the one that Robert Downey was smoking as Sherlock in the first movie (I was looking for it after seeing the movie - I just really liked the looks of it!). It is very lightweight and great for clenching. I've been looking another one similar to it (maybe smooth) because I hate leaving it in the rack...

Here's a photo of it:









I enjoyed some SB in my dunny this morning...


----------



## karatekyle

DanR said:


> I bought an estate dunhill from smokingpipes for what seemed like a high price at the time - but now I think it was well worth it! It is by far my best smoking pipe. It's a group 2 billiard that looks identical to the one that Robert Downey was smoking as Sherlock in the first movie (I was looking for it after seeing the movie - I just really liked the looks of it!). It is very lightweight and great for clenching. I've been looking another one similar to it (maybe smooth) because I hate leaving it in the rack...
> 
> Here's a photo of it:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I enjoyed some SB in my dunny this morning...


Oh, they're undoubtedly excellent pipes. Jim's situation is not at all indicative of the brand, I'm sure. I've just always wanted one simply for the sake of having one; I feel like a lot of newer guys in the hobby think the same thing. I've grown to appreciate Joel's baby blue dots a bit more than those with Alfred's solitary white badge of excellence. Though I do seem wholeheartedly in love with any tobacco under the name Dunhill, my adoration of RY is uncompromising.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> "There are far too many hard words in your paper, Kyle." What next, an argument in favor of relaxing grammar requirements? *Or eliminating the text completely*, perhaps, wherein PhD theses are submitted as youtube videos. Surely you should be able to tweet that review of e e cummings' poem, right? :lol:
> 
> Having a little SB with PPP flooring. I might even get this plate cleaned up today!


My company now has at least one VP that is writing phone text shorthand in email. The first time I saw "Plz send 2 me" I nearly resigned.

When I graduated from college and started my first "real" job in '95 the president of the company would take a ruler and make sure all _memos_ were properly justified, paragraphs were indented and the subject was perfectly centered. And that was only 17 years ago. Look what email, phone texting and spell checker have done to us.

And yes, I realize the irony of my complaint as the grammar and structure of my posts are usually questionable. :anim_soapbox:


----------



## szyzk

Stonedog said:


> "Plz send 2 me"


Ugh.

I've been brokering a deal with a company (who shall remain nameless [no, it's not related to the Peterson Pipe Club]) through work and the incredibly helpful lady who has served as my primary contact and I aren't always available to spend 15-30 minute chunks of time negotiating over the phone, so we've resorted to emailing when convenient. There have been a few times when I had to sit down and really concentrate on her messages because at first glance I couldn't understand them.

I can appreciate the benefits of shorthand but in business-related emails I think they're out-of-place, and "text speak" just seems like pure, unadulterated laziness... At best she's shaving WHOLE SECONDS from the time it takes to write out the email, and she's adding WHOLE MINUTES to my day because I have to decipher everything! :lol: No, I'm not complaining but I do find it ridiculous!

And, I'm only 31 years old. My generation is on the bleeding edge of this garbage.

On topic: POA's My Own Blend B93 (circa 2002) in the LaHerb Danish this afternoon!


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## karatekyle

Stonedog said:


> Plz send 2 me


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## freestoke

szyzk said:


> And, I'm only 31 years old. My generation is on the bleeding edge of this garbage.


It's been going on for a LONG time, Andrew. George Washington, _et alia_, wanted a public education system to ensure that we had a population that could understand what the issues were in selecting leaders and could handle the affairs of the nation, too. If *WE* were to be the government, we couldn't have a bunch of know-nothings (like we do now) running the show. Public education hit its zenith in the late 50s and early 60s, a time when our literacy rate was miles ahead of any other country, we won practically every Nobel Prize, and practically every patent worth having was held by an American. Both Left and Right have systematically poisoned education, public and private alike, for decades. No one in power wants an educated populace, and they've largely succeeded in creating a remarkably ignorant one at this point. The dumbing down of college followed naturally, as those entering higher education gradually became largely illiterate.

Back from the first nine holes of the season. Hit some GREAT shots! I was really surprised how well I played! :shock: The SAP and the Diplomat carried me through with 3 bowls, getting compliments on the "course note". :lol: A measly 40, but the course conditions were just awful.


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## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> It's been going on for a LONG time, Andrew. George Washington, _et alia_, wanted a public education system to ensure that we had a population that could understand what the issues were in selecting leaders and could handle the affairs of the nation, too. If *WE* were to be the government, we couldn't have a bunch of know-nothings (like we do now) running the show. Public education hit its zenith in the late 50s and early 60s, a time when our literacy rate was miles ahead of any other country, we won practically every Nobel Prize, and practically every patent worth having was held by an American. Both Left and Right have systematically poisoned education, public and private alike, for decades. *No one in power wants an educated populace, and they've largely succeeded in creating a remarkably ignorant one at this point.* The dumbing down of college followed naturally, as those entering higher education gradually became largely illiterate.Back from the first nine holes of the season. Hit some GREAT shots! I was really surprised how well I played! :shock: The SAP and the Diplomat carried me through with 3 bowls, getting compliments on the "course note". :lol: A measly 40, but the course conditions were just awful.





Adolph Hitler said:


> How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.





Thomas Jefferson said:


> Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.


Back on track. Ahem, _tomorrow _morning I will finish my Escudo/Haddo's Delight cocktail.


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## karatekyle

Gunna be a beautiful day here. That means it's cigar time! I'll be plugging away at this pouch of H&H between now and then but I think I need to thin out my humidor.


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## Stonedog

My commute was rudely interrupted by a downpour so I had to roll up my window. But, I just couldn't let my bowl of well rested Escudo go out. I'm going to have to air out my car later today.


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## freestoke

I seem to have fallen immediately into another morning rut after finishing the big jar of PA -- Kentucky Kendal with a PPP substrate. At least I'm lowering the scrap level on the paper plate. p


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## DanR

Set sail on the Royal Yacht this morning... With the kids on Spring Break this week, traffic has been very light. I've had to drive around the building in circles when I get to work, just so I can continue to puff on my pipe a little longer!


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## freestoke

*Ennerdale* in the Darth Rader. :hippie: Damn decent. There are actually people out there who don't like hot peppers, too, so the world remains totally mysterious everywhere you look. I suppose if you were a Scot, you'd wonder why people don't like haggis.


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## karatekyle

Keepin' busy with the H&H. Enjoying this, I will say.


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## RupturedDuck

I'ts been unseasonably warm here this week. Today it is a little more overcast...still not cold though. Yesterday it seemed stupid that I stayed inside working instead of jumping on the motorcycle and touring the canyons. Today it makes a little more sense. Still working through my tin of Frog Morton on the Bayou. It goes well with a cup of coffee. I'm smoking it with an older Peterson Emerald straight apple (87) I've had for years. The 87 may be my favorite Peterson shape.

RD


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## karatekyle

Morning, pipers. Headed out with the H&H again.


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## Stonedog

Morning Kyle & Everyone,

I enjoyed some P&C Fusion Connecticut Yankee. It is good and hints of cigar leaf does come through on occasion. It pales though compared to a bowl of 12 year old F&T Golden Mixture I had last night. Thanks again Ron for the sample!


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## Cairns

This morning I opened a tin of Squaron Leader, it has been too long since the last time I've had it, it's great.


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## gahdzila

After the usual PA/5Bs, I'm having some Sterling Millionaire in a cob. Sweet, creamy, and smoooooth ipe:


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## freestoke

I am surveying the damage from yesterday's vowel-free attack. :faint: I put up a new mailbox only last week (I really did!) and already it is damaged by incoming from the darkness of the Pennsylvania forests. I'll be posting pictures later, but in the meantime I'm stoking the morning wake-up bowl of Kentucky Kendal in the 4Dot.


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## RupturedDuck

I kind of like getting up when it is still dark out...makes me feel somehow more ambitious than waking up with the sun already shining. I just poured out the alcohol that has been soaking in the old beat up Dunhill I got off eBay...yuck! I've already snapped off the inner tube that was stuck in the shank. AFTER doing so I decide to take a look on the web and it appears that isn't such an uncommon newbie mistake. So now I'm soaking it, hoping that will loosen the tars up enough to remove.

The past few mornings I've been setting out a strip of Marlin Flake before I load up a pipe with FMotB for a follow up smoke. This seems to be working well, and I'm not one to be messing with success.

RD


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## freestoke

Now that I'm fully awake, I'm giving this St. Bruno that Andrew sent me a ride in the Mayfair, and I must say it's absolutely super! If this is the UK's version of OTCs, one can only wonder how Dunhill manages to sell anything at all. A smooth, uncomplicated Virginia that's a total delight in this pipe, the best smoke I've had in weeks. p Thanks a bunch, Andrew! I can see how they don't market here -- it's too good for us!


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## Stonedog

This morning I sampled some C&D Opening Night (again courtesy of RJpuffs - thanks Ron!). I think I may be a bigger VA fan than I thought! I have two 5+ oz packages waiting to be delivered as my part of small cigar trades. If the pipe noobs happen to be reading this thread (you know who you are), consider yourself warned.


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## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I am surveying the damage from yesterday's vowel-free attack.


I think I've done more trades/sales/etc with Andrew than anyone else here. I STILL have to go letter by letter. Szymczyk = Siz-Zie-Mic-Zik. I don't know where y'all got Zim-Check from :lol:


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## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I think I've done more trades/sales/etc with Andrew than anyone else here. I STILL have to go letter by letter. Szymczyk = Siz-Zie-Mic-Zik. I don't know where y'all got Zim-Check from :lol:


You are brave. Practically the entire population around these parts is either Italian or Polish, so I'm actually used to these names. The way I figure it, they were trying to figure out a way to cheat at Scrabble. "Gosh, let's make it fun and use proper nouns!"

I've thrown some of this old BCA in with stale HH Vintage Syrian and it isn't a bad combo. The BCA hydrates it a bit I think, but whatever, it's very smooth. Doesn't taste stale at all as I smoke it. I have had quite a few bowls of the HHVS now and can state without reservation that "that's the taste I remember". The new Cyprian Latakia* blends taste different and also have a slightly different room note.

*Latakia is a town in Syria. I wonder if there's a local name for the tobacco produced in Crete that we call "Latakia".


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## freestoke

On an HH kick this morning I guess, slipping a little HH Acadian Perique into the Sasieni Canadian right now. Been a touch light on my perique consumption of late and this is going down nicely. p (I think I have Sather to thank for this, but I seem to have misfiled the bomb damage assessment reports. )


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## DanR

Good morning Gents! I decided to be adventurous and pop a tin this morning. I've had this tin of SG Firedance Flake since the middle of last year, and something this morning made me want to examine the contents. It's an ARO, but it's got a nice firm Virginia foundation, and the top dressing is a little spicy. I'll have to smoke a few more bowls before I decide for sure, but i'd proabably buy more of this.


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## freestoke

Yet another rare blend surfaces. Sounds good, though! I like Best Brown Flake a lot (possibly as much as FVF), which is apparently where the FDF starts, so I imagine it's pretty decent too. I mean, how many SG blends are really bad? :lol: (Yeah, there's got to be a few, but I haven't encountered any yet.)

Those HH jobs from earlier just don't have much Vitamin N, so I'm "jacking up" the dose with some JKP in the Szabo. A bit of a struggle getting the burn going right, but now it's absolutely perfect. p I'm liking JKP more and more and really glad I have a few cans left aging away! :tu


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## Nachman

You ask about bad SG blends. One year (2007) I bought SG Christmas Mixture. It is the only tin of tobacco I have ever put in the bin. It smelled good enough in the tin, but the taste would gag a maggot.


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## DanR

Nachman said:


> ...but the taste would gag a maggot.


ound: I will be stealing this phrase and using it in the future!

The FDF actually smokes better than it smells. The aroma out of the tin is fruity, similar to fruitcake, but the taste once you light it is more like pure sweet tobacco. It still has a fruity quality, but it's not overwhelming...


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## RupturedDuck

DanR said:


> ound: I will be stealing this phrase and using it in the future!
> 
> The FDF actually smokes better than it smells. The aroma out of the tin is fruity, similar to fruitcake, but the taste once you light it is more like pure sweet tobacco. It still has a fruity quality, but it's not overwhelming...


Nick definately has a way with words! This was from the other day in the Evening Smoke thread:



Nachman said:


> Some people describe it as burnt tire, but it is a stoved black tobacco flavour.


This morning, it is HotW. Getting towards the bottom of the jar here...and without knowing really what I'll open next. My can of Alexander Bridge by Sutcliff isn't moving that quickly. I doubt I'll be replacing that one.

RD


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## freestoke

Straight up 5B in the 4Dot this morning. Too lazy to cope with anything else yet. Heading for another cup of coffee in hopes of getting at least half the cylinders firing.


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## freestoke

HOTW this morning, the penultimate bowl of what I kept out from the monthly review, but the other half will stay in storage for a while. Gonna be like summer today. Hope I play better! I hit the ball like a beginner yesterday, unbelievably bad. Embarrassing. No reason for it, either, just spastic. I wound up going to bed last night at 8:30 and slept until 8 this morning, so I think I was in some sort of body chemistry funk or something.


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## freestoke

Sometimes leftovers from the fridge taste better than the meal fresh, and occasionally I'll fire up the PPP and really like it. Now is one of those times. I just took the bristle reamer to the Diplomat, put alternating pinches of PPP and BCA in it and fired it up. The draw is much better, having become insidiously restricted, and the BCA gives the whole mix a better moisture level. Another very enjoyable, never to be seen again smoke. :tu


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## prole

Tried out some Old Dublin in a brand new birthday Pete I got this morning. It's a short little Aran finish lovat with a p-lip and nickle band. Sharp looking pipe and smokes wonderful so far. Not a fan of Old Dublin yet. Maybe on a queasy post St Pattys day stomach was not the ideal time to try a new blend with a full taste.


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## RupturedDuck

This morning I'm finishing the 100g of HotW from February. I've really enjoyed it, but I'm not immediately reaching for another jar. Time to change it up a bit. I've been flying through Marlin Flake lately, that jar is almost finished. I'm expecting my UPS delivery driver to drop off some Best Brown Flake, and some SG Chocolate Flake...and I had them throw in a few tins by Brebbia because it was on sale and I had never tried it. 

Say, something I've been wondering a bit...do the 250g boxes of SG tobacco keep if they aren't opened? Or should I throw that in a jar? I mean...that cellophane on the outside of the box isn't the only thing keeping it sealed is it?

RD


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## freestoke

Not much of a seal, if they're anything like the 500g boxes. I have always immediately transferred mine into 3-4 oz. jars. If it's a brick of flake like the bigger boxes, they'd keep for a while just being so dense, but even then I think it's better to break it up. I doubt seriously that it's an airtight seal in any case, which would mean that it will not age while it's still in that packaging. Aging requires the work of anaerobic bacteria.

I'm starting to miss the PA. :frown: I'll have to suffer with a Kentucky Kendal and SB blend. No -- WAIT JUST A MINUTE!! I have a jar of PA Choice!! I wouldn't have to open a tub! <patterpatterpatterpatter>
.
.
.
.<patterpatterpatterpatter>

And here it is! PA Choice Blend to the rescue!! The 4Dot is beaming!! :lol:


----------



## Nachman

RupturedDuck said:


> This morning I'm finishing the 100g of HotW from February. I've really enjoyed it, but I'm not immediately reaching for another jar. Time to change it up a bit. I've been flying through Marlin Flake lately, that jar is almost finished. I'm expecting my UPS delivery driver to drop off some Best Brown Flake, and some SG Chocolate Flake...and I had them throw in a few tins by Brebbia because it was on sale and I had never tried it.
> 
> Say, something I've been wondering a bit...do the 250g boxes of SG tobacco keep if they aren't opened? Or should I throw that in a jar? I mean...that cellophane on the outside of the box isn't the only thing keeping it sealed is it?
> 
> RD


All the 500G boxes I have bought have an aluminium bag inside the box, unlike the big boxes that don't. I always move it to jars though, because you can't trust any kind of bag not to get pin holes.


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## laloin

I'd transfer all the tobacco into jars the boxes of 500g and 250g I just don't trust at all. maybe for a week to 10 days. But transfer them all into jars 
troy


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## RupturedDuck

Sounds like there are a lot of opinions on the subject, and they are all pretty much the same. I will be transferring this evening. Thanks for the advice.

RD


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## freestoke

RupturedDuck said:


> Sounds like there are a lot of opinions on the subject, and they are all pretty much the same. I will be transferring this evening. Thanks for the advice.
> 
> RD


I would like to clarify that I meant 3-4 oz. of tobacco per jar, not 3-4 oz. jars. 

And Nick, I have bought several 500g boxes of SG and GH&Co. flakes, but all of them had a thin cellophane/plastic wrap on them in a bare box. Who uses aluminum foil? Just curious.

Having some PACB in the 4Dot. Life returns to normal. p


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## Nachman

freestoke said:


> I would like to clarify that I meant 3-4 oz. of tobacco per jar, not 3-4 oz. jars.
> 
> And Nick, I have bought several 500g boxes of SG and GH&Co. flakes, but all of them had a thin cellophane/plastic wrap on them in a bare box. Who uses aluminum foil? Just curious.
> 
> Having some PACB in the 4Dot. Life returns to normal. p


I'm not talking about the 500g box. They are just boxes wrapped in polythene. The 250g SG boxes have an aluminium bag inside which is, theoreically, air tight.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Good morning! Lately part of my morning ritual is laying out a couple of strips of Marlin Flake to enjoy later in the day. I have found that it breaks up nicely, and smokes excellently when allowed to dry for 2 - 4 hours. I'm telling you, I LOVE that tobacco like this. I had skipped a lot of flakes in the past due to not being able to get them to light decently. But since hearing the suggestions of a few of you, I decided to try drying it out a bit, and I've enjoyed this Marlin Flake so much that I've started acquiring other flakes to see what I've been missing out on.

One of those other flakes is University Flake. My tin came in rather late due to the fact that I added a couple of backordered tins to my selection (I think it was the second tin of Best Brown that caused the delay on the order). So I hadn't tried it until yesterday. Yesterday, instead of laying out the Marlin Flake, I layed out some University Flake. I was quite a bit disappointed with its inaugural bowl. I am laying out Marlin Flake again today. I'll try the University straight from the tin and see if that dresses it up much...it has an alluring tin odor that just did not translate for me when smoking it dried.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying my coffee while smoking a bowl of Frog Morton on the Bayou. I've stepped away from this over the last few days in favor of working through some of the aromatic samplers from my IPSD gift bag. Although they provided a nice diversion, I am glad to be back.

RD


----------



## freestoke

Just finishing up a Darth Rader of PPP. Started with some PACB in the 4Dot, so all is well with the world. Some like the PACB better, but I like the regular PA -- I think. Not that there's a lot of difference. The PACB room note is definitely not quite the same, while the smoke itself is more like PA. I wouldn't say either had a great aroma, but the PACB is "plainer" maybe? My game showed a little promise yesterday, but I didn't have a lot of energy on the course. I feel a lot stronger today, so maybe I'll be busting it again after the big layoff. It's definitely a game of fewest errors and I limited my misses more than previous rounds this year. The greens are starting to roll a bit more and hopefully they finally mowed for the first time this year, which would certainly help the putting and chipping situation. Today's swing though: Hold that right knee firm! (For all you golfers out there, if the right knee stays put you don't bob and sway. Rolling to the outside of the back foot on the backswing is a KILLER mistake!)


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Jim and Company,

I enjoyed some Two Friends English Chocolate in my CG. No need to extend the commute, I simply started with a 3/4 full bowl. Not sure what I was thinking though, I'd rather circle the block a few times than get to work _early_.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Stonedog said:


> Not sure what I was thinking though, I'd rather circle the block a few times than get to work _early_.


Well Jon, you live and you learn!

I'll tell you Jim, I used to play golf a lot more when I lived in Santa Barbara than I do now. I spent a couple of months in Stratford, Ontario last summer and was playing regularly. For me that means weekly (and weakly), not daily.

The Salt Lake City maintains 9 full service public golf courses, and a lot of other public and private courses near by that are fantastic and very reasonably priced. I'm not sure why I don't get out more often when I'm here.

RD


----------



## gahdzila

RupturedDuck said:


> I layed out some University Flake. I was quite a bit disappointed with its inaugural bowl....I'll try the University straight from the tin and see if that dresses it up much...it has an alluring tin odor that just did not translate for me when smoking it dried.


Yeah, same here - tin note just did not translate into flavor. I tried it straight from the tin and sitting out for 4 hours. Personally, it worked better for me dried than straight from the tin. Good luck.

I finished a pouch of Prince Albert this morning, and went to my online cellar to mark it finished and noticed this:



> Most puffing members last 30 days:
> 
> Chaz Charmowitz finished 10 containers
> *gahdzila finished 10 containers
> Freestoke finished 9 containers*


If I'm smoking more than Jim, I am definitely smoking too much LOL!!! Actually, I just seemed to finish a lot of open containers all at once, and a couple were just 1 ounce jars of bulk. Nonetheless, I found it amusing that I passed Jim on the most puffing members list :mrgreen:

I'm not sure who this Chaz guy is. Is he a member here? As much smoking as he's doing, finishing 10 containers in a month, maybe he just doesn't have time to post :biglaugh:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> If I'm smoking more than Jim, I am definitely smoking too much LOL!!! Actually, I just seemed to finish a lot of open containers all at once, and a couple were just 1 ounce jars of bulk. Nonetheless, I found it amusing that I passed Jim on the most puffing members list :mrgreen:
> 
> I'm not sure who this Chaz guy is. Is he a member here? As much smoking as he's doing, finishing 10 containers in a month, maybe he just doesn't have time to post :biglaugh:


I have no idea who this Chaz character is, but that aside, I must have had a few drop off. I was at 14 last week. :lol: I even finished one off this morning, too! Like you, though, I tend to finish a bunch all at once, so it's deceiving.

Right now, I'm refueling the Serial Aromatics Pouch for the round this afternoon.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Everyone,

I loaded up my MM Patriot with Opening Night to see how this blend would do in a thinner, taller bowl. The answer - very well! Traffic was exceptionally bad and I managed to finish the bowl half way to work. Remembering I still had my jar of English Chocolate with me, I immediately reloaded the Patriot and went to it. The poor cob handled the abuse swimmingly. I wish I could say the same for me though, the extra vitamin N is definitely hitting me. Time to grab some sugar and curl up under my desk for a few minutes... I'm such a lightweight... :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen.

I had a cigar with my coffee in the truck on the way to the garbage dump. The kitchen remodel is going full steam ahead. It's getting paint today, and the route through the kitchen is blocked. So I had to choose which part of the house to hang out in - the back of the house with TV and my pipe stuff, or the front of the house with access to the internet and the bathroom. Since I'm on my third cup of coffee already, I figured I should stay close to the bathroom, so I quickly snagged a cob and a jar of Sterling American Patriot, and that's what I'll be smoking until the painting is done.


----------



## freestoke

Painting. At LEAST you don't sound like you enjoy it. There's an ad running now for some company offering its services to millionaires when they "grow up", ie, retire. "I want to start a band!" Okay. Dream on, but okay. "I want to have my own restaurant!" Lots of people want to do that and I could almost understand it myself. Then some yoyo in a hard hat chimes in, "I want to fix up old houses!" ????? :ask: Obviously, this guy has never so much as changed a light bulb in his life. Don't get me wrong, I can fully accept the idea that fixing up old houses is a great way to make a living, lucrative even, but a dream retirement virtual hobby? You have to be kidding. "When I grow up, I want join a circus and run barb wire through my sinus passages in a sideshow!" "I want to clean toilets at the airport!!" 

Whatever, I'm smoking some UVF in preparations for my review. Musketballed some fresh from the new tin and got it going in the Sasieni Canadian. Everybody is dissing this, but I rather like it. :smile: Better than HOTW to me.

BTW, I hit the ball tremendous yesterday. I'm right at the edge of remembering how to play! Unluckily, it's difficult to both hit the ball well and putt well during the same time frame. I'm putting like a 36 handicapper. :frown:


----------



## Trout Langston

Morning all. Currently smoking my 5th attempt at recreating John Cotton's #1 and #2 for the 2012 John Cotton Throwdown at the Chicago Pipe Show. Closer, but still not quite there...


----------



## szyzk

Morning pipers!

The earth is smelling great today, lots of grass and dirt scents wafting through the air. Birds are chirping, the sun's out, plants are starting to bloom... I can't possibly think about polluting the breeze, so instead I'll contribute the floralness (floralosity?) of Ennerdale - I hope it's appreciated!


----------



## gahdzila

No way, Jim. This is no fun. We've been in this house for 10 years, and (save routine maintenance and repair) this is the first change that we've done at all. Even for this, I took the lazy route and hired a general contractor to handle the whole shebang.

I trudged through the mud to the backdoor, so I could get into the back of the house and brew my coffee. I grabbed an Irish Seconds bent billiard and a jar of Orlick Golden Sliced (and a couple of cigars for good measure), and should be good to go for the day. I think (hope!) they'll be finished spraying the messy stuff today so the big drapes can come down and we can at least walk through tonight.


----------



## freestoke

Okay. I'd hate to hear that you like house painting, or even worse, hanging dry wall. But all this talk about unpleasant jobs is reminding me of my hardest job ever, setting pins in a bowling alley. I worked construction for a few weeks, back when I was young and strong, digging out a cellar with a pick and shovel, loading up the wheelbarrow with dirt and rocks and running it up a wooden ramp of boards to ground level. Tough -- really tough -- but it DOES NOT COMPARE WITH SETTING PINS!! For those of you unaware of bowling's past, once upon a time, in a universe far, far away, a pinsetter would sit on a railing at the end of the lane and would jump down into the "pit" after you took your roll. He'd pick up the 16 pound ball to chest level and put it on the ball return and roll it back via gravity feed, then pick up the pins and put them into the pinsetter mechanism -- which was at about chest level as well, so you had to lift them up over the edge to get them in there. After the second shot, we had the ball return action plus the remaining pins needed to be picked up and put in the pinsetter. You pulled a string to start the pinsetter down and it would set the pins on the spots just like they do now. This required jumping into the pit, doing whatever, then jumping back up out of the pit, time after time. Sometimes the pins would kick up and hit you, too, and it hurt! Ten cents a line. Now double it for setting two lanes at once, sitting between them and jumping back and forth from pit to pit! Just a horrific job. Maybe not as bad fixing up old houses, but close.

AH!! A picture! Here's the pit: http://sandwichgirl.com/old/bowlingInAntarctica_files/image005.jpg

And her description of the activity: *Well, a little background here. I heard somewhere that this bowling alley was built in 1965 when bowling was more popular than booty calls. They weren't about to install a big fancy automatic system in Antarctica at that time for obvious reasons. So the common alternative then was the manual pinset system. Basically, behind the pins, there is a little backboard where the ball lands and the pins go flying back to this little area. Above this, is a platform where the two pinmonkeys perch. After each ball is rolled, I jump down, collect the pins, put them in the rack in the coordinating place where the pins are missing on the lane, return the ball, and jump back to my perch. After the second ball, I jump down and do the same thing again, but then I pull a string to lower the rack and reset.

*

I'm enjoying a little SB at the moment. No golf today!


----------



## karatekyle

What, everyone's been sleeping in lately??? Y'all better be out there puffing. I can, I have a cold or pharyngitis or something. But I'll be back as soon as I'm in shape to!


----------



## freestoke

Hey, get well quick, Kyle! I've been skipping the morning post because I've been practically the only one on lately. I feel like I'm talking to myself! :lol:

Got the last of the Ogden's Walnut that Andrew sent me. Thought I'd exercise the TwoDot Canadian for a change of pace. This is very nice tobacco! Too bad the Brits won't sell their good good OTCs over here.


----------



## gahdzila

I smoke a small cigar in the morning on days that I work. And on my days off when I have a morning pipe, I've become a one-trick pony. How many times can I type "coffee with Prince Albert and 5 Brothers again!" before you guys get sick of it?  So I haven't posted as much in this thread lately either....but I do check the thread every day and I enjoy reading everyone else's posts!


----------



## RupturedDuck

Hey guys!

Yeah, I got caught up in some stuff yesterday. This morning I'm working on a bowl of UF in my Jirsa freehand.

Kyle...or anyone else that might have an idea about this...I've got a Pre-republic Pete that I picked up off eBay...it probably only had one bowl put through it before I got it. The briar is beautiful...barely even charred on the inside of the bowl. But for some reason, it tastes terrible when I smoke it. I assume it is the mouthpiece because, again, there is nothing but beautiful briar in the bowl but there isn't a terrible amount of oxidation on the outside of the mouthpiece. Any idea what can clean this thing up? We aren't allowed to have Everclear here in Utah...so I have it soaking in a little rum right now...hoping that might sweeten her up a bit. I cleaner soaked in alcohol passes through clean and white....

RD


----------



## Stonedog

Hey Clifford, don't sweat it. I like posting in here too and assume that nobody is really reading what I write. But, I like to post anyway, if nothing more than to help keep this going until, hopefully, the OP finds his way back to Puff.

This morning was a big bowl of PA from a freshly opened pouch. It definitely has more flavor than the scraps from the last pouch I'd been nursing for a few weeks.

I tried PA mixed with a little Stanwell Vanilla a few days ago. I liked it quite a bit and it reminded me of ... something, though I couldn't tell what. I think I'll order some Double Eagle and Sweet Briar from Sterling later today. I think one of those, if not both, will be a better version of what I got from the PA + vanilla.


----------



## Stonedog

Is it possible the nasty taste you're experiencing is simply the vulcanite? My vulcanite basket pipe took a little time before the stem stopped adding an acrid burned rubber/plastic taste to the smoke.



RupturedDuck said:


> Hey guys!
> 
> Yeah, I got caught up in some stuff yesterday. This morning I'm working on a bowl of UF in my Jirsa freehand.
> 
> Kyle...or anyone else that might have an idea about this...I've got a Pre-republic Pete that I picked up off eBay...it probably only had one bowl put through it before I got it. The briar is beautiful...barely even charred on the inside of the bowl. But for some reason, it tastes terrible when I smoke it. I assume it is the mouthpiece because, again, there is nothing but beautiful briar in the bowl but there isn't a terrible amount of oxidation on the outside of the mouthpiece. Any idea what can clean this thing up? We aren't allowed to have Everclear here in Utah...so I have it soaking in a little rum right now...hoping that might sweeten her up a bit. I cleaner soaked in alcohol passes through clean and white....
> 
> RD


----------



## karatekyle

Stonedog said:


> Is it possible the nasty taste you're experiencing is simply the vulcanite? My vulcanite basket pipe took a little time before the stem stopped adding an acrid burned rubber/plastic taste to the smoke.


Agreed. Vulcanite can sometimes have a pretty funky taste. Maybe try soaking a pipe cleaner in bleach and leaving it set in the stem for a while. After an hour or so, pull it out and run a few through of rum. That should just about clear anything it could be holding.

MMiller on here had the same problem with an old Pete Shamrock recently. I had to run a bottle brush through the stem to clean out the tar. Bleached it, then alcohol. It doesn't sound like your problem is tar but it could just be something funky in the draught. Otherwise, salt and alcohol the stummel. Some things can leave one heck of a ghost. I notice Tonquin bean leaves its mark everywhere it goes and it really doesn't taste like Tonquin at all when the ghost rears its head. The taste you're experiencing could be something ghosting it as well, something that doesn't taste like its original flavor anymore.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Stonedog said:


> Is it possible the nasty taste you're experiencing is simply the vulcanite? My vulcanite basket pipe took a little time before the stem stopped adding an acrid burned rubber/plastic taste to the smoke.


It is possible, and probable. That is exactly the taste...acrid burned rubber/plastic. You can taste it just puffing on it empty. I've put 3 or 4 bowls through the pipe, and was hoping it would have gone away by now. I'll see how this rum thing works...put a few more bowls through it. If that doesn't clear it up, I'll try the bleached pipe cleaner trick.

Thanks guys!

And back to topic...I've moved on to some Frog Morton on the Bayou...I had taken a few days off this blend because I was smoking it almost exclusively. Puffing it again I can see why.

RD


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> How many times can I type "coffee with Prince Albert and 5 Brothers again!" before you guys get sick of it?


I call your PA+5B and raise you 200 posts of 4Dot/PA/Coffee! Read 'em and weep. oke:

I'm trying to finish off this PA Choice Blend so I can open some real PA. What's weird about the PACB is that it doesn't burn as well as the regular PA. Why? Seems about the same, but with the regular PA, even fresh, I can light the sucker and burn it right to the bottom with no problems. The PACB seems to crud up at the end and not stay lit as well. Bizarre. Plus, it doesn't have as nice a room note, not that the PA is all that great. Just something missing. At first I couldn't tell that much difference, but the penny has finally fallen -- I'm not that fond of PACB. Can't put my finger on the problem.

Think I'm going a little heavier duty before lunch...Kentucky Kendal in the 4Dot. And more coffee!


----------



## Nachman

I started the day with Red Rapperee. I read this thread every morning, but don't post often because I smoke the same thing (Royal Yacht) so often for the first bowl.


----------



## freestoke

Yeah, Nick, I started checking in on my second bowl since the first was so often the PA, referencing my first just to let everybody know I wasn't slacking off. Usually, this has taken the form, "Following the PA/4Dot...". But this morning is different. I'm going to head right for the Marble Kake in the TwoDot apple.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> Marble Kake


That sounds good, Jim! I think I'll load a bowl of that, too.


----------



## karatekyle

Still hurtin'. I wish this hacking cough would go away!


----------



## Stonedog

This morning I finished a vaper cocktail made from scraps of Escudo, some Haddo's Delight and a bit of Opening Night. It turned out to be a great mixture, very enjoyable and somewhat stout for this lightweight. I'm out of Escudo now, but maybe I can substitute LNF and get a similar mixture.


----------



## freestoke

I'm in a scrappy mood as well. Mostly Kentucky Kendal in the TwoDot, but there were a few strands of University Flake on the plate from last night, so I stacked them on the top for kindling, adding a little flavor boost at the beginning. Good start to the morning! :tu


----------



## RupturedDuck

Yesterday I swung by my local B&M to see if they had gotten in the Red Rapparee I ordered two weeks ago. Nope! They did get a bunch of new pipes in...and deeply discounted a number of the pipes that have been there a while. Somehow I made it out of there without another acquisition. I did pick up a tin of Irish Flake because I am almost done with the Uni Flake, and I try to pick up something every time I go in there. They aren't perfect, but I sure would miss them if they were gone.

The "Is Anyone else a fan of the Curvy Pipes?" thread made me think about how I've been ignoring a few of my older pipes. So this morning it is Frog Morton on the Bayou in my Peterson Dunmore.

RD


----------



## freestoke

I have some PACB going again. Maybe another 8-10 bowls left and I'll be able to crack open another tub of real PA. Not terrible. Now that you mention that UF, I think I'll move on to that next.


----------



## karatekyle

I really do not like Uni. Not sure why. One of those blends that just does not tickle my fancy.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I really do not like Uni. Not sure why. One of those blends that just does not tickle my fancy.


Hey, Kyle, pile on with another UF trashing on the monthly review! Still today and tomorrow left to put in a bad word or two. Not many reviews this month, so I'm guessing everybody hated it.

I went for the *Ennerdale* instead. ainkiller:

I like UF. I guess I'm just weird, huh?


----------



## mmiller

freestoke said:


> I like UF. I guess I'm just weird, huh?


I like it too, I dont see why others seem to not like it.


----------



## RupturedDuck

mmiller said:


> I like it too, I dont see why others seem to not like it.


I was really put off with my first bowl of Uni Flake. I had set the flake out for a few hours and loaded it in the way I have been smoking Marlin Flake. And I was so put off with that bowl that it was about a week later before I loaded another bowl. This time it was directly from the tin. It was a good smoke. Not excellent (like Marlin Flake), but pretty good. I've been working through the tin pretty steadily since then.

This morning I started with a bowl of FMotB again...this time in the Mario Grandi. I think next I'm going to work in a bowl of HH Syrian.

RD


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Hey, Kyle, pile on with another UF trashing on the monthly review! Still today and tomorrow left to put in a bad word or two. Not many reviews this month, so I'm guessing everybody hated it.
> 
> I went for the *Ennerdale* instead. ainkiller:
> 
> I like UF. I guess I'm just weird, huh?


Seriously? Oh wow! I thought I was alone in my dislike for it, it seems like one that I see a lot of guys puffing around here. How weird! I haven't read any of this months reviews, I had no idea.

Damn. Apparently I'm unique just like everybody else :lol:

Jim, honestly, I've always thought that if you like something and I don't, it's probably because I don't have the palate for it yet. You seem to enjoy Marble Kake and I can't seem to get that to perform either. Bland and tasteless for me, just like Uni. Obviously something you can taste and I can't yet.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Seriously? Oh wow! I thought I was alone in my dislike for it, it seems like one that I see a lot of guys puffing around here. How weird! I haven't read any of this months reviews, I had no idea.
> 
> Damn. Apparently I'm unique just like everybody else :lol:
> 
> Jim, honestly, I've always thought that if you like something and I don't, it's probably because I don't have the palate for it yet. You seem to enjoy Marble Kake and I can't seem to get that to perform either. Bland and tasteless for me, just like Uni. Obviously something you can taste and I can't yet.


I don't know...maybe I don't require a lot of "other" tastes, and tobacco itself is good enough? Or maybe I don't clean my pipes often enough and I take these "bland" blends and enjoy the ghosts. :lol: As long as it burns okay, doesn't taste "weird", has a decent enough nic hit, doesn't bite or gunk up my pipe, then all is well.

Who knows, Kyle? I'm on a musketball of UF in the compromised-chamber Diplomat right now -- seems full and smooth. I guess I'm just an easy grader.  But the coffee was really good this morning, fresh ground Columbian! :tu\

Last day to put up your UF review, Kyle! Be there or be square! oke:


----------



## RupturedDuck

I'm also working on a bowl of UF. I take a flake, and rip off pinches, squishing each piece between two fingers and my thumb, and rolling it around a big until it breakes up. Then, stuff the pinch into my pipe (this morning it is a Jirsa freehand). I'm still on the fence about coffee. It is a beautiful day outside, and I need to make a decision...hop on the motorcycle...or go skiing. I'm thinking Motorcycle. Tomorrow it is going to snow again.

RD


----------



## DanR

Snow? Hell, I'm thinking about going swimming today. The pool's nearly 80 degrees (and I don't have a heater).

Sugar Barrel for the first bowl of the day.


----------



## freestoke

Got a mix of SB myself going, Dan, with a few very dry scraps of JKP on the plate rehydrating in the bowl as I smoke -- very nice! Ups the nicotine ante a little, but it still tastes like SB. p


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Got a mix of SB myself going, Dan, with a few very dry scraps of JKP on the plate rehydrating in the bowl as I smoke -- very nice! Ups the nicotine ante a little, but it still tastes like SB. p


I don't have any JKP at the moment, but I might try adding some Louisiana Flake to my SB in the morning. I still have a little from the huge sample you sent me.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> I don't have any JKP at the moment, but I might try adding some Louisiana Flake to my SB in the morning. I still have a little from the huge sample you sent me.


When this Hal o' the Wynd dies down, I might have to open some of that myself. Getting short on perique in the rotation. Right now, I'm putting another dent in the PACB, trying to free up the jar for real PA. At tobakrevs, there are 11 reviews, 4 and 3 stars in abundance, with but one dissenting opinion: *I have smoked regular Prince Albert for years and am never without a tub. This choice blend is however not the same as Prince Albert. My guess would be its scrap that wasnt good enough to make it into the tub, then they added a sugar topping and some dirt (or something that tastes like dirt) and bagged it for sale instead of throwing it away with the rest of the scraps. Brilliant really. Take the waste product, throw it in a cheap bag, and sell it for profit. Stick with the real McCoy, this isnt worth the trouble. *

I think I'm dumping the rest of it in the Serial Aromatics Pouch for filler.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Morning gents! Altadis Bourbon and coffee!


----------



## MisterWolf

And a lovely morning to you all. Here I sit sipping Folgers (simple tastes) and enjoying a nice Burley Lite I picked up Friday to try out.

Wolf


----------



## prole

Trying some Shortcut to Mushrooms in a Pete. Great stuff, if a little lighter than some of the more English blends I've been smoking. 

This is the first time I've smoked a bowl where the wife asked me to go outside because of the smell. When I get back inside I'll be assailing her unrefined palate for room notes.


----------



## karatekyle

Had a Gran Habano 2002 with coffee this morning with mmiller. A nice cigar. Not sure what will fill the rest of my day, a little of both genres I suppose!


----------



## freestoke

Opened a new tub of PA this morning, and what a difference after weeks of that nasty PA Choice Blend! It's only plain ol' PA, but I've been missing it. The 4Dot is happy again. 

Masters week! Go Phil!


----------



## Stonedog

I also started my day with PA, though I mixed it with some more stanwell vanilla. I'm definitely going to have to find a vanilla/codger burley blend, there must be a few out there. It's a nice, calm non-offensive smoke for the commute...



freestoke said:


> Opened a new tub of PA this morning, and what a difference after weeks of that nasty PA Choice Blend! It's only plain ol' PA, but I've been missing it. The 4Dot is happy again.
> 
> Masters week! Go Phil!


----------



## szyzk

Morning pipers! I'm starting off this morning in beautiful Las Vegas with a beautiful bowl of 10+ year old Stonehaven in my beautiful McCarter semi-church. Needless to say, vacation is treating me well!


----------



## mmiller

szyzk said:


> Morning pipers! I'm starting off this morning in beautiful Las Vegas with a beautiful bowl of 10+ year old Stonehaven in my beautiful McCarter semi-church. Needless to say, vacation is treating me well!


Vegas you say? Win big and share your wealth with BOTL's here on puff! :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

Thought I'd burn up some PPP. Very dry HOTW, PACB, BCA and a smattering of this and that. Actually smoked fairly well after it settled down and started to hydrate a bit. p The coffee is very good this morning. :cp


----------



## szyzk

mmiller said:


> Vegas you say? Win big and share your wealth with BOTL's here on puff! :biggrin:


I certainly will! I'm up about $6 so far :lol: so anyone who wants a piece of that can submit an application for payment dispersal!

My wife is moving a bit slowly this morning so I loaded up a second bowl of Stoney.


----------



## freestoke

I don't see the sunrise very often! :shock: I think it's unnatural. Other primates have the presence of mind to stay asleep in the trees, caves or bushes until the big cats have found something else for breakfast, at least until you can see 'em coming if they're still hungry. This morning it was the little cats making sleep impossible. Don't know what got into them.

On my second pipe of the day already! p Some Golden Age in the TwoDot apple.


----------



## freestoke

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." -HL Mencken 

While smoking a bowl of Marble Kake, I ran across an article about a new book that claims to prove that Jason Simpson, OJ's son, actually committed the murders of Nicole and Ron Goldman. Of course, the problem here is that that would only make Jason an accomplice, since nobody in the history of murder trials has ever been proven so conclusively to have committed their crime as was OJ Simson -- or in this case, crimes, since he killed two people. Nobody. (And he didn't even get a ticket for parking his Bronco sideways in the street by his home where the police found it! He had turned off the engine so nobody would hear him and unscrewed the interior light bulb so nobody would see him get out. With the headlights out and the power steering gone, he failed to maneuver it cleanly against the curb, leaving it jutting out into the street. He was afraid to restart the engine to try again. I know EVERYTHING about this case! :lol

I hope Jason sues the author for whatever he makes on the book plus anything he may currently possess. This book borders on bunko -- Noun, 1. bunko - a swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property. The author is pure scum.

There are many things that make me despair about the state of the American public's ignorance about practically everything except sports and celebrities, but none tops people saying that OJ didn't do it. Except maybe the fact that during the trial, when the question arose about the value of pi during cross examination of a lab technician, despite the presence 40 lawyers and a judge, several police lab technicians, police officers, members of the press and standing room only spectators, not a single person could come up with "3.14". A cold epiphany froze me to my seat for a full five minutes when I watched that, I can tell you. :shock:


----------



## freestoke

That Marble Kake makes me mean, huh? :spy: Mellowing out with a 4Dot of PA this morning. Smoking well. I think I'd gotten a bit "pushy" with the fill of late, probably desperation setting in to get that PACB to burn right. Got one of my barely-past-gravity fills burning now, designed for cheap burley, tamper at the ready. And coffee of course! :cp


----------



## gahdzila

PA/5Bs in the tiny Kaywoodie Dublin.

So the kitchen is done. Mostly, anyway. Done enough that it's functional and I can cook now, and done enough that the contractor and his crew that I hired are gone. They were only here for about a week, but it feels like it was MUCH longer, as today is my first morning off work with no kids and no workers in THREE weeks! I was planning to get some stuff done around the house, but I think I'll just drink coffee and smoke for a couple of hours and enjoy the quiet.


----------



## DanR

I'm back home in Nashville for a few days, enjoying a bowl of Carter Hall this morning on the back porch, listening to the birds chirp and conversing with mom (she's on the phone at the moment). I could become a codger lover. This CH is delightful with my black coffee.


----------



## freestoke

By Gahdzilla, seems the very plan, good Sir Clifford! Enough with weary toil and teary worry, shout "Puff!" and swill thy brew anon. (I usually only speak that way when I'm wearing my Elizabethan starched linen collar, but it's Masters week, when I channel Mary Queen of Scots and use golf tees for a tamping all week.)

Gotta boost the nicotine levels -- Kentucky Kendal at the ready.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I usually only speak that way when I'm wearing my Elizabethan starched linen collar


So... everyday? :lol:


----------



## gahdzila

Elizabethan starched linen collar? :lol: I always pictured you in traditional golfer's garb, Jim...something like this guy:










My Keurig coffee maker quit working, so with tussled hair and bleary eyes, I had to stumble to the corner grocery for a jar of instant Folgers to get the juices flowing this morning. It's no Green Mountain Dark Magic, that's for sure....but it's surprisingly not bad. I called the Keurig people and they are gonna send me a new brewer even though mine is a couple of months out of warranty. Probably has something to do with me buying my coffee in large quantities directly from them. :ranger:

Another bowl of PA/5Bs, please and thank you! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

I'd like John Daly's golf wardrobe. john daly - Google Search

Way cool. :tu

Discovered that I had stoked the Country Gentleman last night and never even lit it! Golden Age, a pretty nice light perique, very un-Sutliffe-like.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> i'd like john daly's golf wardrobe. john daly - google search


What? I'm sorry, I can't hear you. His pants are too loud.


----------



## freestoke

I SAID THAT I'D LIKE SOME PANTS LIKE DALY'S!!! 

Just finished some more Marble Kake. It's like inverse flake, instead of expanding in the bowl, it shrinks. :ask: It's okay. Nothing spectacular, but okay. 5100 is better. I might have to open one of the jars, right at a year old now. Bet it's good.


----------



## freestoke

I've had this jar of scraps, flavored a little with some 3BM, sitting on the desk for months. I'm giving it a smoke in the Darth Rader right now and it's pretty good! Freeing up another jar for the future! :tu Fresh ground Columbian coffee helps. :cp


----------



## RupturedDuck

gahdzila said:


> It's no Green Mountain Dark Magic, that's for sure....


Actually, that is my favorite single serving coffee pod or whatever they are called!


----------



## gahdzila

RupturedDuck said:


> Actually, that is my favorite single serving coffee pod or whatever they are called!


I like Dark Magic a lot. It's not an all day coffee for me, but it's definitely my favorite first cup of the day.


----------



## freestoke

Got some more fresh-ground Columbian going. Getting my second bowl under weigh with Louisiana Flake, enough of a nic hit to wake me up, hopefully. 

Anybody else miss the flowers at Augusta? They've come and gone. sigh. :frown: Too bad. Guess that tradition might be going by the wayside, with the flowers already gone by Easter. Whatever, I picked Ousthuizen Wednesday! Far out. I also picked Phil the year nobody gave him a chance. :smile: I'd rather see Westwood win, though, since I identify with his game -- knock it close, three-putt, knock it close, three-putt, hit all the greens in regulation and 2 of the par 5's in two, then barely shoot par. Yep, my kind of golf. I'm with Hogan -- the cup should be five or six inches across so putting wouldn't matter so much. There's hardly any value to good ball striking any more -- all putting all the time. I mean, Bubba hit it all over the lot and got it to 3 under, and Phil shot 74 with a round where I wouldn't have broken 90 playing from the same places. Maybe Westwood can hit it so close this week that even he can make some putts and finally win a major. The other way to make things a bit more fair would be to reduce the green speed down to 1950s levels, say 8 or 9 on the stimp meter. Only the Masters and US Open had super fast greens back in the old days, so people who hit the ball the best were the winners more often than not in most of the tournaments.


----------



## gahdzila

Gorgeous morning here, and the kids are out of school. I took them out for breakfast, then shopping for hotdogs and charcoal and stuff, then off to the park! We walked the trails this morning (I had an El Rey Del Mundo robusto); and now I'm relaxing at a picnic table with my pipe filled with a mixture of Captain Black, 5 Brothers, and Holiday Spirit while the kids romp on the monkey bars and slides.

We really are blessed to have such a fantastic park here
Kiroli Park


----------



## freestoke

Straight up 5B in the Diplomat before lunch. Looks like Ouisthuizen is taking the collar. I love it when the conditions are tough. Let 'em SUFFER! :lol:


----------



## gahdzila

I just got the obligatory "that stinks! Don't you know you can't smoke in the park!" It's Captain Black, lady. It smells better than YOU smell, that's for sure. I'm 99.99% sure that smoking is allowed here at the park or else I wouldn't do it. This is actually the first time anyone has walked up to me and said anything, as much time as I spend here and as much tobacco as I've smoked here. Oh well. I'm not in the mood to argue. It's easier to just say "sorry" and let it go out and finish it later. We'll be leaving soon anyway.


----------



## freestoke

"Oh! Okay. I'll dip a little English Rose instead. Good snuff! Like some, lady?"


----------



## freestoke

Hey, Louis's still there! :shock: Ousthuizen was my pick, but I want Freddy!! (Like the guy that fired his lawyer for Vinny in *My Cousin Vinny. *:lol

Really hard to say -- I'd like to see Westwood win, just because he deserves a major, Sergio, and ESPECIALLY Miguel Angel Jimenez! So many potential excellent winners. Great Masters so far!

Having a late morning bowl of Kentucky Kendal. p


----------



## tomchuk

Out on the roof deck under the sun with some C&D Sunday Picnic in a Pete 999, a long pull of good espresso, the NY Times, and my wife at a wedding shower all day. It's going to be a good one.


----------



## gahdzila

I started off with straight PA in a cob and followed that up with a coffee infused cigar by Drew Estate. I picked up a 5 pack of them with my last cigar order just to get the free shipping that came with them. They're high quality tobacco, and decently flavord, but I guess I'm just not an infused cigar fan....they're not bad, but they just don't do it for me. Up next is the last bowl of Captain Black + 5 Brothers + Holiday Spirit that I mixed up yesterday.


----------



## freestoke

Got a bowl of PA in the 4Dot under weigh, listening to Morning Drive. They are babbling on and on about Westwood, Bubba, Mahan and everybody within 5 shots of the lead, about this one or that one's chance of winning -- and not a word about Ousthuizen, two shots back in 3rd! Next to last pairing!! :shock: What is this, some sort of secret conspiracy? Smart money trying to keep the dollars off Louis? :lol: (If you recall, I picked Ouisthuizen last Wednesday or Thursday, before he ever teed off. :tu) How can the guy two shots back, reigning Open Champion, not have a chance? As Blandel Chamblee said yesterday, he's hitting the ball better than anybody. Weird. What do these guys have against Louis? :sad:

I'll be striking a few before the action starts. Should be pretty decent out there! Haven't played in forever.


----------



## freestoke

Too bad there aren't any golfers on this thread. But there are a few pipe smokers, right!? I noticed that I didn't have a single straight Va in the rotation! Problem solved. I popped a tin of FVF, contents complete with sugar crystals. :tu Got it going in the great TwoDot apple. p

Go Louis! :lol: Actually, I want Kuchar to come out of the pack and win -- but I'll settle for anybody now near the lead!


----------



## freestoke

What a Masters! Would have preferred to see somebody sane win it, but Bubba's okay I guess, even if he's a simple-minded neurotic mess. Louis Oosthuisen gave it a go though! He might win the US Open instead. They're playing Olympic Club in San Francisco this year -- I watched Palmer self-destruct on the back nine there in 1966, in person. :lol: Went all four days of the tournament that year, where I learned that, despite my scratch handicap, I did not have a clue about how to hit the ball. Following Hogan was SO depressing.

Starting with my wake-up bowl of PA.


----------



## freestoke

The Alpha Litewate is a nice little smoker. Got a some 5B+BCA in it, sorta wishing I'd left out the BCA but there are only a few scraps of it left and I wanted to finish it up today. Hope is on the horizon, though, since I have a flake of FVF drying a bit. Another big decision ahead -- what pipe will I smoke it in!? :ask: A pipe smoker's life is so full of difficult decisions. Finally starting to wake up after the hard work of the past few days. The Masters is absolutely exhausting. :faint:


----------



## Wiseguy1982

221b Black Shag in mini meer, wonderful wake up smoke!


----------



## Wiseguy1982

freestoke said:


> Another big decision ahead -- what pipe will I smoke it in!? :ask: A pipe smoker's life is so full of difficult decisions.


+1 to that!


----------



## karatekyle

I wish I understood golf, seems like it'd be a fun game to watch if I could get into it. Enjoy that FVF, Jim! Sounds good. Maybe I'll have a bit of something fancy when I get back up to school. In my Nording perhaps?


----------



## DanR

karatekyle said:


> I wish I understood golf, seems like it'd be a fun game to watch if I could get into it. Enjoy that FVF, Jim! Sounds good. Maybe I'll have a bit of something fancy when I get back up to school. In my Nording perhaps?


It's a gentleman's sport, so it's seems right up your alley Kyle. It's worth a few lessons IMO.

I had to spend a few hours at the Wal-Mart in Houston yesterday, as it was the only place open where I could get my tire repaired (they pulled out a 1 inch screw). We were staying with the in-laws and it was IMPERATIVE that we were able to get home yesterday evening! The repair was only $10, but I gave the poor kid working on Easter Sunday a big tip. He hustled to get me back to my family and Easter Lunch as fast as he could...

Anyway, As they were working on my tire, I went to the tobacco counter, waited in line for what seemed like eternity, and bought a pounch of Prince Albert. I sampled some this morning. It's a very straight forward, no nonsense smoke. The tin aroma reminded me a little of graham crackers. I still like Carter Hall better for the added sweetness, but this isnt bad!


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning All!

I started breaking in my new Edward's bulldog with about half a bowl of PA. This pipe definitely has promise.


----------



## gahdzila

DanR said:


> It's a gentleman's sport


Unless your name is Tiger Woods, in which case it is perfectly acceptable to curse into the camera during a game, toss your golf club across the green when things don't go your way, and of course all that other stuff Tiger got into a while back that made the news.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Good morning folks! Utah has warmed up, and I took a morning pipe sitting in my back garden. This morning's inaugural bowl was some Darth Waffle in one of my Arley Curtz. The Darth Waffle came in a package from P&C that I received yesterday, and appeared a bit dry on arrival. I might hydrate it a bit and see what that does.

Hope everyone is having a nice morning.

RD


----------



## karatekyle

gahdzila said:


> Unless your name is Tiger Woods, in which case it is perfectly acceptable to curse into the camera during a game, toss your golf club across the green when things don't go your way, and of course all that other stuff Tiger got into a while back that made the news.


The exception to prove the rule, I suppose. A scummy guy for sure.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> The exception to prove the rule, I suppose. A scummy guy for sure.


It started early. When Tiger was an amateur, his father Earl was taking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Cobra Golf for Tiger to play their clubs -- and tell everybody he was hitting a Cobra driver, of course, since he was famous for his length even as a teenager. Technically, Tiger wasn't getting the money, but that's extremely dishonest in my opinion. In my mind, he never won a single US Amateur title, because he was a pro by the age of 14!

Having me a little FVF in the Mayfair this morning. Forties and windy -- I'll just stay inside, okay?

And a quick excursion into etymologies. "Prove" in this context originally meant "test", as in 100 proof booze, ie, it tests at 50% alcohol. "Proves the rule" actually means to test it, to see if it really is a rule.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> Having me a little FVF in the Mayfair this morning.


Same wavelength, buddy. I started my day with FVF and haven't looked back!


----------



## freestoke

Grabbing the end of this jar of Louisiana Flake. I love this little Bari Dana, I really do. Wonderful little pipe. p


----------



## freestoke

Cleaned the TwoDot apple last night. FILTHY!!  Like a really awful estate pipe! :lol: Maybe not quite THAT bad, but pretty bad. Gonna fill it with some UV flake now and see if things have improved. Got the Bari Dana up next for major maintenance and I think I'll run through them all this morning -- then I'll need to order pipe cleaners! :shock: We all know what that means. :lol:


----------



## gahdzila

Highland Blend in the Kaywoodie 500. I got this pipe in an estate lot, and always assumed it wasn't very old. But I looked up the markings in some links provided by Nick in another thread and discovered that it is 40 or 50 years old! Who woulda thunk?!? :mrgreen:


----------



## mmiller

freestoke said:


> then I'll need to order pipe cleaners! :shock: We all know what that means. :lol:


You are going to order some new tobacco with the pipe cleaners?


----------



## freestoke

How's that Kaywoodie smoke? I've never had one, mainly because of the metal stinger/filter, whatever that thing is. I had a quasi-religious aversion to such things when I started smoking a pipe. I think there might have been a metal thingy in the GBD/BBB pipes I had, but they were removable. I had a YelloBowl once though! :smile: (Smoked it without the filter, of course.) 

When everything tastes the same, in every pipe you own, it's probably time to clean them. :lol: The UF tastes great in the scrubbed up TwoDot.


----------



## freestoke

mmiller said:


> You are going to order some new tobacco with the pipe cleaners?


_Mais oui_! There is a rule in play here, a bit like _en passant _in chess: When ordering pipe cleaners, you have to also buy enough tobacco (and/or a pipe) to reach the free shipping threshold. A major diagnostic for TAD is the $PC/$Tobacco ratio.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> How's that Kaywoodie smoke?


Not bad. Not great enough to make me want to run out and buy a whole collection of them either. The draw is nice and open, certainly more so than you would think with the stinger. Though the drill in the bowl is great, right dead center flat on the bottom, it has a void/dead space in the shank that is below the draft hole where moisture tends to collect. But the hole on the stinger that draws smoke is on the top. Translation - it's a gurgler, but moisture never reaches my mouth. It is a bit annoying to clean, though. But it's very light and comfortable to clench, small (one of only two briars this small in my collection), one of only two straight briars in my collection and my only straight Dublin, so it fills a niche.


----------



## freestoke

Yeah, gurgling. I've heard that Kaywoodies gurgle. (Not literally, but...) Sort of "real American" to own one though. :smile:

I'm on my second bowl of UF in the TwoDot apple, per http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...8999-insidious-side-rotation.html#post3549929. So far so good! p


----------



## freestoke

I did in fact last the day smoking only the TwoDot apple. :smile: I smoked PA, UF, FVF, Golden Age, SWR and Kentucky Kendal during the Sasieni workout. No ill effects and the pipe was cleaner at the end of the day than it was when I cleaned it after months of "rotation" smoking. Starting another day with the 4Dot diplomat and some PA -- how unusual is that!? :lol: I think I'll clean another of the "rotation pipes" this morning and have it ready for tomorrow, gradually getting them all cleaned up.


----------



## Stonedog

Bishops Burley in my Bertram this morning. I'm still trying to figure out this blend. I think I like it, or at least I really want to like it, but it's different from other blends I've tried. There is a hint of oriental in there, but I'm not sure what to make of the other flavors. There is supposed to be burley and virginia, but other than the hint of oriental I get a sort of blending of flavors that remind me of playdough.


----------



## freestoke

The 4Dot hasn't had much respect since I've had it, being relegated early on to the mindless first pipe of PA in the morning. Since it wasn't a "family era" Sasieni, it didn't come with all that "family" status, so I've treated it like a workhorse. I cleaned it up yesterday and will be smoking it today when I'm not on the links, throwing darts or driving. I'm giving it a battlefield promotion to colonel, complete with the Full Virginia Flake ceremony. :clap2: It'll be the POD (Pipe *Officer* of the Day).


----------



## karatekyle

A bit of Dunny Flake in the Sasie Walnut. Hell of a bowl, reminds me why I smoke these things!


----------



## asmartbull

For lunch, Stoney in a Savi...........I have to spend more time with my pipes.....
I LOVE this stuff


----------



## karatekyle

I've been meaning to try Half & Half with RY mixed in. I think I'll have that this morning.


----------



## freestoke

The Humble Prince at work again, but today the Szabo is the POD. Nice little 3/4 bent billiard with a wide acrylic stem, probably the most comfortable clencher I have. It takes a 9mm filter -- I can use the Savinelli balsa filters -- but I just smoke it straight up, not even an adapter. I cleaned this one up yesterday and it's smoking just fine.

This is all before most of your times, but in an internet long, long ago we had USENET user groups. They still exist in the dark undernet of Googlegroups, almost a curiosity at this point, like Renaissance Fairs or Civil War battle re-enactments. There was software to read the posts, rn, nn, and a host of other programs that would arrange things conveniently so we could read and post. It was almost like chat if you had a decent reader. Among the best was Agent. The people who wrote Agent were adepts at navigating the world of USENET, of simplifying life in the user groups. These readers ran on UNIX platforms for the most part, and emacs (a UNIX editor) was beginning its ascendency, expanding its powers quickly into reading USENET posts. The problem with emacs was that it was a gui, while USENET had evolved as a keystroke medium. It was always cumbersome using emacs as a newsreader (that's what we called things like nn and Agent), and the people reading USENET from emacs with a mouse had to work a lot harder than the keyboard readers; all you had to do was hit, say, n, f, l, t, or the space bar and something would happen. With emacs, you had to drag the mouse all over the place. Hassle. And it was all because the people who designed the interface didn't grok USENET. I miss USENET. Even at 1200 baud it was a lot of fun. 

Just sitting here smoking away wool-gathering. p Moving on to some PPP. Stale, but I feel gritty this morning.


----------



## ShortFuse

A very odd morning here. The National Weather Service is calling for some very severe weather in my parts today. The sky is already dark and there is an eerie calmness outside despite the 15 mph winds. I stood in my garage with a cup of coffee (Kahlua K-Cup) and had some Mac B Vanilla Twist in a White Bar Briar.

The smoke was sweet and very abundant. The coffee didn't really marry well with it but each brought additional flavors out in the other. Should be a very interesting day... its starting out as such!


----------



## karatekyle

karatekyle said:


> I've been meaning to try Half & Half with RY mixed in. I think I'll have that this morning.


Good heavens, that was a huge success. Usually, RY dottle will curl my toes a bit. But the entire bowl, all the way down to the wet and crackly dottle, was smooth and flavorful. What is with me lately? I seem to be falling in love all over again. I had a few weeks of very light smoking and the last 2-3 days I seem to be hitting all the high notes with my pipes. Boy oh boy. RY/H&H will be one I reach for again. I think I'll call it a Black and Tan; some heft from the Guinness powerhouse of Royal Yacht smoothed out by the mild Bass Ale drinkability of Half & Half. I suppose I should try smoking it layered per its namesake but I doubt I'll be nearly as impressed. The melded flavors of the two are really what made it such a winner.


----------



## Nachman

Well, I haven't smoked for the last five days or so. I keep making runs for the Pearly Gates, but so far the goal keeper has made the save. I didn't go to the hospital this time. Just laid here on liquid diet and antibiotics. Looks like I made it. When I get like that I just snuff a little. Haven't done a lot of that even, but will probably be smoking the pipes again in a few days.


----------



## Desertlifter

Rattray's Red Rapp in my bjarne. Tobacco of the month day!


----------



## szyzk

McClelland #2035 from 1993 in my new morta. Very nice!


----------



## Aquinas

I had some E. Hoffmans Spilman Mixture in a fat stubby Kirby. Spilman Mixture hits the spot almost every time for me. This is the perfect all day English for me. I'm surprised this blend isn't talked about more. This blend is what Frog Morton's grandpa would have smoked.


----------



## Trout Langston

Puffing on some 1Q on the streets of Little 5 Points in Atlanta.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Hey Nick...hope you are feeling better soon man!

My landlord showed my place to a nice couple with two kids (mental note to self, next time she shows the place to a couple with kids, hide the Helmut Newton coffee table book) yesterday. They liked the place, but felt like it smelled like someone had been smoking in it :scared:. I've got the windows open, circulation fan running, etc. That should make a difference...it has been cold here all week, and so I haven't had the windows open. It isn't warm here today either, so I put on a sweater. Man it is going to be good to have my own place.

I feel like Jim is taking shots at all of my complaining with regards to filter pipes eep: so I selected a Jirsa bulldog I never smoke because it was designed for use with a 9mm. Headed to the back porch to finish this week's Economist (catching up on last week's news) with some Frog Morton ot Bayou. Happy Saturday Puffers!



RD


----------



## freestoke

Wow, Nick, hope you're feeling better! Sounds like a tough patch!

I wasn't giving you hard time, Gabriel, honest. I was just describing the pipe and how I'm smoking it! As of now, I've almost finished a bowl of Kendal Kentucky. My Low Nicotine Warning Light was on.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Oh Jim, no worries. I really love that Jirsa pipe...I bought it directly from Old Man Jirsa after purchasing another one of his "estate" pipes from eBay. My first Jirsa I think is awesome and have no complaints. The other one...well it is a great pipe. The briar is beautiful. I love bulldogs, and my pipe collection does not represent how much I appreciate them. I am like you though...I smoke my filter pipes without filters. But, I notice the difference, and really wish that there was some way to fix how loosely they draw.

I have a Savineli Staight Grain that is currently in the hands of the factory in Italy who are trying to figure out a non-filter solution for me. I REALLY love the briar portion of the pipe (the grain is so stunning) but avoid smoking it due to the crappy mouthpiece on it (a non-factor mouthpiece that I can only assume was fitted due to the original mouthpiece being designed for use with filter).

RD


----------



## freestoke

Hope that Savinelli regrooving works. :smile: I'm starting with a bowl of PA in the Alpha Litewate, another bent POD. I'm losing my enthusiasm for my POD experiment. :lol:


----------



## DanR

Nick - get better soon, my friend!

It's a soggy, grey morning here in San Antonio - there's no rain at the moment, but the air feels moist and thick. GLP Chelsea Morning seemed like a good pairing with the weather. That and my big cup of fresh coffee has me feeling very content at the moment.


----------



## karatekyle

Headed out for another Black & Tan. Hopefully this one is as good as yesterday's and I wasn't just crazy!


----------



## RupturedDuck

It is awful quiet here this morning! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Today is cool, but sunny. It has been a cold spring so far in Utah...I'm not complaining...it has been keeping the snow in the mountains in relatively nice shape. I haven't gotten around to spring maintenance on my motorcycles yet either though, which isn't uncommon when the snow is good.

I'm about to head downstairs to the patio with some Frog Morton on the Bayou. Since I haven't been smoking too much (outside only), consumption has slowed down considerably. I'm powering through the FMOTB in order to clear out a jar for the PS LTF I acquired last week. It may be interesting to note that despite the drop off in consumption this month, acquisition rates may have increased.

RD


----------



## Stonedog

A huge bowl of PA got my morning started. 

I didn't get a chance to post it but Saturday morning I had a rare opportunity to sit on my back patio and enjoy a pipe while the family was off doing their thing. I mixed Haddo's Delight and Opening Night about 50/50. It was a nice way to start the weekend...


----------



## freestoke

I was on the course this morning. Got out there to take advantage of the superior weather. Supposed to get into the high 80s today, possibly warmer than some entire summers. Just a few years back, we had a high of 86 for the year. Had a quick Patriot of PA before hustling out to the course. Pollen levels are lethal today, 11.3 out of 12!  I did take a cart, but damn it, I'll be 69 in a month and I have asthma! I'm allowed a medical exemption, aren't I? 

Whatever, same old crap for the first few holes, then all of a sudden my swing returned. I think it was off with the Secret Service, screwing around in Cartegena. Definitely wasn't in New York, that's for sure, and it had that guilty look, ya know? The Diplomat and SAP served me well today, too! :smile: Back doing some laundry to take advantage of the sunshine and dry some towels and stuff on the line. Bonus day today, for sure! On to some FVF. Still haven't picked the POD! p


----------



## freestoke

Getting ready to Sail away with this 20-year old Sail Aromatic that Scotch sent me. The POD suits it perfectly. Actually, practically anything suits this pipe, one of my absolute favorites. p


----------



## RupturedDuck

freestoke said:


> Getting ready to Sail away with this 20-year old Sail Aromatic that Scotch sent me. The POD suits it perfectly. Actually, practically anything suits this pipe, one of my absolute favorites. p


What pipe do you have there Jim?

For me, it is a Cristiano with Frog Morton OTB.

RD


----------



## freestoke

RupturedDuck said:


> What pipe do you have there Jim?
> 
> RD


Since I've been on my single pipe per day theme, I've been putting it in the "Just Smoked" column. The Pipe of the Day today is one of my oldest, a Bari Dana.


----------



## Bad Finger

Heading out to breakfast, and afterwards will be enjoying a bowl of Ancient Imperial by Steve Books in my Nording Natty.


----------



## freestoke

Bad Finger said:


> Heading out to breakfast, and afterwards will be enjoying a bowl of Ancient Imperial by Steve Books in my Nording Natty.


Sounds super! Where the hell did you find it!? Forty and fifty year old ingredients, and really old Syrian? Sounds expensive! :shock:

Well, I'm back to the very clean Sasieni 4Dot this morning, with some very ordinary PA. But the coffee is perfect this morning, Chock Full o' Nuts and fresh ground Columbian, 50/50. :cp It's all good! p


----------



## gahdzila

Great conversation in the Rants thread! I'm giving the Kaywoodie a real workout, it's on its third bowl of PA! I actually sat down at the computer this morning with every intention of being productive and getting the bills paid, etc, but puff sucked me in again ipe:


----------



## Sherlocke

Esoterica Dunbar in a Peterson Ebony billiard.


----------



## Bad Finger

I live in Portland, and have met Mr. Books several times prior to me starting pipe smoking at Rich's Tobacco. He now owns a shop in Oregon City named "House of Calabash". I met with him last week to complete a couple of purchases I had planned for a bomb that we will probably be hearing about tomorrow sometime. lol

The Ancient Imperial is very tasty, but I have to say, as an English blend freak...I really think I like the Irishman's 5 O'Clock better. It also has Syrian Lat in it as so all of his english blends. He told me that he has a very large stockpile of Syrian left, and that the fire that destroyed the majority of the worlds Syrian a couple of years back only took two years of harvests with it and that the Syrian lats are coming back as we speak. 

I will say this, his 50 yr old Burley is like an orgasm in a bag. MMmmmmmm......


----------



## gahdzila

50 year old burley?!? WOW!

Green Mountain Dark Magic in my cup. And I've got the Falcon doing the dirty work this morning - PA, a pinch of 5 Brothers, and some leftover dried out crumbs of Penzance still on the paper plate from last night.


----------



## freestoke

Finished up the 4Dot of 5B+PPP from last night that I barely got lit before crashing and it smoked better this morning than last night! :tu Think I'm going with some Ennerdale to start the day, in the Country Gentleman.


----------



## gahdzila

More coffee and more of the same in the Falcon. 

No offense intended, sir, but I must ask: mg: How the hell does anyone start their day with Ennerdale? To me, that would be like crawling out of the bed and starting my day with pizza and beer and a shot of whiskey! Hats off to you, sir!:yo:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> No offense intended, sir, but I must ask: mg: How the hell does anyone start their day with Ennerdale? To me, that would be like crawling out of the bed and starting my day with pizza and beer and a shot of whiskey! Hats off to you, sir!:yo:


Many's the day I started with left over cold pizza and beer, back when I was young and strong. Of course, the day might have started at noon. :lol: And I actually kicked off with that 5B+PPP, the PPP consisting primarily of PA and scraps of "better stuff". Right now, I'm channeling the ghosts of *Ennerdale* in the Country Gentleman with Prince Albert acting as the medium. p


----------



## freestoke

Was yesterday ever a turnaround on the course! Not the score so much, but the ball striking was the best in YEARS, I kid you not! And I'll play like that again today, I'm sure. I've been on about a 3 year slump. Golf is like that. Finding out why you can't hit the ball any more (and it can vanish overnight!) can be harder than learning how to play in the first place. I know what I'm doing again all of a sudden! :banana:

Celebrating with a bowl of 20 year old Sail. p


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Many's the day I started with left over cold pizza and beer, back when I was young and strong. Of course, the day might have started at noon. :lol:


Yeah, ok, point taken :mrgreen: I was young and strong once too. Not that I'm an old man, by any stretch of the imagination, but the days of staying out all night, sleeping half the day, and pounding down some cold pizza and warm beer for breakfast are FAR behind me.

The older I get, the more set in my ways I get. Again, I'm not old! For example - when I graduated college and got my first "real" job, age 22, it was 12 hour nights, 7pm to 7am. I *loved* it. I'd get home at 7:45am or so in the morning, be asleep before my head hit the pillow, and I'd have to literally *drag* myself out of bed at 6:30pm in the evening to make it to work on time! The older I got, the harder it got to sleep during the day. By the time I was 30, I was lucky to get to sleep by 9:30am, and always woke up by 4:00pm. And then there was what I always referred to as "the turnaround" - getting my schedule swapped from sleeping days to sleeping nights so I could function in the real world on my days off, then switching back over when it was time to go back to work. "The turnaround" was easy when I was 22 - chug some mountain dew and coffee and just stay up, pop a benadryl when I wanted to sleep and boom, I was done. "The turnaround" became pure torture by my late 20's. I got a day job when I was 29 or 30, thankfully!

And today. Everyday, I start off with either a Famous Buenos Maduritos (small cigar), or a pipe of Prince Albert + 5 Brothers. Today, I tried to be different - I pulled out a dusty jar of Sterling Millionaire Blend, something I enjoyed very much in the past and just haven't reached for in a while. Ick...it just isn't right. I can tell it's good, but it just isn't good _right now,_ you know? I'm seriously considering dumping it and refilling with Prince Albert.

Actually, I just tamped...and the bowl is over halfway empty anyway. PA, here I come!


----------



## RupturedDuck

Last night I had a discussion with my gf regarding her childhood. She grew up in Ukraine, and spent her summers with her grandparents on their farm. She was telling me that every year her grandfather used to grow a little patch of tobacco that he would keep for his own usage. She described how he would lovingly tend to his little patch on his knees, weeding and caring for his leaf. At the end of the growing season, he would harvest it, and cure it in one of their sheds...each year hiding his bounty in a different corner of a different shed. I had a million questions to ask her about this...firstly, Ukrainian Tobacco? But her mind is light on detail...she was fairly young. But she understood that these plants were very special to her grandfather. Apparently he rolled the tobacco in cigarette papers. I would have loved to have met him.

Anyway, this morning, before getting to work, I'm enjoying a bit of Red Rapparee in a Pre-republic Pete. I haven't smoked much of this tin that I bought for the month of April. For some reason it slipped to the back shelf. I see me having another bowl of it later.

RD


----------



## freestoke

RupturedDuck said:


> Anyway, this morning, before getting to work, I'm enjoying a bit of Red Rapparee in a Pre-republic Pete. I haven't smoked much of this tin that I bought for the month of April. For some reason it slipped to the back shelf. I see me having another bowl of it later.
> 
> RD


Very cool on the Ukranian tobacco. Audrey grew some last year, but I haven't done anything with it! 

Right now, I'm finishing the last scraps of the Red Rapparee myself. Very nice. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

Big bowl of Kendal Kentucky in the meer on the way to work this morning with some very strong Lipton. Yes, I'm buzzed... and yes, this is now in the morning piper thread.

Thanks, Gabe, you bitch. :wave:


----------



## freestoke

Yo, Terry! It's still 1120 hours out there in the far flung regions of the West, so I'll stay here for now too. :smile:

There was giant confusion on the first tee, and rushing to tee up and get down the fairway, I hit a 120 yard worm burner.  But, made an easy bogie and then absolutely RIPPED the tee shot the rest of the way around. I haven't hit the ball this solid since -- oh...let's see, 1992? :lol: Definitely back in gear. I am SO happy about it I can't tell you. Getting some Kendal Kentucky under weigh myself right now. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

Jim, and you're doing that well WITHOUT the course stogies? Impressive.

Though I am getting an image of the bishop's final round in Caddyshack:






Two more bowls of KK for lunch - nice, for a drizzly Friday afternoon in the Pacific Northwest.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Jim, and you're doing that well WITHOUT the course stogies? Impressive.
> 
> Though I am getting an image of the bishop's final round in Caddyshack:


:biglaugh: Great scene!

Actually, I've got one from Andrew that I'm saving for the "Season Opener" in May. That's when the real rules kick in. :lol: Tradition for me is to bump it in the rough until May, because the course is usually in absolutely dreadful condition at this point in the year. Kinda don't count three putts sometimes, because the greens are so bad, but it all changes come the end of April. Everything goes to the bottom of the hole, live with the horrible lies and the bad rolls on the green. Another 11 days and the suffering begins.

Today it was Diplomat.I lost my course Legend out there the other day. :frown: 1) A TobakNazi threw it into the woods. 2) Somebody decided it would make a nice weed pipe. 3) They gave it to the police for lab work. (I could be in trouble...I smoked *Ennerdale* in it not long before I lost it. ainkiller


----------



## gahdzila

It usually takes me about 3 hours and a 12 pack of beer to mow my yard, but yesterday I had no beer and got it done in a hair over an hour mg: :lol: Also I was in a rush, trying to beat the rain...which came with a vengence. It started raining around 5 yesterday evening and rained until after I went to bed (which was close to midnight). 

There is a point to the rambling LOL.

Today, it's not raining, but still overcast, and COLD. Cold air following the storm front, I suppose. But, come on - it's April in Louisiana, for Chrissake and it's 48 degrees outside!!! I hate the cold! Summer can't get here fast enough for me.

PA+5B in the Irish Seconds big bent billiard.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Today, it's not raining, but still overcast, and COLD. Cold air following the storm front, I suppose. But, come on - it's April in Louisiana, for Chrissake and it's 48 degrees outside!!! I hate the cold! Summer can't get here fast enough for me.
> 
> PA+5B in the Irish Seconds big bent billiard.


It's 56 here in balmy Central New York, Clifford. oke: Gonna start raining later and rain for a week, but we need it bad. Maybe even some snow later next week.

A Kendal Kentucky base with topped PA this morning, and some excellent coffee. :cp


----------



## freestoke

Yesterday, I put the overly large pile of Paper Plate Potpourri in a jar and added a piece of wet paper towel. This morning, it's nicely hydrated and smoking well. :tu The contents are unknown proportions of PA, KK, 5B, Foggy Boggy, Sail, FVF, UF, B93, SWR, SB, and a few other things...and it's pretty good! p

I think so few are on the Morning Thread on the weekends because they aren't at work. oke:


----------



## freestoke

All alone on a cloudy Sunday. sigh. Guess I'll just smoke this 50/50 mix of SWR and PA and drink some coffee 'til somebody shows up.


----------



## gahdzila

I'm here! :wave: I forgot to post earlier, but I had my usual PA/5B with coffee while the kids munched cereal. I've gotta get a couple of samples of Nightcap out to the gentlemen that requested them soon, so I may as well crack that tin and have myself a bowl of it now! :thumb:


----------



## freestoke

Mornin', Clifford. :wave: I've got a few bowls of Nightcap left, but I'm saving them for the May review. Having some of Scotch's aged Sail Green here after lunch. p


----------



## freestoke

Finishing a bowl of FVF from last night. Not as good as it was then, but not bad. I'll be getting to the new POD and some PA shortly. p


----------



## RupturedDuck

Good morning folks!

No smoking so far for me...beautiful day outside, so I might move my laptop to my patio outdoors so that I can puff away the afternoon. I close on my new place in roughly 8 days. I can't wait!

Over the weekend, I discovered a small stash of Davidoff Flake Medallions tins (_Flake cut of finest Virginia and Perique tobaccos with a core of black Cavendish)_. It sounds interesting, and it is probably what I'll smoke this afternoon. My question is, given the markings below, is there any reason not to believe that this tin is from 2004?









RD


----------



## ProbateGeek

Can't help Gabriel, but glad there's someone here to keep Jim company. p

Had another two bowls of 1792 Flake this morning on the way in to work - the breakfast of champions!


----------



## freestoke

RupturedDuck said:


> Good morning folks!
> My question is, given the markings below, is there any reason not to believe that this tin is from 2004?
> 
> RD


Mornin', Gabriel! :wave: I have a vague memory about this...it could be from 13 July, 2008, Lot 0264, the number on the other side. Can't guarantee anything though. Either of those guesses give's you a well-aged can, though!

For some reason, some SWR sounded good -- and it was! :tu


----------



## RupturedDuck

freestoke said:


> Mornin', Gabriel! :wave: I have a vague memory about this...it could be from 13 July, 2008, Lot 0264, the number on the other side. Can't guarantee anything though. Either of those guesses give's you a well-aged can, though!
> 
> For some reason, some SWR sounded good -- and it was! :tu


Yeah, that is what I was wondering Jim. There are 4 more tins at the shop, which is why this is a priority smoke for me today. If it is as good as I expect, I'll be going back for them.

Thanks!

RD


----------



## Nachman

RupturedDuck said:


> Good morning folks!
> 
> No smoking so far for me...beautiful day outside, so I might move my laptop to my patio outdoors so that I can puff away the afternoon. I close on my new place in roughly 8 days. I can't wait!
> 
> Over the weekend, I discovered a small stash of Davidoff Flake Medallions tins (_Flake cut of finest Virginia and Perique tobaccos with a core of black Cavendish)_. It sounds interesting, and it is probably what I'll smoke this afternoon. My question is, given the markings below, is there any reason not to believe that this tin is from 2004?
> 
> View attachment 38025
> 
> 
> RD


I am pretty sure it is 13th of August 2007. There are some who agree it is August 2007 but claim the 13 is an hour. I never bought that myself.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Thanks Nick. Glad to see you are feeling better!

RD


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I am pretty sure it is 13th of August 2007. There are some who agree it is August 2007 but claim the 13 is an hour. I never bought that myself.


Yes! I was going to say that I might have the year field wrong, 07 instead of 08. Thanks, Nick. Welcome back! :smile: Just snuffled a little English Rose before my shower! :tu


----------



## RupturedDuck

I've been watching this lot of 4 pipes for a week or so on eBay. It was basically 4 throw aways, and a pipe that had "Marks '76" on it with a starting bid of $50 and no further bids.

Andrew Marks started making pipes in 1969. This would have been in his 7th year of pipe making. The bit was chewed through and needed to be replaced. And the thing needed thorough cleaning. I was extremely excited. Talk about your diamond in the rough! With 8 minutes left to the auction, I checked my internet connection (it has been spotty lately) and all was good. I set the countdown timer on my cell phone, and went back to reading Siegbert Tarrasch. Wouldn't you know it, in the last 7 mins of the auction I got so engrossed in the book, that I didn't hear the timer go off, and I missed the auction. The set went to some lucky person for $51. Bummed me out. I've been trying to get my hands on a Marks for quite a time now.

This morning I'm smoking some "Chocolate Moka," which is a blend put together by one of the gents at the local B&M in an Arley Curtz. Arley is going to be at the local B&M showcasing his pipes on May 19th. Unfortunately, I'm out of town that weekend. I'd love to meet him and let him know how much I enjoy the 4 pipes of his that I have.

RD


----------



## freestoke

RupturedDuck said:


> I set the countdown timer on my cell phone, and went back to reading Siegbert Tarrasch. Wouldn't you know it, in the last 7 mins of the auction I got so engrossed in the book, that I didn't hear the timer go off, and I missed the auction. The set went to some lucky person for $51. Bummed me out. I've been trying to get my hands on a Marks for quite a time now.


Bummer, Gabriel. I lost one a while back on a Sasieni prince by falling asleep at the switch, so I sympathize.

"When you don't know what to play, wait for an idea to come into your opponent's mind. You may be sure that idea will be wrong." Loved Tarrasch back when I read him. One of the great chess writers! Max Euwe is also eminently readable. Very interesting. I frequently use a line from one of his books that I absolutely loved, I think one of *The Middle Game in Chess* volumes. At this point it's probably more like a paraphrase but he comments that, "The advantage of the exchange is decisive. *There are not two correct opinions about this*." Of course, he then heads into rook sacrifices for knights and bishops kickin' butt...

Keeping the PPP under control a bit, with some Foggy Boggy and FVF scraps from last night providing the base for some SWR igniter on the top. Tasty! p


----------



## RupturedDuck

I haven't read Euwe yet. Tarrasch was recommended to me by a friend I met at another friend's wedding. Turns out, that gentleman also smokes a pipe...go figure! I've been playing chess since I was five, but had no formal education in it. I'm really enjoying the book. He presents his points very well. Last night I was setting up King vs King, Bishop, Knight scenarios on my iPad and practicing forcing the oposing king into a corner. Good times!

RD


----------



## gahdzila

After my usual first bowl of PA, I stood in front of my humble cellar scratching my head....and nothing sounded better than more PA. It's really hitting the spot today! I'm enjoying a cup of Mello Joy Dark Roast. It's not the greatest coffee ever, but it's pretty decent! it is 100% arabica, relatively inexpensive, and it's made in Louisiana...and it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to buy local when I can, so that's worth something, right? 

It's still not as warm outside as I would like, but it is warmer than last weekend. So I am in a slightly better mood.


----------



## freestoke

G'Mornin', Clifford! I seem to be stuck on the codger burley wagon this morning too, following a PA/4Dot with some SB in a cob, the Diplomat. The weather's pretty bad here, nice and springlike. The plants love it and we need the rain -- or snow, as the case may be. You have drawn my attention to the fact that my coffee cup is empty! :cp


----------



## freestoke

Devastating forecast. Starting Friday night, we have three nights in a row with 25 degree lows. I could just cry. Couldn't it have been just 29, instead of cold enough by a couple of degrees to absolutely ruin everything? Really depressing, because the apple and peach trees were producing flower buds. The apple tree out front would have been beautiful. So much for that. :frown: The earlier cold weather after the warm spell was bad enough -- this will be devastating.

Trying to take some comfort in a bowl of PA.


----------



## Stonedog

Fillmore in my CG this morning as I contemplate placing my next TAD order. I have built up a collection of cigars, some HTF, that I will most likely never be able to enjoy. Perhaps I can bundle several of them to help fund a few more tins.

Currently I'm thinking:
Solani ABF x2
F&T Golden Mixture X3
GLP Fillmore, Haddo's Delight and Barbary Coast
C&D After Hours x2
24oz box of LNF

That should cover me for a little while...


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Currently I'm thinking:
> Solani ABF x2
> F&T Golden Mixture X3
> GLP Fillmore, Haddo's Delight and Barbary Coast
> C&D After Hours x2
> 24oz box of LNF


As a lead-in for context, David Brinkley once told a story about his early campaign reporting, when he and two other reporters were lost in New Hampshire. Seeing three old guys in rocking chairs, smoking pipes on a front porch, they stopped, rolled down the window, and Brinkley called out, "We're looking for Manchester." The old guys leaned forward, talking among themselves for a few seconds, then one of them answered, "We have no objection." Yep, I don't see anything wrong with that order, Jon! :lol:

Some more of this Royal Yacht I opened yesterday. Excellent! p


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> ... Yep, I don't see anything wrong with that order, Jon! :lol: ...


Yes, I realize nobody really cares what I'm considering ordering but I had to write _something _ more than just "Fillmore in a CG"... :smile:


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Yes, I realize nobody really cares what I'm considering ordering but I had to write _something _ more than just "Fillmore in a CG"... :smile:


I have no objection to that either! Actually, I liked reading your TAD enumeration and would gladly smoke anything on it. Not often I see an order list without an item that I know I hate. :tu

Abandon ship! The Royal Yacht is under *Ennerdale attack*! ainkiller:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Big bowl of Sugar Barrel in the Fellini. Wish my tongue liked this one as much as I do. :biggrin:


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I have no objection to that either! Actually, I liked reading your TAD enumeration and would gladly smoke anything on it. Not often I see an order list without an item that I know I hate. :tu
> 
> Abandon ship! The Royal Yacht is under *Ennerdale attack*! ainkiller:


Sacrilege! How dare you disrespect the Royal Yacht, Jim! :lol:


----------



## RupturedDuck

Last night I stopped by a "Tobacco Store" to pick up some pipe cleaners. It is one of those places in a strip mall that uses their windows to hang big posters proclaiming their price for a carton of Marlboros. It actually has a walk in humidor, with a lot of premium cigar boxes on the shelves...they are all pretty much empty though. Anyway, I turn my attention to the pipe tobacco selection. In addition to the standard pouches of Captain Black, they had a few legitimate pipe tobacco bulk blends next to the "pipe tobacco" blends for use with rolling papers. What grabbed my eye were the 4 tins of Sutliff Barbados Plantation. My collection certainly didn't need 4 tins of a Rum Flavored aromatic, but I couldn't hold back considering the $4.99 price tag on the 1.5oz tins. It gets a 4 star rating from Tobaccoreviews.com. Of course, only one gentleman has rated it so far, and of his other ratings, he has awarded 7 Four Star Ratings and 1 One Star Rating...seems he is a love it or hate it kind of guy.

Well, we'll hold off to see how that Barbados Plantation is another day. This morning it is some Chocolate Moka in a giant L'anatra Canadian. This stuff burns nicely, although it leaves me wanting. I've got a followup plan involving some LTF and a Cristiano signature.

RD


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Voodoo Queen (surprise!) and I are enjoying this fine Friday morning together!


----------



## Stonedog

Gabriel, it's been a _few_ years since I took any math or science classes, but I believe a single rating by someone that has rated 7 of 8 blends as 4 stars might be considered statistically insignificant. :smile:

Finished off the last of my Fillmore this morning, again in the trusty CG. I've enjoyed the last few bowls of this but for some reason I detected zero latakia. Either I mixed this with something a while ago and forgot to mark the baggie or the CG is masking it. Either way, I think I may change my shopping list by doubling up on Haddo's and dropping the Fillmore. Fillmore is very good - don't get me wrong - but the Haddo's Delight has a flavor profile I enjoy a little more.


----------



## freestoke

Worse and worse. They've dropped the forecast temps into the *low* 20s for the next few nights. I had hoped for a swing in the other direction, but that's it for the NY apples, pears, peaches, blueberries...gonzo, in toto. No lilac flowers. Might even be cold enough to zonk the rhododendrons. Bummer.

Getting a little help from the 4Dot and some sympathy from Prince Albert.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

freestoke said:


> Worse and worse. They've dropped the forecast temps into the *low* 20s for the next few nights.


You might enjoy Florida bro!


----------



## gahdzila

So. I've again reached that point in my piano lessons that they are no longer fun. It happens from time to time. It is an absolute joy when things feel _right_ under my fingers and sound good too. There's nothing like making music! But, I'm not paying for an audience, I'm paying for _lessons_...which means as soon as something starts sounding beautiful and feeling wonderful, my teacher says, "ok, this is good, now we move on to something else.". Which means things aren't fun anymore LOL. The "something else" that we've moved on to is the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata no. 16 in C Major. It's a very familiar tune, you've all certainly heard it before. The going is TOUGH so far. No doubt this is going to be a long term project...at least several months, I anticipate. Long story short, in two weeks, I've gone from pounding out a beautiful piece by Charles Gounad and the very familiar Bach prelude in C major and really sounding good, to slowly and monotonously plunking out one note at a time and ending up pounding my fist on the keyboard in frustration LOL. Just to pour acid in the wound, this piece is commonly known as "Sonata Facile", or "Easy Sonata", and apparently Mozart himself described it as "for beginners." :banghead: Thanks for making me feel incompetent, Wolfgang.

Anywho...just wanted to vent a little, and this happened to be the first thread I clicked on this morning.

PA/5Bs in the Kaywoodie with my coffee.


----------



## freestoke

Wiseguy1982 said:


> You might enjoy Florida bro!


Then I'd just worry about the citrus crop and hurricanes. :lol: Another morning cruise on the Royal Yacht in store, with the FourDot pot at the helm.


----------



## gahdzila

Yowza! Sorry to hear about the bad weather, Jim. Makes me feel silly for complaining about the cold mornings we had last week....we were only down to the 40's!

It's finally getting nice here, with lows in the mid 60's and highs in the low 80's!


----------



## RupturedDuck

gahdzila said:


> Yowza! Sorry to hear about the bad weather, Jim. Makes me feel silly for complaining about the cold mornings we had last week....we were only down to the 40's!
> 
> It's finally getting nice here, with lows in the mid 60's and highs in the low 80's!


Thursday nights a couple of us hang at the local custom motorcycle shop and talk about bikes, rides, the weather etc. It was cool but sunny when I headed down there at 8:00. Sometime afterwards it started raining reletively hard, and cold. I was soaked through by the time I got home. This morning I woke to find that it snowed pretty low down the mountain...to about a 1/4 mile from my place. Snowbird Ski Area is claiming 6" for the night. We're in the 40s this morning, and expecting a sunny 55° later.

I'm switching it up with a little Red Raparee this morning.

RD


----------



## ProbateGeek

Two bowls of Kendal Kentucky in the banded Country Gent I usually reserve for Ennerdale. It was nice to revisit just how great Kendal Kentucky is, and this time at the bottom of each bowl I got whiffs of Ennerdale along with it. I'm thinking about trying a new blend - probably call it *Kentuckydale*.

p
Happy Friday, gentlemen.


----------



## gahdzila

Something about gifted tobacco just makes it better. While I'm smoking something gifted, I always remember that someone was thinking of me and gave it to me because they thought it was something I would enjoy. Just that thought brings that much more joy to the experience.

Today, it's some Fillmore from 2008. I bought some tins from RJPuffs and he was kind enough to sneak this little hitchhiker in the box. Thank you sir!


----------



## Nachman

I decided to smoke some big boy tobacco this morning, so I had a 4gm bowl of GH Sliced Brown Twist.


----------



## freestoke

Wow. Big boy pipe, too.  Scary stuff, Nick.


----------



## Katharsis

I actually smoked Midnight Ride this morning. I'm finding it to be a great morning smoke, despite the name. It's not that big on nic, and it's more Oriental forward. Reminds me of SL actually, but a little fuller. Tastes way better a couple weeks after I opened it.


----------



## freestoke

Applying a DGT to some UF that barely got a char put to it last night. Very nice for my first this morning with some 50/50 Columbian/CFON. A sunny, cold day out there in the 30s. Wondering when I next get to play golf, although this is more "normal", since in years past real golf has sometimes not started until mid May. A lot of years we'd still have snow out there.


----------



## freestoke

Looks like everybody is off work today. oke: Not even a browsing guest in here today! :lol: Getting in my morning PA right now after the UF.


----------



## gahdzila

I'm here! :wave: Mornin', Jim!

Junior had a piano judging this morning. He had a written theory test yesterday, and today he had scales, sight reading, and performance. For performance, he had to have three pieces from different eras (ie - one baroque, one classical, one modern) memorized :shocked:. That's a lot for a nine year old to swallow! He did ok, though. He won't know his scores until next week.

The usual Prince Albert and a pinch of Five Brothers for me ipe:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I'm here! :wave: Mornin', Jim!
> 
> Junior had a piano judging this morning. He had a written theory test yesterday, and today he had scales, sight reading, and performance. For performance, he had to have three pieces from different eras (ie - one baroque, one classical, one modern) memorized :shocked:. That's a lot for a nine year old to swallow! He did ok, though. He won't know his scores until next week.


Yikes! That's some program you have him enrolled in! Sounds like music majors in college grousing about finals. :lol:

Hope he did great! Sounds like he's really going places. :tu

I'm cranking on some FVF. Very nice stuff and puff, with a little PPP kindling on the top to get a solid light. p


----------



## mcgreggor57

Good morning gents. Whilst putzing around in the garage prior to getting on with this glorious Saturday I grabbed a bowl of Virginia Woods in my GBD. For some reason it had a bit of a soapy taste to it today. Never the less, it was still a most enjoyable beginning to the morning.


----------



## gahdzila

Yeah, this is district rally. If he scores high enough, he will go to the state rally. I don't feel like his scores will be high enough. Nonetheless, it was a great experience for him.

Where do music associations come up with these names, anyway? All he does is go somewhere, play for a judge, and go home. "Rally"? :noidea: Another one they have is called a "festival"....though it's pretty much exactly the same thing, and not what I would call festive.

I'm giving the Falcon a workout. Finished off the PA and loaded up some PS Proper English, courtesy of mcgreggor. Another silly name - what makes it "proper"? Does PS also make an Improper English? :ask: Whatever...it's pretty good stuff! :thumb:

Speak of the devil, there he is! 'Morning, Gregg! :wave:


----------



## karatekyle

Not sure what I want this morning. Something good. I know! I'll have some Stonehaven. Got about 4 full flakes left of it, about 2 years old.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Yeah, this is district rally. If he scores high enough, he will go to the state rally. I don't feel like his scores will be high enough. Nonetheless, it was a great experience for him.
> 
> Where do music associations come up with these names, anyway? All he does is go somewhere, play for a judge, and go home. "Rally"? :noidea:


Probably a lot of politics involved, like Little League. oke:

PS makes an English Luxury, too, probably similar but with Cavendish. I have some that I'm not thrilled about, but it's not terrible. I guess the "proper" is because it doesn't have the Cavendish, ie, a little less aromatic?

Still working on this FVF. Should have rubbed it out more. :sl Thick flakes musketball like crap.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Still working on this FVF. Should have rubbed it out more. :sl Thick flakes musketball like crap.


I've always though FVF is just a miserable blend when left as a flake. I think it gains taste exponentially as it is rubbed finer. I've given up on trying to get something out of it as a flake, I just rub it to dust now :lol:


----------



## mmiller

Had some Bobs Chocolate Flake this morning with some coffee


----------



## freestoke

Reaching for the Gahdzila Load, PA/5B, trying to avoid sinking into a desperate Vitamin N deficit. Good coffee this morning! :cp 

I think you're onto something here, Clifford. :tu


----------



## houncer

On the front porch with some Pipes & Cigars Trout Stream in my Peterson 304 and a cup of coffee. Perfect start.


----------



## freestoke

:spy: I saw a jar on the desk with just over a bowl in it. What was it? Smelled pretty good, so I filled my pipe. Surely it would come to me...nope. Tastes pretty good and has a great room note. This is good stuff! :ask: Have I stuck something somebody sent me in this jar and don't remember it? :dunno: Decided to post here that I didn't know what I was smoking, but it's the Dart Mix! 

All gone. I think it was mostly PA, Three Blind Moose, Five Brothers and Kendal Kentucky, but I couldn't say for sure. Might have had a little Sugar Barrel in it, too. Gotta refill the jar today. Whattawe got here? :spy:


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Reaching for the Gahdzila Load, PA/5B, trying to avoid sinking into a desperate Vitamin N deficit. Good coffee this morning! :cp
> 
> I think you're onto something here, Clifford. :tu


Pretty good, eh? :wink: For me, it's usually mostly PA, and just a pinch of 5B. Maybe 3/4 PA, 1/4 5B, just enough to beef it up a little. But if I'm feeling particularly nic deficient, I up the ante to 50:50.

Back to work for me. I snagged an Arturo Fuente Short Story Maduro this morning. I was less than thrilled with it. It wasn't bad, but it definitely didn't meet my expectations considering the price and rarity.


----------



## karatekyle

It's still morning! Jim must've slept in today, eh? Well I did his job for him; PA in the 4Dot!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> It's still morning! Jim must've slept in today, eh? Well I did his job for him; PA in the 4Dot!


Thanks! I was busy hanging out laundry! :faint:

I did, in fact, have some PA in the 4Dot at about 8:45. I then DGTed something unidentified that I had abandoned in the living room last night, possibly PA as well. A bowl of Royal Yacht, then this, some Foggy Boggy. What I've really been derelict about this morning is my coffee! More coffee! :cp

On the tee at 2! Looks great out there!


----------



## Katharsis

Smoked a friend's sample of McClelland's Wilderness. Pretty good stuff. It was on my to-buy list at some point, so I'm glad I didn't have to buy a whole tin to sample. It's good enough to buy, though.


----------



## DanR

Good morning Puff Pipers (it's technically still morning, right? Well, at least in San Antonio it is...). I'm packed for a long trip this week to Barcelona, Spain. Before I play planes, trains, and automobiles today (and tomorrow), I thought I would get in one last pipefull. Decided on Dunhill Flake as I only had two flakes left in the jar and thought it might be good to just finish it off.

Cheers!


----------



## freestoke

Bon voyage, Dan! :wave:

Going for a second bowl of Nightcap. Started with some PA in the POD, but switching to the Mayfair for review purposes. My next order will definitely include a few tins of Nightcap! I think it's my favorite Latakia blend. Waiting for the review thread to surface. :spy:


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Bon voyage, Dan!


Thanks Jim! I made it to Spain. I am sitting on the balcony of my hotel room, staring at the beautiful scenery, enjoying a pipe full of Reiner Long Golden Flake. It's nearly 5pm here, but I know it still morning at home, so I'm lost at where to post. I decided to make it a good morning post!


----------



## gahdzila

I love cobs. I had a bowl of Nightcap in a cob last night. I was lazy and just tossed the pipe on the dining room table without running a single pipe cleaner through it or anything. This morning, I grabbed said pipe and stuffed it full of PA, figuring I wouldn't mind a little Latakia ghost....but there was nothing! No ghost whatsoever.

Moving on, I just lit a bowl of SG Grousemoor, courtesy of mcgreggor. Quality leaf and very tasty, sweet and creamy, maybe a hint of citrus? I like it, but I doubt I will buy more. It doesn't have enough oomph for my usual tastes, and I already cellar something vaguely similar for those infrequent times that I want a mild sweet virginia (OGS). Thanks, Gregg!


----------



## freestoke

After some PA in the Szabo, I'm having the last of my Nightcap in the Mayfair. (Note to self: Buy more Nightcap.)


----------



## Stonedog

After this morning's commute I'm down to a single portion of FVF in my little sampler baggie... Hmm, P&C has FVF bulk in stock...


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht in by dad's Fellini - nice big bowl.










This stuff burns so very clean - just a little white ash at the bottom of the bowl, blown out by a light breeze when I went to dump it. 
Me like. p


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> This stuff burns so very clean - just a little white ash at the bottom of the bowl, blown out by a light breeze when I went to dump it.
> Me like. p


No char on the pipe or anything! :tu (I think you actually smoke the cobs, Terry, and leave your good pipes in photographically immaculate condition. oke

Think I'll run some RY through a cob after lunch. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> No char on the pipe or anything! :tu (I think you actually smoke the cobs, Terry, and leave your good pipes in photographically immaculate condition. oke


Well, Jim, the trick is to keep using the same photo taken just after you have the pipe refurbished. :biggrin:

I've got only two cobs in my rotation, a Country Gentlemen (great for flakes) and a Diplomat, both banded and smoked with a Forever Stem. I smoke the Country Gent about twice as much as the Diplomat, 'cause I'm beginning to think the Diplomat was sold a little too fresh - I'm tasting cob pretty much the whole time I'm smoking.

I'll join you with more Royal Yacht after lunch. Granted, we've got a 3 hour time difference, but ya know... :wave:


----------



## gahdzila

Today, I'm having a little PA in my 5B's, rather than the usual dab of 5B's in my PA. Not that I was feeling particularly nic deficient this morning, I just wanted one quick bowl to get the day started....I've got some things to do and don't have time to sit here lazily puffing on PA all morning ipe:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Today, I'm having a little PA in my 5B's, rather than the usual dab of 5B's in my PA. Not that I was feeling particularly nic deficient this morning, I just wanted one quick bowl to get the day started....I've got some things to do and don't have time to sit here lazily puffing on PA all morning ipe:


Yeah, you can burn through a bowl of 5B before the match goes out. I'm with Albert this morning, pondering my golf game. Man, I started out hitting the ball fabulous yesterday, but it started falling apart when we got stuck behind a slow twosome at the 5th in a stinking cart. Lost the rhythm. A cart CAN speed up play if the players are willing to at least walk a few yards once in a while, but most of the time it slows things down, especially when they ride around in the rough looking for a ball, a sure sign of laziness and stupidity. I really hate golf carts -- it's sorta like wheelchair basketball. (I have nothing against wheelchair basketball, BTW, just making a sports comparison.) Three putted the last hole for a lousy 40. The way I started I fully expected even par, maybe even better. Maybe today! Gonna be beautiful out there.


----------



## JuiceMan

Still a total novice to pipes. Tried a few blends from my local B&M however this Carter Hall seems to be the easiest to keep lit until I get the hang on it. I am doing better though. With the CH I only have to do about 4 relights per a bowl.

This morning's activities:


----------



## freestoke

PA is even easier to keep lit. PA and CH are both winners, though! :tu

Think I'll stink up the place with some indoor* Ennerdale*. ainkiller:

Anybody else having threads you have read show up as still unread? When I post something today, my own post shows up unread, for example. Maybe it's my cookies or something? Weird. Makes me paranoid. :spy:


----------



## mmiller

Just finished up a couple bowls of CBW in the CG with some coffee to celebrate my last final of the school year.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Some well rubbed out Dan's Patriot Flake in my dad's Comoy's this morning.









<_ photo for Jim! _>

The commute was awful (7:30-9:15, accident on the Freemont Bridge). The Patriot Flake, however, was amazing. Thanks to former puffer JJ User Name!


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Some well rubbed out Dan's Patriot Flake in my dad's Comoy's this morning.


Not to be confused with the Fremont Bridge. oke: The pipe looks exactly right, though. Hold that -- the pipe looks perfect! :yo:

I'm having a post-lunch sandwich of SWR/PPP/SWR in the workhorse 4Dot. SWR is really hard to rub out, but it's a lot better if you take the time. I may have to go to the Cuisinart.

And I fixed the weird thread marking...logged out, logged back in and it's all better.


----------



## RupturedDuck

I was supposed to have closed on the new place on May 1st. Apparently the seller is having issues with a lien that was placed on the title, and so we are playing a waiting game. This means that I'm still smoking outdoors. This morning happens to be amazing outside. I'm enjoying it with some Foggy Boggy in a Cristiano.

RD


----------



## KBibbs

Haven't been on here in quite some time, but have to say it feels good to be back! Crazy how overwhelming life can get sometimes. Anyway, thanks to some jars not sealing right and re-hydration not working the best, I lost most of my baccy (wasn't that much but still kind of a bummer.) Anyway, I'm soon to be sitting down with a bowl of lane 1-Q, one of the few blends my local B&M sells, and enjoying my day off. Should be a nice one


----------



## freestoke

Get some Prince Albert at the drug store, KBibbs! Or Carter Hall or Sir Walter Raleigh. They cut that 1Q real well. p


----------



## KBibbs

Unfortunately they don't sell any of those around here! Only CB and something like Borkum Riff? (If memory serves). Think CB but not as aromatic or flavorful...and more like rubber. Never had CH but the local tobacconist does have it, though only in the tub. Not sure how much though, being a small town his prices are pretty high. Shame too, I would buy that Savinelli antique shell off him, but not for $80. P&C has it for $52...
Now I'm rambling. I'll get my cellar rebuilt! And with better jars this time...


----------



## freestoke

KBibbs said:


> Unfortunately they don't sell any of those around here!


Really? Walmart? Walgren's? Rite Aid? Target? What kind of world do we live in, where codger burley is no longer locally available? I am shocked -- *shocked *I tell you!


----------



## gahdzila

G'morning, gentlemen!

I actually woke up quite early, fired up my PA/5Bs in the MM Country Gentleman, and started cruising puff. HOLY CRAP HOW DID I MISS THAT THREAD YESTERDAY?!? Stonehaven in stock at Cup o Joes! It still shows as in stock this morning, and I snagged an 8 ounce bag! :banana:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> G'morning, gentlemen!
> Stonehaven in stock at Cup o Joes!


Ha! They had some at 4noggins, so I was able to grab a bag myself! (Naturally, there were a few other random items to achieve the sacred altar of Free Shipping.)

Just finished walking to the dock with PA, and we'll set the mainbraces on the Royal Yacht next.


----------



## freestoke

:spy: Changing tack. Not quite on the Royal Yacht yet, after spying this Sail Green that Scotch sent me. Twenty years old! :shock: Going with the Danish Bari Dana for the Danish tobak. p


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

Not many people admit to enjoying aromatics in this thread so I will boldly state that I enjoyed the heck out of a bowl of Stanwell Vanilla this morning. I like this better in the smaller bowl of my MM Patriot. The topping/casing is a little too much in a wider bowl.


----------



## karatekyle

Well, it's the first day of summer for me. No more puffing pipes every morning with coffee. Hopefully when work starts, I'll be able to puff a bit en route. It'll be a Captain Black kind of summer, I think!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Well, it's the first day of summer for me. No more puffing pipes every morning with coffee. Hopefully when work starts, I'll be able to puff a bit en route. It'll be a Captain Black kind of summer, I think!


Let's see -- a pipe in your mouth, voice recognition software apps on the bluetooth/iphone/tablet and you can post while you commute.

As for aromatics, Jon, I just finished some Sail Green, so...you talkin' to ME, paisan!? :fencing:

Anchors aweigh. The Royal Yacht has left the dock.


----------



## karatekyle

Haha! I'm sure I'll still be posting, just not piping nearly enough!


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Let's see -- a pipe in your mouth, voice recognition software apps on the bluetooth/iphone/tablet and you can post while you commute.
> 
> As for aromatics, Jon, I just finished some *Sail Green*, so...you talkin' to ME, paisan!? :fencing:
> 
> Anchors aweigh. The Royal Yacht has left the dock.


Sail Green you say? I'll have to go research, it must be pretty good. Although, you're one of our bigger Ennerdale proponents... :wacko: :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

More coffee and some Nightcap in the Irish Seconds bent billiard. A nightcap in the morning? Yeahhhhhhh buddy!

This stuff is just FANTASTIC with coffee.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> More coffee and some Nightcap in the Irish Seconds bent billiard. A nightcap in the morning? Yeahhhhhhh buddy!
> 
> This stuff is just FANTASTIC with coffee.


Not all that bad with beer either. p Sot Weed Raleigh in the bowl right now. Then off to the course!


----------



## freestoke

Beautiful morning! Gonna be a hell of day at the links! Hardly any wind, high sixties, sun. If there's any roll at all out there, I'm getting it under par today. Warming up with a morning sail on the RY. Gotta fill the nicotine tank early, since there's a party after golf. Busy day ahead!


----------



## roaster

So dreary and damp here in Chicago... Anyone ever smoke Dunhill Nightcap in the morning? This morning it feels right...

MORNING ALL!


----------



## freestoke

Another quasi-perfect day on tap. Missed a dinky little birdie put on the last hole yesterday and shot 39, but I was just throwing shots away out there. And there was a LOT more wind than the forecast said. Hit the ball pretty good yesterday, so I'm chompin' at the bit this morning. I feel my first good nine of the season on the way! Right now, I'm just waking up with some PA in the FourDot pot. Excellent with this coffee. :cp


----------



## gahdzila

roaster said:


> So dreary and damp here in Chicago... Anyone ever smoke Dunhill Nightcap in the morning? This morning it feels right...
> 
> MORNING ALL!


YEP! I've always gotta have my Prince Albert and Five Brothers mix as my first pipe of the day (as I'm doing now!) but I enjoyed some Nightcap at 10:00 or 11:00-ish a few days ago. It goes great with a cup of coffee!

Jim mentioned that Nightcap pairs well with beer as well. It sounds great! I don't drink terribly often, but I'm looking forward to having some Nightcap with a nice thick heavy stout or a nut brown ale one of these days.


----------



## mcgreggor57

freestoke said:


> Another quasi-perfect day on tap. Missed a dinky little birdie put on the last hole yesterday and shot 39, but I was just throwing shots away out there. And there was a LOT more wind than the forecast said. Hit the ball pretty good yesterday, so I'm chompin' at the bit this morning. I feel my first good nine of the season on the way! Right now, I'm just waking up with some PA in the FourDot pot. Excellent with this coffee. :cp


Managed to get in 36 holes yesterday with a semi-regular group. Today it will be 18 with my cousin and a couple of his bro-in-laws. Bill usually furnishes the cigars but I'll have plenty along if he doesn't. :wink: I was reading about some love for previous bacy's that just "didn't do it for you" the first time around. My stuff has hardly no age on it, but Purple cow seemed to fit the bill best. This was one of the tins I received when first pushed down this slope about 3 months ago. While I preferred the other tins in the package, the PC wasn't a bad smoke. After sitting in my drawer since then, it tastes much better. While I'm not sure I would buy any more, I am definitely looking forward to finishing the tin!


----------



## freestoke

This FourDot pot holds a deceptively big load. That PA seemed to take forever to finish, even counting a couple of interruptions, but now I'm onto something interesting: Preghosting. Last night, after the party, I filled the 4Dot with what my beer-blurred eyes discerned as UF. A scrawling on the jar, barely decipherable at the best of times, read "VCF", not UF, so there I was with a full bowl of stinking Vanilla Cream Flake. ainkiller: I switched pipes, smoked some Kendal Kentucky, leaving the mistake until this morning. I emptied the 4Dot onto the paper plate for flavoring the scraps and filled it back up again with RY, now serving vanilla pudding to the guests on board.


----------



## freestoke

Back to PA in the 4Dot, straight up, no bracers, to celebrate Dale's return! :smile:


----------



## Stonedog

Bishops Burley in my big basket pipe. This is the first time I've paired the two and the wider, deeper bowl really brings out the orientals.

And, OP, welcome back!


----------



## freestoke

The PPP was pretty heavy on the VCF content still, so I dumped a bowl of PA in there, mixed it up, gravity filled the 4Dot, then added some 5B icing.


----------



## freestoke

Might get a couple of holes downwind today, with a non-prevailing wind blowing. The golf course is cruelly laid out so that no hole that matters is ever downwind and all the long, hard holes are into prevailing the wind. I'm almost afraid to tee it up after yesterday's horror show. 

A fresh jar of PA from the tub in action. The PA topping definitely boils off a bit, I think. Maybe one of the reasons the pouch doesn't taste as good as the tub (or at least so I've heard). p


----------



## karatekyle

I think I'm going to get a tub of PA here soon. Had a hankering for it lately and it tastes better every time I smoke it!


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Might get a couple of holes downwind today, with a non-prevailing wind blowing. The golf course is cruelly laid out so that no hole that matters is ever downwind and all the long, hard holes are into prevailing the wind. I'm almost afraid to tee it up after yesterday's horror show.
> 
> A fresh jar of PA from the tub in action. The PA topping definitely boils off a bit, I think. Maybe one of the reasons the pouch doesn't taste as good as the tub (or at least so I've heard). p


I dug into a half empty pouch yesterday. It may be the Patriot I was using needed to be cleaned, but it definitely was not as good as when I'd opened it several weeks ago. Oddly enough the moisture level hadn't changed, only the taste.


----------



## DSturg369

Although it's not quite "morning" now, it is for me still. The Land Lady has allowed me to keep her laptop until she askes for it... She's an on-line shopper - So I hope to get a post in now and again... Glad to be back among friends today. Work soon but wanted to say Hi.


----------



## karatekyle

DSturg369 said:


> Although it's not quite "morning" now, it is for me still. The Land Lady has allowed me to keep her laptop until she askes for it... She's an on-line shopper - So I hope to get a post in now and again... Glad to be back among friends today. Work soon but wanted to say Hi.


Dale! Holy shit! We've missed ya buddy, it's awesome to see you back here! God bless, man!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Although it's not quite "morning" now, it is for me still. The Land Lady has allowed me to keep her laptop until she askes for it... She's an on-line shopper - So I hope to get a post in now and again... Glad to be back among friends today. Work soon but wanted to say Hi.


Hi, Dale! :wave:

Got me some Royal Yacht under weigh before lunch. I seem to have executed a perfect Frank fill. :smile: Really smooth sailing at this point. p

No golf today! Been raining like crazy since yesterday evening.


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Hi, Dale! :wave:
> 
> Got me some Royal Yacht under weigh before lunch. I seem to have executed a perfect Frank fill. :smile: Really smooth sailing at this point. p
> 
> No golf today! Been raining like crazy since yesterday evening.


Limey tobacco for Limey weather, right Jim! Me too. It's raining like crazy here in San Antonio, so I reached for GL Pease Chelsea Morning for my lunch break smoke. So, good morning and good afternoon all in one.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Limey tobacco for Limey weather, right Jim! Me too. It's raining like crazy here in San Antonio, so I reached for GL Pease Chelsea Morning for my lunch break smoke. So, good morning and good afternoon all in one.


And I've moved on to something I don't smoke often -- English Luxury. Dreary day, perfect for some easy going Latakia. p


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> And I've moved on to something I don't smoke often -- English Luxury. Dreary day, perfect for some easy going Latakia. p


Jim, I'm going to send you a sample bomblet of a tin that I opened last week, Robert McConnell Latakia Flake. Have you had that one before? It's a dark moist flake, obviously with some Latakia, but it was very different than I imagined it would be. It's somewhat fruity (plum-ish) with a a treacle like topping. It reminded me slightly of Stonehaven, but still very different at the same time. I'd like to get your take on it.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Jim, I'm going to send you a sample bomblet of a tin that I opened last week, Robert McConnell Latakia Flake. Have you had that one before? It's a dark moist flake, obviously with some Latakia, but it was very different than I imagined it would be. It's somewhat fruity (plum-ish) with a a treacle like topping. It reminded me slightly of Stonehaven, but still very different at the same time. I'd like to get your take on it.


Sure! See anything I have you'd like to try in return? BTW, I'm smokin' this English Luxury in the Darth Rader! :tu


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Sure! See anything I have you'd like to try in return? BTW, I'm smokin' this English Luxury in the Darth Rader! :tu


All I really want in return is your review, kind Sir!


----------



## leanpockets

i blended the remnants of my Grey havens and Prince albert it was a seriously funky experience PA with a Citrusy-perique thing going on pretty tasty with black silk folgers


----------



## ProbateGeek

You guys reminded me to revisit Prince Albert. I had a good sample of the tubbed PA from Jim, to which I had added the remains of an old pouch of PA, after which I forgot about it for 3 months or so. Smoked wonderfully this morning - I think I will need to eventually go ahead and get myself a tub - it's not the most exciting tobacco, but it sure is just plain GOOD.

You guys have been adding something else to your PA - Five Brothers, I think - is that mainly for the morning nicotine jumpstart, or . . . ?


----------



## gahdzila

Terry - I'm a big fan of 5 Brothers. Yeah, I like to mix a bit in PA (and other stuff) to bump the nic up a notch, and it also improves burn in wet aros as it is very dry. I occasionally smoke it straight as well. I like the taste of it. It is pure burley, plain and simple, nutty and slightly woody with not a hint of sweetness. The production recently moved and the company was bought by Lane. The Lane rep that posts here sometimes (Trout-something?) says they were careful to keep the new stuff true to the original, including the cut (fine shag peppered with birdseye). I haven't tried the new stuff yet, though.


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning all,

This morning I pulled out the jar of my pre-mixed PA Choice Blend / University Flake. This is not my first choice for the morning, the plum essence in the uni flake reminds me of sour mustard... But, I'm down to maybe 6 open containers of baccy and I must get through them all. Once they are gone I will stock up on blends I know I like. I've been smoking a pipe for about a year now (thanks Puff for all of the help!) and I have a better feel for what I want to keep in quantity and what I might keep for occasions when I want something different.


----------



## gahdzila

As I posted on the Tonight's Smoke thread, I'm short on jars and am trying to free some up. I've got several pouches of 5 Brothers left, but I put it in a jar when I open a pouch, and the current jar is empty. So I'm smoking straight PA this morning, in the new MM General. 

The General is a big pipe. But it isn't as big as it looks, actually. It has more unused (solid) material at the bottom of the bowl, making it appear taller than it actually is. The bowl diameter is significantly larger than the Diplomat, but it's actually only about a half inch taller!


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

I tried some SWR Aromatic this morning. There is not much aromatic flavor to this one. Maybe a little caramel-like action happening in there, but it's very subtle. It makes for a nice and easy smoke with my morning coffee. Next time I'm gonna mix a little 5 Brothers in there to boost the "wake up" potential.


----------



## Stonedog

Everyone is talking about this 5 Brothers stuff. Do you guys order it online or buy it locally?


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Everyone is talking about this 5 Brothers stuff. Do you guys order it online or buy it locally?


I ordered a 12-pouch pack from Page 4 a while back. I keep some slightly hydrated in a jar for straight smoking and mixing with things. Straight from the pouch its really crispy, which works great for stoking aromatics or adding some kindling to the top of flake.

Think I'll put some in the pipe right now with the Prince.


----------



## gahdzila

Stonedog said:


> Everyone is talking about this 5 Brothers stuff. Do you guys order it online or buy it locally?


It used to be not widely available. But since it is made and distributed by Lane now, it's easier to find. Pipesandcigars sells it.

Jim reviewed it a couple of months ago - http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/303611-five-brothers.html


----------



## freestoke

Just noticed this pile UF I rubbed out and mixed with some 5B last night! It's been raining, so it didn't dry out that much overnight. Perfect, as a matter of fact! p


----------



## ProbateGeek

Straight PA - a very good smoke on this morning's commute, in my dad's McIntosch Royal Indian. I've been watching, but have yet to see even one other commuter with a pipe hanging from his (or her) mouth. Are we that rare?


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Are we that rare?


Yep. :frown: I haven't seen a golfer on the course with a pipe in years, either. It wasn't all that uncommon back in the 50s and 60s to have somebody in the group smoking a pipe, but not any more.


----------



## DSturg369

For as fast as I see MM cobs and Dr Grabow's sell out locally, I've seen very few other pipe smokers, aside from a shop owner here and there.


----------



## gahdzila

I don't know *anyone* in real life (besides you guys) that smokes a pipe. I can only remember rarely seeing a pipe smoker when I was a child in the '80s. As an adult, I can only recall ever even seeing three men smoke a pipe - one I saw at a bar, one was pushing a hot dog cart in New Orleans, one was my friend that I introduced to pipes! Nor do I know or have ever met anyone in real life (besides some of you guys) who is an all-day smoker of fine tobacco like me...cigarettes excluded, of course. Even among the cigar smokers I've met, most were occasional smokers. The closest is the same friend above, a cigar smoker...but I don't think he smokes nearly as much as I do.

I'm having the last of the OGS with a some Nightcap mixed in, in the 4 dot. It was a mixture of necessity, as there wasn't enough OGS for a full bowl, but it has turned out to be an outstanding combination! Think Nightcap light with some Virginia sweetness, or OGS with some Latakia to give it some earthiness and structure. Very tasty!


----------



## karatekyle

I know a few real life smokers out there. One in my family, a few guys where I go to school. But I rarely see guys walking around with a pipe anymore.


----------



## DanR

I don't see many pipe smokers out and about (except at the local B&M where you'd expect to find them), but a few times in the course of a conversation I've gotten a response like, "I used to smoke a pipe" or "I haven't smoked my pipe in years". I usually follow that up with some peer pressure to get them to try it again by offering up some tobacco. No takers yet though.

I'm having the last little bit of my Kajun Kake in the Darth Rader Poker. This tobacco produces the whitest and softest ash I've ever seen.


----------



## freestoke

Thought I'd revive an old thread. :spy: 

Tiger broke a shoelace. How is that possible? We know that he isn't wearing old shoes or inexpensive ones. Odd. 

Nothing odd here, though. PA in the POD.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning Jim. I'm headed north for a weekend to celebrate my parent's mothers. Looking forward to getting everyone together!


----------



## freestoke

Have a great Grandmother's Day, Kyle! :smile:

Another day of BRUTAL wind. Gonna have closed to 30 mph gusts out there today, but at least it'll be warmer. Yesterday, it was barely over 60 with 20 mph winds that helped on not one single hole. Swirling. Horrible. Parred the first two and the last, bogied everything in between. :frown: Hit every fairway, too. It'll be harder today. :frown:

Moving on to some straight 5B while I watch the Morning Drive with Charlie Rhymer. Some Georgia tobacco for "Pork Chop". :lol:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puffers!

Hot coffee and some Penzance in a MM Country Gent started my day. Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Mom's Day weekend!


----------



## freestoke

Mornin' everybody! 

Hey, Dan, I'm finally giving this Latakia Flake a go! :wave: 

Burning along in the Country Gent...p...:shock: Wow! Nice stuff, Dan! Very impressive! :tu Even though the moisture level seemed perfect, I still didn't expect such a nice burn from a Latakia. After I broke it up a bit, it was a really easy fill, almost fool-proof. I might have to acquire a bit of this on my next TAD expedition. Really appreciate the sample! :smile:

The wind has subsided! Gonna be on the tee by 2:30. I am SO sick of playing in the wind, it's going to be a treat! :smile: When I lived in Wichita, there might have been more wind, but it blew from a single direction at a fairly constant velocity. Around here it blows back and forth, stops and starts, swirls, gusts -- inFURIATING! :frown:


----------



## mcgreggor57

Good morning all. Since making the decision to smoke in my car, I've started to look forward to the commute to and from work. I justified a pipe while driving, with the caveat that only aro's (and the occasional PA), would be smoked. Typically it's Capt Black but today I decided to go with Solani X Sweet Mystery. For some reason this Cav/VA aro doesn't seem to get much press. All I know is it started my day off well.

Have a good one fellas!


----------



## freestoke

Mornin' Gregg! I've learned to enjoy driving with a pipe myself, almost always a cob and the Serial Aromatics Pouch. Occasionally I'll cast aweigh with some Kendal Kentucky or Royal Yacht or something, but usually I fill the pipe as I pull out of the driveway for the "complete experience". :smile:

Right now, just a basic Country Gentleman full of PA with some coffee. :cp


----------



## DanR

I made my own "burley morning blend" this morning - just playing around, I mixed equal parts Middleton Apple, 5 Brothers, SWR Aromatic, and Butternut Burley. It was actually quite good. Ok, I admit it, it had more 5 Brothers than just an equal part, but I needed a wake up.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puffers!

Hot coffee and a Grabow Royal Duke with some Sterling's 1776 Tavern started my day. Hope everyone's having a fantastic Tuesday!


----------



## freestoke

Sitting here tidying up some pipes, smoking a little Foggy Boggy. Pretty pleasant! p

Rainy day golf lesson: The game is not only "all in your head" in the sense of it being a mental game, it's your head in the physical sense as well. Every week they say, as they slow-mo the really good swings, "His head doesn't move at all. Not an inch." Some players, like Curtis Strange of old, "come off the ball" taking the club back, that is, their heads move a few inches back with the backswing, but they return to where they started for the downstroke and it stays there. Oddly enough, the old maxim, "Keep your eye on the ball," works wonders, since your brain actually holds your head still to accommodate the eyes' ability to focus on a stationary object. If you focus on the ball, then your head will tend to remain steady naturally. One of the central features of human anatomy is that the head is firmly attached to the rest of the body; move it back and forth or up and down and the body goes with it. (Actually, you have to move it somewhere with your body, so it's a little like watching the "sun set": The sun is not setting, the horizon is moving up.)


----------



## karatekyle

Enjoyed a heck of a bowl of CBW en route to work today. Smelled great in my truck the whole way!


----------



## ProbateGeek

I had my usual 1792 Flake in the CG cob this morning on the way in. Then popped out for another bowl at lunch. 
Yeah, the commute is ALMOST enjoyable with a little 'baccy to help get ya there.









And since I just hit 230,000 miles on the Volvo, I'm not all that concerned about ghosting the interior. p


----------



## freestoke

It wouldn't look like that around here after that long, Terry. :lol: Undercoat your brains out, the only thing ever built to last on these salty roads is a Delorean.

Uh...excuse me a minute, I have to go brew some coffee.

Okay, while that's cooking I'll load up some RY...and let cats in and out.

It's beautiful now, but the weather's due to turn sour in a while when the front hits. No golf today, so I'll light up and bore you with a second golf lesson. There are lots of ways to grip the club and learn how to hit it that way. All kinds of grips show up in PGA winners and hall of famers, but if you ask me the simplest grip idea is one I heard from Lee Trevino. The back of the left hand should match where the clubface is pointing. The back of the left and the clubface are totally linked through the shaft, when one moves the other moves in complete synch, so if you arrange to have the back of the left hand pointing at the target at impact, the clubface will be pointing there too. _ Ouila_.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Good morning Jim and thanks for the lesson LOL. Our revisions came out yesterday and my index dropped 1/10 of a point. At least my weight is coming off faster 

This morning I was in the mood for something simple and straight forward. Truth be told, I was wishing my commute was longer than 10 minutes so I could thoroughly enjoy a bowl of substance prior to beginning my workday. In the end I opted to pack my Missouri Pride with PA and save gas money by taking my normal route. Lunchtime might find me sneaking in a walk with another bowl. Enjoy the day gents.


----------



## ProbateGeek

mcgreggor57 said:


> Truth be told, I was wishing my commute was longer than 10 minutes . . .


You are a cruel man, my friend. I say that as someone who some days spends 2.5 hours in the Volvo to and from work. Of course, that includes dropping off/picking up both daughter and wife along the commute, but still. Cruel.

:mrgreen:


----------



## Nachman

I popped open a pound can if GLP Westminster this morning. It has about a year and a half of age on it and tastes less harsh than a fresh tin and the oriental have settled down a bit. I have a three year old small tin that is quite swollen that I need to open one of these days before it explodes. I will post a review on that one when I do.


----------



## gahdzila

mcgreggor57 said:


> Truth be told, I was wishing my commute was longer than 10 minutes so I could thoroughly enjoy a bowl of substance prior to beginning my workday.


Wake up 20 minutes earlier, enjoy 2/3 or 3/4 of a bowl on the porch with your coffee, and finish it in the car. That's what I do :mrgreen:


----------



## mcgreggor57

gahdzila said:


> Wake up 20 minutes earlier, enjoy 2/3 or 3/4 of a bowl on the porch with your coffee, and finish it in the car. That's what I do :mrgreen:












RG for that suggestion.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Enjoying some Moe's Confetti in a MM Country Gentleman this rainy morning. I'll eventually get to some sleep but the sound of the rain and this fine tobacco go very nicely together. 

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!


----------



## Derrick_Y

Little cool here in Ontario this morning. 3 degrees c or 35 Fahrenheit. My LL Bean PIPE came in an is nicer than the photos showed. So nice looking I do not want to use it. So it was a morning Bowl of Stokkebye Nougat in my Basket pipe with a Coffee at 5:45am watching the sun break over the horizon.


----------



## gahdzila

LOL @ Gregg. Thanks for the RG!

My brother-in-law's graduation is this morning, so I'm out of town with the family. I mostly smoke cigars on the go, but I did bring a couple of pipes and a pouch of some stuff I mixed up. I was going for the least offensive odor to others whilst giving the most satisfying body and flavor to me. It's mostly a strawberry aro, a good bit of rehydrated Five Brothers, and a few other things I can't recall. Anyway.....it's smoking great with hotel lobby Starbucks! Of course, practically all hotels are 100% smoke free now, so I'm relegated to a bench outside.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Taking Clifford's earlier suggestion, I began my day outside about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. I'm still working on some of the samples I received in the NST and decided to re-visit one that was ~meh~ the first couple of times around. This morning the PS Luxury Twist Flake found it's way to the bottom of the GDB. That pipe had been pushed to the back of the line, in favor of my cobs, and was whimpering to come out and play. 

I have to admit it was a nice change of pace from my usual morning commuters (PA and CBW). While I still couldn't discern any sweetness or spice, it kept me company nicely. Enjoy the day gentlemen!


@ Derrick. Brrrm that's a bit chilly. Any pcis of the LL Bean?


----------



## loki993

For me conference call and some Luxury Bullseye Flake in one of my Pauls Cayugas


----------



## Derrick_Y

I have not taken any of my own yet. Keep threatening to set-up a Light Box in the garage but always seem to find something else todo. These are from the ebay listing.

This is a weird spring for us weather wise. Frost warning last night yet the long weekend they are calling for high of 29c or about 85f. We live in a resort/tourist community so if the temps hit that for this long weekend our population will go from about 14,000 to 45,000 over night


----------



## freestoke

G'mornin' everybody! The rhododendrons are blooming! :smile:

Had a little PA earlier, but I'm shifting into high gear early with some RY. No golf again today -- playable, but I don't feel like dealing with the wind, so I think I'll hit a bucket at the range and solidify a couple of things I'm working on.


----------



## Derrick_Y

Starting the day with some CH in the LL Bean hoping to see the sun burn through some early morning cloud cover


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All, I haven't been able to get on Puff much this week. Work is kicking my butt and I'm in meetings 9 to 10 hours a day.

BUT, on the bright side, I still have a commute that allows me to pipe a little. This morning it was LNF semi-rubbed out. I packed more than I thought was appropriate (because I'd put the jar away and didn't want to waste the extra) and was surprised to find it smoked very well. Looks like it is again time to experiment with how I load the bowl.


----------



## gahdzila

I'm home, but I've still got that pouch of strawberry aro mix, so I decided to work on it a bit more this morning.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Virginia Woods was the bowl de jour. Tomorrow morning is our annual neighborhood yard sale, well advertised and usually well attended. That means no golf until after 3:00 as my wife will be at work and we have entirely too much crapola laying around to bypass this years sale. The bigger question is: Should I smoke during the sale and if so, I'm thinking an aro simply for the room ... er, garage, note. 

Have a marvy day everyone!


----------



## freestoke

The trouble with yard sales is all those people. I'm going to try to escape the neighborhood this weekend and hope they don't park on the lawn again this year. For some reason, people decide that it's perfectly okay to put big ruts in my yard since parking on the street would -- I don't know, what exactly WOULD that do? Cars in front of the house, nicely on the pavement and shoulder seem to cause no problems whatsoever, but some jerk with his/her behemoth, heavy, huge-wheeled monstrosity invariably feels it's necessary to park six feet onto the grass, creating deep ruts which will make it very difficult for me to push the mower over the area. They sometimes get a nice run in the yard, half off the road, while they gawk at crap in the driveways across the street. Since I don't have any waste for sale, my house becomes invisible, apparently. Might as well be an empty lot. I've noticed that if you have people in the driveway waiting patiently for buyers, nobody parks on your lawn. I've noticed that they park in front of the houses with nobody selling anything, as if people who weren't offering them fresh junk are not worthy of their consideration. 

Should have saved that one for the rant thread! :lol: Gonna be a great day for golf, so you guys don't have to worry about another lesson at least! Just getting around to my opening PA, today in the TwoDot apple.


----------



## gahdzila

I didn't realize how badly some of my pipes needed reaming until I bought a reamer and went to work on them  I should get an extra 10 minutes or so out of this MM Diplomat now!

Nightcap. The jar is getting low, I simply MUST order more.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Good morning folks!

I'm about to drive to Vegas for the weekend. I was planning on taking the motorcycle, but I awoke to the first decent rain we've had in over a month. Ah well, at least I'll be able to smoke in the car. Haven't picked what yet...but I'll be smoking.

Have a great weekend!

RD


----------



## ProbateGeek

I sailed in to work this morning on two bowls of the Royal Yacht in my dad's Comoys bent bulldog. Yup, I'm awake now... p

EDIT: Gotta add the photo for Jim!


----------



## laloin

gahdzila said:


> I'm home, but I've still got that pouch of strawberry aro mix, so I decided to work on it a bit more this morning.


cliff you send that strawberry aro to me, I'm gonna nuke your mailbox with M79 heh


----------



## freestoke

I gotta say, you're takin'* really* nice care of that pipe, Terry! :tu

Nothing could save me out there today. I never missed the fairway off the tee and shot an ENORMOUS number!  I'm too embarrassed to tell anybody. Ever hear of an "up and down"? That means you chipped/pitched something close enough to make the putt. I managed an "up-up-down-down-down" today at 6.

Trying to recover my equanimity with a bowl of Dart Mix. p Better, but I wish I had some 5B with me for a few quick bowls of furious nicotine infusion.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Haven't been to bed yet but nonetheless enjoying the last of a tub of Sugar Barrel in a MM Legend... Perfect with a cup of morning coffee. Already have my "honey do" list for the weekend and after a brief nap I'll get it started.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!


----------



## Derrick_Y

Off with the wife early this am to hit a couple of estate sales and an auction. Loaded up the Basket with Stokkebye Nougat for my drive about.

On a separate note I came home yesterday to a Canada Post Sticker on my Door saying they tried to deliver a package and nobody was home so go to Post Office to Pick it up. The only package I am expecting is my NPS trade package, so I rushed to the post office with visions of wonderful Tobacco blends from Trouman22 to try all weekend. They have lost the package. The best the clerk could tell me was maybe the delivery person took it home for weekend and will drop back at the post office Tuesday. So to check back with them on Thursday.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Derrick...swing by our house and I'll make you a deal on all the crap we have out for this yard sale thingie 

The official start time for our annual neighborhood event was 8:00am which meant I had the door up at 7:00. Slow start to the morning and not as many houses participating, but I've met a lot of nice people. One young man was a pipe/cigar smoker and we had a nice chat about the B&M's in town. Another 4 hours to go and we're up $180. Of course all I can hear is people teeing off and jonesing to get out for a round this afternoon. 

Oh yeah, the pipe. I went with some Dan's Sweet Vanilla Honeydew in my CG. I figured it has a good room note and the cob can take some abuse. Carp Diem folks...Fish of the day!


----------



## freestoke

A few years ago, the high temp for the year here was 86F. That's the projected high for today and it isn't even summer! :shock: The pollen count might force me to a cart on the course today. Bummer. Except for in scrambles, where you have to carry the beer and pick up the scattered unused shots, I hate golf carts more than practically anything on the planet, but my asthma makes it tough to get around the course when the pollen's this high. If I were true to my values, I just wouldn't play when it gets like this, so not only am I riding in a cart, which I HATE, I'm being a hypocrite!  Really, I should just take a three wood, a seven iron and a putter out there and beat it around. 

Enjoying my opening 4Dot with some PA and coffee, as I contemplate the weakness of the flesh. p


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> A few years ago, the high temp for the year here was 86F. That's the projected high for today and it isn't even summer! :shock: The pollen count might force me to a cart on the course today. Bummer. Except for in scrambles, where you have to carry the beer and pick up the scattered unused shots, I hate golf carts more than practically anything on the planet, but my asthma makes it tough to get around the course when the pollen's this high. If I were true to my values, I just wouldn't play when it gets like this, so not only am I riding in a cart, which I HATE, I'm being a hypocrite!  Really, I should just take a three wood, a seven iron and a putter out there and beat it around.
> 
> Enjoying my opening 4Dot with some PA and coffee, as I contemplate the weakness of the flesh. p


Good Morning Jim. I say play golf. It beats staying home and doing nothing. Besides, we won't tell anyone you broke your own rule and rode in a cart!

I'm enjoying a bowl of SG Navy Flake with my coffee this morning. I let it dry, but it's still a bit too moist for my preference. Nonetheless, it's a nice smoke!


----------



## Derrick_Y

Late Start to my day today. And am paying the price. already well into the 80's by 10:00am and this is the day I promised SWMBO that I would cut the grass and do some yard work. 

The sales yesterday where a bust but I did find one person who had a box with about 15 or 20 pipes in it. I wanted to buy a Irish Bent basket pipe that looked allot like a Peterson, right down to the Silver ferule. But nobody could find the owner to give me a price so I walked on. I may slide back by today as they were having the sale again today. 

As I mentioned in another thread I found some Brigham blends locally, so while out I picked up a pouch of Brighams Solitude. Loaded that up and really enjoyed it. Might be my favorite so far of my limited selection


----------



## karatekyle

Haven't been able to break out the real tobacco in a while. Been puffing on CBW and keeping the reserves filled with snuff. There's something to be said for snuff but it's tough to hit the spot like a bowl of the good stuff does. Sure, a bologna sandwich will fill ya up but not the way a medium-rare porterhouse does. I need to make some time to head to the smoke shop for something good!


----------



## freestoke

Your cellar looks in decent shape, Kyle. Why the "smoke shop"? :ask: Or it that just somewhere to smoke? Whatever, get something decent in that pipe before you turn into a codger! 

Been through the last of my open Stonehaven and a Red Cake dessert. I'll be playing Pasteur Polo today, I think. But I have always thought you could ride if you had a medical excuse, so maybe it's not so evil. Those 16 year olds out there riding around mindlessly should be CADDYING!! :anim_soapbox:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Hot coffee and a bowl of Half & Half started my day. Didn't get a lot done yesterday in regards to my weekend "honey do" list so have to get on that at some point. Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Your cellar looks in decent shape, Kyle. Why the "smoke shop"? :ask: Or it that just somewhere to smoke? Whatever, get something decent in that pipe before you turn into a codger!
> 
> Been through the last of my open Stonehaven and a Red Cake dessert. I'll be playing Pasteur Polo today, I think. But I have always thought you could ride if you had a medical excuse, so maybe it's not so evil. Those 16 year olds out there riding around mindlessly should be CADDYING!! :anim_soapbox:


Definitely just for a place to smoke. I have enough good stuff for now, I just need somewhere to enjoy it!


----------



## freestoke

Another morning started with PA, but I just had a bowl of UF and 3BM scraps that was quite enjoyable. Might have to move on to some nicotine now, though. Maybe a bit of RY. Yes, RY seems mandatory at the moment. p


----------



## phinz

A Falcon stuffed with Boswell's Vanilla Cream, sitting at my new desk at our new (to us) Gatlinburg retreat. Waiting on Best Buy to get here with our TV delivery.


----------



## Stonedog

Edward's bent bulldog with Edward's Bishop Burley. I may have to post a review of this blend when I'm done with the pouch.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Ahhh...tis a beautiful morning. This week is shaping up to be a busy one. I was able to sneak out yesterday noon for a charity scramble and have an appointment with an appraiser and then a painter yet this week with the possibility of closing on our re-fi Friday. (Personally I think it will be next week sometime). This morning brought out some First Responder in the GDB. This is another tobacco this is much better than I remember it being when I first tried it in February.


----------



## freestoke

Wow! It went away! :smile: HipHop squares is the worst internet ad I ever saw! :shock:


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Wow! It went away! :smile: HipHop squares is the worst internet ad I ever saw! :shock:


Big vertical pop-up bars down each side of the screen? Yeah, I saw it once yesterday, too. I don't remember if it was on this thread or not. But I only saw it the one time, and not at all since :hmm:

A day off work, and I woke up early-ish, so I have a little time to relax this morning. PA/5B in the Legend.


----------



## Derrick_Y

LL Bean with Kentucky Kendall. Not near as enjoyable as I had hoped.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Hip Hop Squares just sounds terrible. I got the advert myself a few days ago. Annoying!

So, I bought a house 2 days ago. Today I'm meeting the city gent to get the water turned on. The house has been vacant since December, and the lawn is a fine shade of brown due to the sprinklers not having water. The good news is that brown grass doesn't grow that fast. It is 4 miles from the place that I've been renting, so I'm planning multiple trips back and forth to get everything moved over there.

I've got some Red Rapparee to puff on my first trip in a new to me pipe I just picked up from Pipeworks (of Pipeworks and Wilke fame).


----------



## gahdzila

Congrats on finally getting the house, Gabe! Brown grass = no mowing!

Speaking of lawn care, I've spent this morning rigging up a bypass for a stupid safety "feature" of my new riding lawn mower. If you put it in reverse with the blades engaged (or, likewise, engage the blades while backing up), BOOM, whole thing shuts down, engine and all. REALLY?!? Who designs this crap? Lawyers who don't mow their own lawns, methinks. Sometimes you just really need to mow in reverse! This must be something relatively new, I guess, as my last lawn mower didn't do this. Simple fix once I figured it out - found the safety switch, disconnected it, and made a little jumper wire. 

My last lawn mower did have the safety switch on the seat (engine shuts off when it detects that you get off of the seat), as does this one. It doesn't bother me so bad on a new (read: reliable) lawn mower, so I left that in place for now. But I had bypassed it years ago on my old one. When you've got an old rickety lawn mower held together with duct tape and haywire and a prayer, that takes 20 minutes and significant effort to get started, it's a MAJOR headache to have it die and have to go through all that crap again just because you need to hop out of the seat to pick up a tree branch or something. What's the point, anyway? CARS DON'T EVEN DO THIS!

Prince Albert, how I have missed you! I had plenty, but was trying to empty out some other jars before opening more. Bowl #3!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Home from work for a little while now and unwinding with a glass of sweet iced tea and a MM Legend with Moe's Confetti. 

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!


----------



## laloin

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> Home from work for a little while now and unwinding with a glass of sweet iced tea and a MM Legend with Moe's Confetti.
> 
> Hope everyone has a great Thursday!


I hope that sweet ice tea was in a mason jar Dale 
oh wait all our mason jars are full of yummy tobacco sleeping, never mind.....


----------



## gahdzila

Prince Albert in a cob. Morning just ain't morning without it ipe:


----------



## Derrick_Y

Bowl full of Scotty's Butternut Burly. 

Really seeing a trend now towards the type of tobacco I enjoy.


----------



## freestoke

The dirty pipes have been piling up, so I just reamed and cleaned the 4Dot and cleaned another 3 pipes. The Sasieni Canadian has helm on a Royal Yacht excursion. p 

Beautiful day out there, so I'm going to try to hit some decent irons this afternoon.


----------



## houncer

Sipping some Macbaren's Vanilla Cream out of a bent billiard basket pipe. This is my first try at anything vanilla.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Not sure what I smoked. I grabbed the cob that I had been puffing all last Saturday during the yard sale only to find it was still 1/2 full. I was expecting the Vanilla Honeydew, but it definitely wasn't that. My palate isn't developed enough to really discern many tobacco profiles, but I'm pretty sure it was a VA. I did get a house blend VA/PER that was somewhat non-descript, so I'm thinking it might have been the remnants of that bowl. Oh well, I topped it off with PA and called it a morning.


----------



## RupturedDuck

gahdzila said:


> Congrats on finally getting the house, Gabe! Brown grass = no mowing!


Thanks Clifford! Sprinkler is on. There are 3 fully grown apricot trees, 2 cherry trees, and an apple tree on the property that didn't get any attention this spring. Doesn't look like they needed it...all of them are filled with young fruit and looking very healthy. Now, to get that lawn back to good!

I bought a Savinelli Straight Grain off eBay, and it came with a cheap crappy stem. Back in, wow...maybe February I mailed the pipe to the Savinelli folks here in the US, and they mailed it off to Italy. Well yesterday I got it back! I love the new stem...makes for a great pipe! Even though it took a long time to get back, every time I fired off an email checking in with Jonathan over at Savinelli-US (also famous for their smoking video :wink Jonathan would respond quickly letting me know he hadn't heard anything, or about how much longer to expect kind of thing. I really appreciated this because when you send a pipe out, a few months go by, and communication is poor...well at least I start getting antsy, wondering if I'll ever see that pipe again!

Anyway it is back and better than ever. I put a little Presbyterian Mixture through it during my first coffee break. Good morning!

RD


----------



## freestoke

RupturedDuck said:


> Thanks Clifford! Sprinkler is on.


:ask: Why? What's wrong with brown grass? It will be fine until it rains, at which point it turns green and starts growing. I've never understood watering a lawn. Work to water it, work to take care of the inevitable result of making it grow. Without crabgrass, dandelions, buttercups and clover, lawns are really, really boring, too. In spring, they can be really pretty with all those flowers. I even mow around nice patches, leaving miniature wildflower gardens here and there, but by summer, my lawn looks as even and green as the people down the street who poison the soil with the chemical crap. You can really see it some days, where I have bunches of robins, grackels, starlings or whatever, happily foraging for earthworms and grubs, and the bees are busy with the clover. Their lawns never have birds in them, because there's nothing to eat, and certainly no clover. The person next door died a few years back and the new tenants didn't continue use the chemicals, so it took several years for the soil to regain the bacteria and organisms necessary for normal grass. It looked really bad for a while, but eventually started to recover. You actually see robins over there now. The chemlawns are essentially dead. The good part is that if your kid develops a vicious rash or your cat dies after one of the commercial applications, you can get a great settlement to keep you from testifying against them and causing a stink.

Congrats on the house, though! :tu


----------



## houncer

Just finished my bowl of Vanilla Cream. The vanilla was MUCH more subtle than I was expecting but I got no bite and when the end of the bowl came I was wanting more. This will be one I will visit again.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Growing up we used that same sort of logic. My dad would always comment about our neighbor who seemed to be constantly putzing with his lawn. One point he was fond of making was that picking up lawn clippings made fertilizing necessary. If you just mowed the lawn and left the clippings there to decompose, you saved yourself two steps.

Here in Utah, we get pretty dry summers. It might rain two or three times between now and Labor Day, but certainly not enough to make grass turn green. Without watering, my lawn would be a sandlot by next spring. Of course, sandlots don't require mowing either....

RD


----------



## freestoke

Yeah, livin' in the desert is a bit different from central NY. :lol: Grass is green around here pretty much all year, even underneath the snow cover. :hippie: 

Just starting my after lunch bowl of PA. p


----------



## Stonedog

Well, it's morning _somewhere_ so Good Morning all!

LNF musketballed into the trusty basket pipe. Conditions must have been perfect because is stayed lit and smoked cool and very flavorful. I was beginning to think that Haddo's Delight would be my go-to vaper and I wouldn't order LNF for a while. I guess there's room for two vapers in my rotation...


----------



## mcgreggor57

I'm hoping to finish everything early enough to get a jump start on the weekend. Of course the boss would need to buy into this plan as well :wink:

I continued grazing through samples from the NPS and comparing notes from 3 months back. Today I plucked lucky sample # 965, or more specifically, Dunhill My Mixture 965. It's still not my favorite, but it is growing on me. There is probably enough left for two more bowls so I'm holding judgment until the very end. It's definitely a better smoke than it was 3 months ago. 

Have a great day everyone!


----------



## freestoke

Last night I was reading along and ran across the name of a health insurance company in California, StayHealthy. Does anybody else sense a threat there? :spy: I would NEVER buy health insurance from a company whose name implied that I better not need it. :lol: "Stay healthy, because we're planning to put all the payments into offshore accounts, then declare bankruptcy and stick our customers with all the unpaid medical bills." 

This newly cleaned and reamed 4Dot is behaving admirably with my morning stoke of PA. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

The usual 1792 Flake in the meer for my morning commute. Always on the lookout for other pipers, I did get two nasty looks this morning from cigarette smokers - pity them. I did not have enough time this morning to let the flakes air out enough, so had a rough time towards the end of the bowl keeping it going. I hate it when that happens.

Have a nice Friday, gentlemen, and a glorious weekend! 
< _just don't drive to the Pacific Northwest - I paid $4.44/gallon this morning for gas, and they say prices here are still on the rise _:noidea:>


----------



## RupturedDuck

ProbateGeek said:


> The usual 1792 Flake in the meer for my morning commute. Always on the lookout for other pipers, I did get two nasty looks this morning from cigarette smokers - pity them. I did not have enough time this morning to let the flakes air out enough, so had a rough time towards the end of the bowl keeping it going. I hate it when that happens.
> 
> Have a nice Friday, gentlemen, and a glorious weekend!
> < _just don't drive to the Pacific Northwest - I paid $4.44/gallon this morning for gas, and they say prices here are still on the rise _:noidea:>


It sounds like it is time to get yourself a motorcycle! That is the upside to it not raining much here in Utah...in the summer I save a hundred bucks a week or so (that I wisely reinvest in tobacco tins) by selecting my motorcycle over my other vehicle.

Tuesday the internet goes on in my new place, and I can relocate my home office to the Smokers Friendly address. Until then, I'm outdoors. This morning I enjoyed a bowl of Darth Waffle in one of two estate pipes I picked up yesterday from a local B&M.

RD


----------



## freestoke

Having some of the much-dogged Foggy Boggy in the Szabo. (Sorry I haven't been much help on the research front, but thanks for the smoke! :tu )

Must be a conspiracy, Terry, since gas prices have fallen about 15 cents in the past few weeks around here, $3.81 down the street where I get milk. :spy:
(Anybody remember when $3.81 would have been an outrage? They've really softened us up. :lol


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Must be a conspiracy, Terry, since gas prices have fallen about 15 cents in the past few weeks around here, $3.81 down the street where I get milk. :spy:
> (Anybody remember when $3.81 would have been an outrage? They've really softened us up. :lol


We're plagued with local refinery shutdowns, and no east/west pipelines. When it comes to gasoline, the Pacific Northwest is an island.


----------



## laloin

ProbateGeek said:


> We're plagued with local refinery shutdowns, and no east/west pipelines. When it comes to gasoline, the Pacific Northwest is an island.


I'm here in Southern California. I filled up the tank at my local Costco, gas was $4.19 a gallon, soo I feel ya Bro
troy


----------



## karatekyle

Filled up for $60 today and it wasn't even on empty!


----------



## phinz

I paid $3.31 for 92 octane.


----------



## Derrick_Y

Doing the Math it would seem I paid 4.81/gallon today. Sure glad prices are down right now here :fear:


----------



## ProbateGeek

My brother-in-law in Korea pays about $100 US each time he fills up his Hyundai Sonata. Guess we should consider ourselves lucky...


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Home from work and off for the weekend... And enjoying a bowl of Black Cavendish - Have no idea what brand - In a MM Country Gentleman, Very mild and sweet but still I'm liking it. Another of the unlabeled small baggies I have been storing in jars for awhile. Cold, tart lemonade is complimenting this nicely. 

When you light up this weekend... Be it pipe or cigar... Remember those that gave so much for the freedom to do so.


----------



## laloin

ProbateGeek said:


> My brother-in-law in Korea pays about $100 US each time he fills up his Hyundai Sonata. Guess we should consider ourselves lucky...


why does he need a car in Korea. they have plenty of mass transportation there. even a subway


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gents! Long work weekend for me. I usually have a small cigar before work, and today it's an Oliva Serie G Special G, a small Cameroon wrapped figurado. Decent enough, but certainly not blowing my socks off.


----------



## freestoke

phinz said:


> I paid $3.31 for 92 octane.


Unless you're driving a 1961 Buick Roadmaster or something, bag the high octane gas. Useless in a modern car engine and doesn't even provide more pickup that you'd notice, unless maybe you're drag racing people at the stoplights in town. You'll get better mileage with the lower octane rating, too. Higher octane gasoline is a scam these days and has been for many years. Once upon a time, the big "Deep Breathers", like the Cadillac 457 cubic inch engine, needed higher octane to keep from "pinging", but those days are long, long, long in the past. Car engines haven't pinged in decades.

Starting the day with some PA+KK, for an early nicotine jump-start. What a day to start the weekend! Beautiful out there! :smile:


----------



## freestoke

I stuck a balsa filter that I found loose in the envelope box (of all places :ask into the Szabo last night. Figure I'll use it again this morning for some *Ennerdale*! ainkiller: Haven't had any for a week or so. Yummy! p

I see nobody's at work today! :lol:


----------



## KBibbs

freestoke said:


> I see nobody's at work today! :lol:


 Not yet, give me a couple more hours though...
Debating what I want to smoke to start the break-in of my new Savinelli 316 antique shell. Looks almost just like the Sistina, but considerably cheaper. And who'da known the newest B&M in my town (which I've only visited once before) had one just like I wanted!
Only problem is they also had the 920 dublin I wanted, the duca carlo bulldog, and some tins that I've never tried, though only in 100g. I might have to write down a list of their tins and look them up to see if any sound like ones I'll like...


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

It's a beautiful Sunday morning! The coffee is hot and the MM Country Gent in my hand is not... Enjoying some 5 Brothers in my trusty cob. Company arriving shortly after Noon for a cookout gives me lots to do this morning but I refuse to rush this lovely, peaceful time. There's just something about the tranquility of a Sunday morning that makes everything seem okay in the world.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!


----------



## Andrewdk

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> It's a beautiful Sunday morning! The coffee is hot and the MM Country Gent in my hand is not... Enjoying some 5 Brothers in my trusty cob. Company arriving shortly after Noon for a cookout gives me lots to do this morning but I refuse to rush this lovely, peaceful time. There's just something about the tranquility of a Sunday morning that makes everything seem okay in the world.
> 
> Hope everyone has a great Sunday!


My favourite day of the week, nothing better then a quiet sunday morning with good coffee and a pipe in hand.


----------



## houncer

Starting the day with some Early Morning Pipe and a cup of Earl Grey tea. Birds chirping & little else.....


----------



## DanR

Just finished off the last of my Darth Waffle (P&C Fusion Lab blend by CaptainEnormous), in a pipe made by him as well.


----------



## karatekyle

houncer said:


> Starting the day with some Early Morning Pipe and a cup of Earl Grey tea. Birds chirping & little else.....


Now THAT'S a heck of a breakfast.


----------



## freestoke

Probably going to get out to the course a little earlier than normal today. Might have to take a wheelchair, what with grass pollen being in the mix for the air quality warning, plus temps close to 90. Definitely need to keep it out of the rough! Brutal!! 

Trying to wake up with my second cup of Columbian and a bowl of PA in the 4Dot.


----------



## Derrick_Y

Working in my home office today. Have my Cup of Coffee and the brebbia loaded with some McClellands Virgina #24


----------



## freestoke

I'm on a similar wavelength, Derrick, with a bowl of Red Cake going in the Mayfair prince. Very nice stuff, but I'm getting antsy for some nicotine. Royal Yacht on deck!

The rain just moved in early, so no golf this morning. Had planned to play before it hit, forecast for later about 2, but that's out. It might clear up this afternoon, though. Here's hopin'! 

I talked about Trevino's tip with the back of the left hand at the target once a while back, but I think the right hand palm might be even more important if you're more a right hand dominant player like me. (I loved Bop Charles' claim that he was playing right handed and all the rest of us are playing lefty! :lol: Charles is right handed, like Mickelson, playing from the "other side", and noted that he wore his glove on the right hand, that his dominant eye was on the target side, and that he stands to the right of the ball. In the same vein, Ben Hogan was left handed.) 

I think the worst thing that can happen through the hitting area is to allow the front of the hand, ie, the fingers, to be adding leverage or twisting to the shaft. Bring the right hand in flat, almost like you're hitting a wall with the heel of your hand. Levering with the index finger and the front of the hand is very "fragile" and gives only an illusion of added force. The application of power farther back along the grip also provides a higher gear ratio for more clubhead speed, unifies the hands, automatically delays the release and creates a better impact position.


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Puff Pipers, and Happy Memorial Day! Let us not forget those that sacrificed their lives so we can enjoy our freedom!

I started this lovely morning with a bowl of GLP Union Square. This is from the tin that RJPuffs gifted to me with a lot of age on it. It was magnificent, as always. I really enjoy Union Square, but it's certainly special when given to you by a friend. Thanks RJ! 

Now, I am having a bowl of aged Rattray Black Mallory. A few of us posted reviews on this very tin of tobacco a while back, so I'll just comment that it has aged nicely!

Cheers!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Half & Half in a MM Legend and hot coffee started my day off. Have to work this afternoon but the time and a half takes the edge away. 

Hope everyone has a Great Memorial Day! ... And please, take a brief pause today to say Thank You to those that gave all for our continued freedoms.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers, and Happy Memorial Day! Let us not forget those that sacrificed their lives so we can enjoy our freedom!


I would add those who put their lives at risk, but returned in one piece. My father received full military honors when he died, having flown bombers over Europe during the entire course of WWII. Must have been some pilot. "We got shot up some, but we never got shot down. We were real lucky." Now you got me crying, Dan. Think I'll smoke a bowl of Carter Hall for him today. He could smoke his pipe some, too, that's for sure!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

11 years ago, in the early morning hours on the day following Memorial Day, my Father returned Home to his Glory. I'm remembering our times together this morning and having some Half & Half in one of his old Medico pipes he carried in Vietnam. I'm not sure what exactly he smoked in them back then as he stopped smoking when I was very young, but knowing my Dad it wan't anything expensive. Love and miss you Daddy!


----------



## Andrewdk

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> 11 years ago, in the early morning hours on the day following Memorial Day, my Father returned Home to his Glory. I'm remembering our times together this morning and having some Half & Half in one of his old Medico pipes he carried in Vietnam. I'm not sure what exactly he smoked in them back then as he stopped smoking when I was very young, but knowing my Dad it wan't anything expensive. Love and miss you Daddy!


Very nice looking pipes Dale and a fitting way to remember a loved one. Hope one of my loved ones will cherish my pipes the same way.


----------



## freestoke

I think my father had one just like the bent bulldog, Dale. He had about ten pipes, I think, Medicos, Grabows, maybe a Kaywoodie or two, and a leather covered Longchamp that he bought in Germany when we were on vacation. He smoked the leather one on the golf course for some reason. No cobs, though. :lol:

Last night I put the charring light to a bowl of 5100, put it down and forgot about it, so that's what I'm starting with this morning. p


----------



## Stonedog

I had a bowl of McB Navy Flake this morning. I've got a few bowls of that, maybe 8 bowls of a few other blends plus some PA and LNF. So, I'm almost through my stash and will finally feel OK ordering some of the blends I want to keep in rotation.


----------



## freestoke

For some reason, the old jar of English Luxury caught my eye. I've been nibbling on it for a year, at least! The Country Gentleman hasn't seen much activity at all the past week or two, so I'm giving it a shot. p


----------



## gahdzila

PA as usual :mrgreen: Piano lessons for me and junior early this morning, then back home to pack for a weekend trip to the Crescent City (no kids allowed!).


----------



## Derrick_Y

Medium Americano on my favorite Cafe patio with the brebbia loaded with PS Nougat. Love this time of year.


----------



## Stonedog

A small bowl of Haddo's Delight in the MM Patriot this morning. Good stuff!


----------



## freestoke

Gorgimus day! After the big rain last night, I'll be happy to be playing my regular goatlot. Lots of fairways in the area will be muddy messes, but Mohawk Glen drains like a beach. Amazing. The fairways might get soft, but there's only a patch here and there where the ball will ever plug. Somewhat like like a links course. Mike needs to bring in sheep, to keep those fairways under control! And llamas instead of golf carts.

Getting ready to some more of MarkC's "A" for the PBTT, right after I finish my much-delayed first bowl of the morning, some PA/KK. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

Morning, gents. Kendal Kentucky in the big Fellini - this is certainly a "wake up" smoke for me.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning fellow pipe fanatics! I enjoyed a bowl of Bishop's Burley on the way in this morning. I packed it a little tighter than normal and used my recently cleaned MM CG. The flavor of the smoke was very different, due in part to the tighter pack and small inner diameter of the CG's bowl I'm sure. There was less of the tea-like spice from the oriental and a little more of the burley and VA. I also noted the smoke had a blue tint towards the end of the bowl. Should I be concerned about blue smoke?


----------



## Derrick_Y

Working from the home office today. So loaded up some KK in the LL Bean. 

KK seems to be the most sensitive tobacco to overheating I have tried so far. Let it get to hot and the taste changes on a dime. Using it to try and slow my smoking down and keep things cool


----------



## houncer

Trying Sugar Barrel for the first time today in my basket pipe. Last day of vacation for me so I will have to try something special later tonight.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Should I be concerned about blue smoke?


Depends on the state, who's around, where you are, etc. :hippie:

Grinding on MarkC's #2. Having blown #1, I have to get three straight right for 75% -- unless he gives me partial credit for noticing there were Virginias involved. :lol:


----------



## 36Bones

A nice cool for a change, rainy morning. Some Darth Waffle and coffee. Have a great day, people.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Moved into the new place, which means back to smoking during the working hours. This morning I'm finishing a sample of Epiphany that Danr sent over. A little bit of tobacco dust in the bottom of the bag is giving his quite a kick! Ah, it is good to be back.

I can't wait until I unpack the rest of my coffee maker!

RD


----------



## gahdzila

My friend and I are spending a long weekend in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Piano jazz on the iPod, chicory in the coffee, a private courtyard at the condo, Sterling Millionaire blend in the Kaywoodie 500. Mornings don't get much better than this!

Have a great day, gentlemen!


----------



## laloin

hey cliff send me a can of the chikory coffee, I love the stuff 
troy


----------



## laloin

RupturedDuck said:


> Moved into the new place, which means back to smoking during the working hours. This morning I'm finishing a sample of Epiphany that Danr sent over. A little bit of tobacco dust in the bottom of the bag is giving his quite a kick! Ah, it is good to be back.
> 
> I can't wait until I unpack the rest of my coffee maker!
> 
> RD


I hope your not drinking instant yuck


----------



## mcgreggor57

That sounds _awesome_ Clifford!
I realized my trusty cob had so many different bits of baccy in it that I had absolutely no idea what I was really smoking. After a quick dump of all the residual, I settled on Captain Black White. It just seemed to fit the rainy Friday commute.


----------



## RupturedDuck

laloin said:


> I hope your not drinking instant yuck


Nope, I'd do without first!

This morning I have the entire contraption assembled, located filters and beans, and my grinder. In fact, I'm enjoying my first cup with a bowl of LTF right now. The LTF is a continuation of a pipe that I started last night, and got distracted halfway through. I find LTF a little bland...I'm already trying to put together what my next pipe will be. Perhaps some Presbyterian Mixture.

The house that I purchased had been unoccupied since last summer, and nobody has touched the lawn all year. As I started to move in, there was a collective sigh in the neighborhood, as everyone was concerned when someone would start mowing my mess. This morning, my lawn team assembled. And they are out there agressively saving me effort, and increasing my standing in the neighborhood. Now if I can convince Verizon to increase their signal here, I think I'll be in pretty good standing for Rookie Neighbor of the Year.

RD


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> My friend and I are spending a long weekend in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Piano jazz on the iPod, chicory in the coffee, a private courtyard at the condo, Sterling Millionaire blend in the Kaywoodie 500. Mornings don't get much better than this!


Sounds great, Clifford! Reminds me of when I was stationed at Keesler AFB. I used to go to New Orleans a lot, only 90 miles away, and one day I heard "Sea Cruise" coming out of one of those teensy bars, stopped, looked, and there was Frankie Ford sitting in front of a piano, singing live -- wearing a tux, a big tip jar full of bills on the piano. His piano playing wasn't quite up to Huey "Piano" Smith's, but he had it down pretty decent. I threw a buck in the jar and went in for beer. There was a little pool at the bar under weigh for the Kentucky Derby winner, pull the names out of a hat for a buck. A couple of the guys bought two names, because there weren't enough of us for the field at the bar. The guy put the race on the radio behind the bar (How primitive we were then. :lol, and I won with Proud Clarion! :banana: So I bought a round of beers (everybody was drinking beer, hot and no air conditioning, 50 cents a draft as I recall), gave Frankie another buck and still walked out with a profit. He must have been miserable in that tux.

Smoking some more of this McCranie's Red Ribbon from the PBTT. I really like it!


----------



## ProbateGeek

You've been enjoying _*Freestoke Jim's Old Time Radio Hour*_, brought to you by _Cafe Du Monde Coffee & Chicory_, New Oreleans' best since 1860. 
Bring on the hot beignets!










And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Home from work around 02:30 hours... a 20 piece McNugget and a chocolate doughnut later... I was in chat for a bit, hoping to catch a Puff'er or 2 on... Nope. Browsed the boards and smoked a bowl each of Red Rapparee and an unknown Black Cavendish. Decided just a little while ago to go ahead and brew some Joe and make a morning of it. Grocery shopping at some point later... Yayyyy...Always a "joy"  "That's not healthy" verses "I like my food to taste good, or at the very least HAVE taste". (sigh).

Hope y'all have a great Saturday!


----------



## MarkC

You know you really should eat healthy, Dale, and that goes for all of you. I'm sick and tired of having to fight my way to the pot pies.


----------



## DSturg369

Marie Calender is a sexy Babe!


----------



## laloin

where do you found a Mcdo open 24 hrs. only one I've seen is in Vegas
troy


----------



## Derrick_Y

Late Start to the day for me today. Slept till 8:00am. Just drying out a piece of Dunhill Light Flake from a 4-5 year old tin I purchased yesterday. Going to go into the LL Bean I think


----------



## karatekyle

Derrick_Y said:


> Late Start to the day for me today. Slept till 8:00am. Just drying out a piece of Dunhill Light Flake from a 4-5 year old tin I purchased yesterday. Going to go into the LL Bean I think


Mmmm. Dunny Flake gets better and better with age.


----------



## Nachman

Smoked some Red Rapparee this morning.


----------



## DSturg369

laloin said:


> where do you found a Mcdo open 24 hrs. only one I've seen is in Vegas
> troy


I pass several on the drive home from work... Augusta, GA area.


----------



## laloin

DSturg369 said:


> I pass several on the drive home from work... Augusta, GA area.


ahhhh home of the Masters Tourment, bet's one course none of will ever get the chance to play


----------



## Derrick_Y

Loaded up the Tally Basket pipe with Squadron Leader for some unknown reason. To say I really did not like it when I first tried it last week would be an understatement, hate is a strong word but probably close to how I felt about it.

Today, was a completely enjoyable smoke. This is a crazy journey, something I hate 1 time turns to OMG I need more of this down the road.


----------



## freestoke

laloin said:


> ahhhh home of the Masters Tourment, bet's one course none of will ever get the chance to play


Might have a better shot at Augusta National than Pine Valley, though. :lol: Pine Valley Golf Club - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

No golf today, rain. I was pretty happy with my play yesterday, especially my putting. Made three birdies on my own ball. It was nice putting real greens for a change! :smile: We tossed a few away out there, actually making bogie at the eminently birdieable 16th, and could have won, finishing two back, but "we" got the most important job done -- a $280 skin! :banana: What I did didn't matter whatsoever, however, since the eagle on our last hole was all Audrey and another guy in our foursome. She hit the tee shot, Roger hit the second and Audrey made the putt, putting first. I can't even claim any credit for showing her the line. We didn't knock out any other skins, either, as far as I know, so John (another guy in our group) and I could have stayed back at the clubhouse and drunk beer! :lol:

The tournament was at Rome Country Club, Rome Country Club - "Four Stars!" - Golf Digest, where I reached one of my golfing goals, to be a club champion somewhere. I won it in 1989 by 7 shots over two days. I was choking my brains out the second day, missing a 3 foot birdie putt at the first, making a 6 at the par 3 second, and three putting again for bogie at the third. Audrey was playing behind me (on her way to winning her third of four club championships! :first, teeing off at two. I walked over on my way to the fourth tee and she says my hands were shaking and I was white as ghost. :lol: She told me to settle down and play some golf, so I followed orders and shot two under the rest of the way in. It was actually very close until the last few holes, when my two closest pursuers self-destructed on 16 and 17.

Finishing up this PA in the 4Dot, on to something with a bit more punch -- time for the Royal Yacht to set sail! p


----------



## Stonedog

Morning everyone,

I had a nice bowl of my 50/50 mix of University Flake and PA Choice Blend. No pipes were enjoy over the weekend but I did try my first Arturo Fuente 858 maduro. I can see why it has a good reputation here on Puff and I could see myself ordering a 5er if not a whole box.


----------



## freestoke

No golf today, either. Got another scramble coming up Friday, though, at RCC again, and I'm pumped! Having some more PA in the Sasieni Canadian.


----------



## Stonedog

MacB Navy Flake in the CG this morning. My supply of pipe tobacco is alarmingly low now but I will stay the course. Purging all of my beginner samples and tins before I build up a good supply of stuff I know I like may seem odd to most of you, but that's just my particular brand of OCD...


----------



## Derrick_Y

John Cotton Throwdown 2012 recreation Grand Prize Winner from Chief Catoonah

PRINCES STREET MIXTURE


----------



## freestoke

Man, you guys come up with some off-the-wall stuff. :spy:

I'm stoking up the exquisite and very rare Prince Albert. :smile:


----------



## Mr. Jameson

Wow lots of PA being smoked  Still have yet to try it and regret not buying a tin when I saw it on my trip to Mendocino in a little general store. Oh well loaded a bowl of MacB Burley in the cob this morning to see if it was better than in one of my little briars....duh it was  enjoyed it with a nice large mug of coffee and a good book on the patio. Can't wait for my new Meer to ship! Good morning fellow pipers!


----------



## ProbateGeek

The very common PA + 5 Bros mix in my Savinelli Venezia billiard/lovat. Worked for me this morning (delayed post).
My inlaws just arrived for a 6-month stay - I may need something a bit stronger...


----------



## DSturg369

Out of my beloved PA right now  but since home from work earlier, 2 bowls of Red Rapparee and now some Moe's Confetti in a MM Legend, the world is a better place again. It's amazing how something so simple as a pipe and a little tobacco can help slough off an otherwise "blah" day.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning all,

I tried a 50/50 mixture of Bishops Burley and Stanwell Vanilla. Lesson learned, I won't do that again...


----------



## Derrick_Y

Ran out of regular Cigarettes around 10:00am yesterday. Going to focus on the pipe and see how long I can go without buying any more.

This morning was I finished off a Bowl of Golden Age that I had started before going to bed then onto some Virgina #24 Mixture to get the work day started.


----------



## gahdzila

ProbateGeek said:


> PA + 5 Bros mix


My favorite breakfast! You talked me into it


----------



## gahdzila

I started off this morning with half a bowl of PA/5B mix. That finished off the jar of Prince Albert. I've decided to give Sir Walter Raleigh another chance, so I'm trying it out now. I've only gone through one pouch of SWR, and I remember it being pretty decent, good but not great. I'm thinking now that my last pouch might have been old and dried out, because this batch seems to have more moisture than I remember. It tastes better than I remember, too :hungry:


----------



## freestoke

I discovered not long back that SWR is essentially like flake and needs to be rubbed out. Makes it burn much better, more like PA. Rubbed out, it's not far off PA, imo.

Gliding along in the RY with the Darth Rader at the helm right now, after my PA start to the morning. Might even get in some golf later! Haven't played since Saturday, what with all the rain.


----------



## gahdzila

Yeah, SWR is kinda "clumpy." I gave it a little rubbing, just enough to break it up a little.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Late night / Early Morning... I'll get to bed soon so it's all good! Even better with a hot cup of coffee and a MM Legend full of CH! 

Hope everyone has a great Friday!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Hope everyone has a great Friday!


Fully intend to, Dale! :wave: SCRAMBLE TIME! Not a big tournament, very few teams, but cash prizes! :banana: We were 8 under last Saturday, two back, but today we have a stronger player for our fourth, so I'm hopin' for at least 10 under. Actually, 8 under might be enough today, because I doubt if the field is as strong.

Putting on the boosters this morning, with 50/50 KK and PA for my first pipe. Early for me, too, but I'm a "night person", so it takes me two hours to wake up. I need to be awake when we tee off at 11! I used to wonder why I couldn't play golf early in the morning. Still can't, for that matter. It's because I'm STUPID in the morning, according to an article I read in Scientific American a long time ago. "Night people" don't get their body temp up until they've been awake for a couple hours and they behave exactly like unhappy drunks until then. "Morning people", those irritating individuals who BOUNCE out of bed,all peppy and ready to roll, wake up smart, but by early evening they've also started to fade. Just when the "night people" are starting to hit their stride, "morning people" are too exhausted to think straight and it's their turn to start behaving like stupid drunks. :lol:

I've wondered ever since reading that article whether the list of golf Hall of Famers would have been different if professional tournaments didn't have any players on the course before 11. The whole professional game is biased toward those annoying "morning people". Hell, ANYBODY can play golf in the afternoon, even "morning people". "Night people" have to face at least one round on the tour effectively playing drunk. Life is never fair. :frown:


----------



## Stonedog

Well, my project to smoke through the last of my baccy hit another (sad) milestone today. I loaded up the last of my 3 year old Haddo's Delight and paired it with a cup of strong coffee.


----------



## 36Bones

Good Morning, all. Enjoying a very unusual 62 degree morning. A big bowl of Darth Waffle and some coffee. Why can't every morning be like this?


----------



## DSturg369

Home from work, off for the weekend, and plan on doing some major puffing. Having some Red Rapparee in a MM Country Gent with sweet iced tea for a kicker to kick things off. I'll be up for a bit and hanging out in the chat room... Drop in if you like.


----------



## Derrick_Y

kicked the weekend off with some Dunhill EMP in the Jeantet Bulldog. I really like the shape of this pipe, had some slight gurgling around 1/2-2/3 the way through. Not sure if that was a result of the tobacco not being dried long enough or something else.


----------



## freestoke

We played TERRIBLE yesterday.  The whole team just stunk up the course, but the field was very weak so we won anyhow. Pitiful. I felt guilty about taking the money, I really did. We had a great time though! :banana: Set two records: Over the years, I've played in 200+ 4-man scrambles and this is the first time that my team has ever bogied a par 5. It is also the first time my team has bogied two holes in a round. We played that good! :biglaugh: And it could have easily been worse! A miracle that we managed 3 under 69. Miracle. I'm really glad we didn't win a skin. I'd have felt like we were stealing, since one of our players won long drive too.

Up pretty early, considering how smashed I was. Having a little PA to get back on track, and lots of fresh coffee! :cp


----------



## The Master

Morning folks. I am currently smoking a bowl of Solani Silver flake in my Former free hand, drinking my starbucks french roast and chilling on my front porch. Later I will be taking my daughters to play some mini golf. Shaping up to be another glorious day in paradise. Hope everyone enjoys their Saturday.


----------



## freestoke

Moving right along, just finished a big bowl of FVF and now have some Latakia Flake going in this oversize Falcon. Damn good! p It smokes really wet for some reason. (The pipe, not the tobacco.) This is only my third bowl, but the first one actually leaked out the bottom. Since then, I've taken to running a pipe cleaner down there to keep it from "overflowing". Maybe this requires "codger technique", ie, flicking the excess out the stem onto the ground. Can't do that in the house though...there could definitely be repercussions there. :spy:


----------



## RupturedDuck

freestoke said:


> Moving right along, just finished a big bowl of FVF and now have some Latakia Flake going in this oversize Falcon. Damn good! p It smokes really wet for some reason. (The pipe, not the tobacco.)


I've never smoked a Falcon, but I thought they had a contraption that specifically designed to generate condensation, and then trap moisture called the "Humidome?" I couldn't find any articles that specifically spoke of the engineering principals of the Humidome, but that was the general idea got. It seems this would make the pipe gurgle, but you'd never have to worry about the pipe juice crawling up the stem? I think I'd prefer keep moisture from collecting by eliminating (to whatever possible extent) turbulant flow in the smoke stream.

My cherries are in season. Looks like there will be some Old Fashioneds to be had later. Derrick, the Bulldog is one of m favorite shapes. I'm actually smoking one of mine right now, a Savinelli of the Viriginia line. According to the US Savinelli catalog, this pipe doesn't exist (it is a shape 510 with a tapered stem...the catalog doesn't show a 510 or a 504 in the Viriginia finish). I finall stuck the adapter in the stem, and forgot that this used to take balsa wood filters. The two of us get along much better now.

This morning I've fired up a bowl of Presbyterian Mixture. I keep expecting Va/Lat/Perique blends to be a bit sweeter, with a campfire flavor. Like Frog Morton on the Bayou. I've slowed this bowl way down because she was burning hot! The vitamin N is certainly present. Hrm...breakfast might be good.

RD


----------



## freestoke

I'm guessing the "humidome" is where the bowl screws in. It does collect moisture, but it fills up, and if you don't have the bowl screwed on tight enough, it leaks out of the screw threads. yuck. Since a pipe cleaner goes through to the hdome, you can keep it dried out with with a couple of runs. None of it came up through the stem though, and there wasn't any gurgling. Not a bad pipe at all, really. Much bigger bowl than any Falcon I've ever seen, too, but the hdome is the same size, so I guess there's plenty of moisture to collect from more tobacco. Haven't tried it, but it probably fits the stem on my other Falcon, too.


----------



## DSturg369

You can use a fluffy cleaner... Bend in a circle and snip it off. One cleaner makes 4 or 5 Falcon filters. Way cheaper than the actual filters.


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> You can use a fluffy cleaner... Bend in a circle and snip it off. One cleaner makes 4 or 5 Falcon filters. Way cheaper than the actual filters.


Ah! I never realized the Falcon was a "filter" pipe. Not exactly a normal filter, but I see what you mean, for sure. Thanks a bunch, Dale! I'll give that a go! :yo:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Those of us who've never smoked a Falcon may have a hard time following this - pics would be nice, in an educational sort of way. 

Though misplaced in the morning thread, I found of few flakes of Peterson's Irish Flake hidden away amongst my jars this afternoon. Had a good smoke on a walk down to the park with my daughter. I'm not so keen on the flavor (a bit ho-hum), but the strength is to be respected, for sure. Makes me pine for some University Flake...

p


----------



## DSturg369

The Falcon is a metal shanked/stemmed pipe with screw on/off bowls. The reservoir under the bowl was designed to hold a small ring shaped "filter" to absorb the moisture and tars. See pics below.


----------



## DSturg369

The Falcon is a metal shanked/stemmed pipe with screw on/off bowls. The reservoir under the bowl was designed to hold a small ring shaped "filter" to absorb the moisture and tars. See pics below.


----------



## DSturg369

And they do smoke very well. :tu


----------



## ProbateGeek

That's great, Dale - while I've seen Falcons, this is the first I've seen one in this sort of detail. I think my dad had one, but one of my other brothers must have gotten it. I will look out for one. Good to know about the filter trick, too.

Thanks for passing on the knowledge!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> And they do smoke very well. :tu


It's a bit of a hassle to clean, though. The extra step of unscrewing the bowl every time and wiping out the hdome would get old fast for me if it was all I had to smoke. It smokes fine, but it's still more or less a contraption.

Another early morning. Went to bed without a nightcap last night, so my Low Nicotine Warning Light is on. Going straight for the RY in the CG. The coffee is really good this morning! :cp


----------



## Derrick_Y

Sticking with EMP this am in the Brebbia. The head is feeling a little foggy this am so might move along to Squadron Leader or Royal Yacht and make it a 2 bowl morning


----------



## DanR

Popped a tin of McClelland 221b Honeydew this morning. Here's a photo: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...cture-your-tobacco-thread-30.html#post3594416

This tobacco is terrific. It is not an ARO at all by my standards, but rather reminds me of their Christmas Blends. Broken flake (although not all that broken), a touch of the McVinegar, but mostly just sweet virginias. When you light it, the vinegar aroma evaporates (at least for me) and I sort of understand why they call it honeydew. It's got very little hay/grassiness and every so often I get a sweetness that reminds me of natural sugar like you'd find in a ripe melon (however it doesn't taste like a melon).


----------



## RupturedDuck

DanR said:


> Popped a tin of McClelland 221b Honeydew this morning. Here's a photo: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...cture-your-tobacco-thread-30.html#post3594416
> 
> This tobacco is terrific. It is not an ARO at all by my standards, but rather reminds me of their Christmas Blends. Broken flake (although not all that broken), a touch of the McVinegar, but mostly just sweet virginias. When you light it, the vinegar aroma evaporates (at least for me) and I sort of understand why they call it honeydew. It's got very little hay/grassiness and every so often I get a sweetness that reminds me of natural sugar like you'd find in a ripe melon (however it doesn't taste like a melon).


It is a delicious looking tobacco! I want to smoke some just based on that picture!

I'm having a little more Presbyterian this morning. It goes nicely with a cup of coffee. I can't imagine making this your everyday blend like in the story.


----------



## freestoke

Again, I'm starting with the CG and some RY. p Just wanted something with a bit more umbladee this morning.

Gonna be a hot one, but nice. Yesterday hit 91! :shock: Big time rain tomorrow, so today I'm going out there to see if I can dig some sort of golf out of the ground. I had started playing a lot better a couple of weeks ago, hard to believe it fell apart so completely so fast. sigh. But it's happened before, lots of times, and it happens to everybody. :faint: I try not to let it get me down to much -- hope springs eternal. :lol: I had won a little "Rome Tour" outing back in the 70s. Some of the better golfers around here would meet at various nice courses and play a little miniature tournament from time to time -- lots of money changing hands! :spy: I was washing my hands in the locker room when one of the *really* good players (who had recently gotten his amateur status back after turning pro) walked in. "I hit it like Hogan out there today, Donny! I can't believe how good I'm playing right now." "Don't worry, Jimmy, you'll get it over it." :rofl:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Well, damn Mondays! Browsing my jars last night for this morning's commute smoke, I spotted a full jar (one of two) of McClelland Personal Reserve Blackwoods Flake. Popped it open: looks nice, great colors, very rich, with the typical McClelland aromas. Did seem still a bit on the moist side, so I rubbed some out and left it on a paper plate all night. ALL NIGHT. This morning? Still felt moist, but with that suspicious sort of propylene glycol kinda feeling. 

Tried two bowls on the commute in - both started out fine, but at about 2 minutes in each turned bad - very little smoke output once the match is removed, and no way to keep the tobacco burning. This, my friends, pisses me off. The only things keeping this morning decent are some English Rose snuff and this line: "Don't worry, Jimmy, you'll get it over it." 

:biggrin:

So, anyone want some Blackwoods Flake?


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Well, damn Mondays! ... "Don't worry, Jimmy, you'll get it over it."


Oh, sure, Terry, quote a stinking typo. :frown: Proof positive that it's Monday, I suppose. :lol:

I see you're running 75% humidity there. In my experience, tobacco just doesn't dry out when it's that humid. Stick it under a lamp -- assuming you have a non-fluorescent. Even those produce some heat, so it should work anyhow. It can't be THAT bad, can it? My god, man, it gets 4 stars! :sl

Well, I'm going to enjoy a bit of 5100 right now before I hit the links. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

Thanks, Jimmy! < _sorry, my eyes went right past the typo, till you mentioned it!_ >

Humidity these days is mostly in the 40s and 50s. But yeah, I usually give 'baccy about 20 minutes under the desk lamp, but figured ALL NIGHT on the plate would have sufficed. Obviously not. It may have been a fluke but yes, it was that bad. . .

And I did make this purchase based on the great reviews at tobaccoreviews.com, along with two others that I cannot stand: Peterson Special Reserve Limited Edition 2011 and Solani 660: Silver Flake.










Should have just bought a pound or two of Kendal Kentucky (or even more Ennderale Flake? :cowboyic9 and a little PA for the morning drives. Live and learn.


----------



## DSturg369

Aside from the whole Monday thing, I'm quite the happy camper this morning. PA in a MM Legend = I'm good. Hot coffee is icing on the cake.


----------



## Nachman

Smoked some GH Dark Flake Unscented this morning. I had been smoking Carter Hall in the mornings lately, but had to give my mouth a rest from it. If I smoke too much Middleton OTC, Carter Hall or PA, the inside of my mouth gets sore. I don't know if it is the burley or the toppings. It didn't use to affect me like that back in the sixties when I smoked some, but it could have changed or I could have developed a sensitivity to it. I still like the taste, but can't smoke a lot of it.


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning/afternoon to all!

On the way in this morning I enjoyed a bowl of 12 year old F&T Golden Mixture (again, thanks Ron!). This stuff is subdued but wonderfully flavorful if you pay attention to it. I very much want to get a few tins but I have a feeling that without a little age it won't be the same.


----------



## mcgreggor57

I picked up a couple of new OTC's to try (Half/Half and Carter Hall). While I still really enjoy PA, I kind of plateaued on CBW. It fits the bill when I'm in the mood, but I think there are better alternatives. This morning's commute was the Half & Half. Definitely a keeper and i'm looking forward to the Carter Hall tomorrow. 

About mid morning I went back to my car for a pick me up bowl. If the cigarette smokers can take a break then so can I dang it!


----------



## freestoke

Well, yesterday I played me some golf for a change. I've been out on the course a lot lately, but no golf has revealed itself. I hit two very big tee shots yesterday, just like old times! And a few very nice irons for a bonus! :banana: I was messing with mechanics for the past few weeks, playing in a lot of scrambles, and was doing the hammer throw or the high jump instead of hitting golf shots. Track and field does not translate well to golf. :lol: I slowed down the take-away instead of trying to hurry up and hit it before I missed it, got set and hit the ball like I knew what I was doing for a change. I missed 7 pretty easy putts, but the greens are very tough and pins on ridiculous, ie non-conforming, slopes, on the way to a 41. The pace was horrible. I also had to put up with idiots behind me who found it necessary to hit into us. "Gosh, I can't hit that far, so they're out of range. Think I'll just go ahead and hit while that guy up there is in the middle of his backswing, then we can all get in our carts and scream down the fairway while his girlfriend is trying to hit her second shot! We get to annoy them TWICE!! With any luck, we can roll up right behind them and watch them hit their seconds shots from up close! :tu" Cost me a couple more. Why can't people wait for you to hit your second shot ANYHOW!? We're not going ANYWHERE!! I almost wanted to let them play through so I could start airmailing my tee shots over their heads while they waited on THEIR second shots. They'd have been pretty safe. Never have figured out why somebody over six feet tall, in perfectly good shape, in his thirties, doesn't think he can hit it as far as a 5'7" 69 year old who weighs 130. Talk about low self esteem. :lol: Anyhow, the fairways are soft from the relentless rain recently, the fairway mower has been broken for weeks now and there is NO roll out there. Hit it 280 on the last hole, with about 275 of it in the air. Bazooka ball! lane: Hit one just like it six, too! :banana: I'm BACK!! :smile:

Starting VERY late this morning with a layer of KK on top of a base of PA. p


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Hot coffee and PA in a MM Country Gentleman starting things off today. We have no idea where Life is going to take us from one minute to the next... But right now, at this exact moment in time... Life is okay.

Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!


----------



## Stonedog

LNF in my Patriot using the fold-n-twist method. The Patriot is an odd looking cob but the tall narrow bowl is good for flakes. I just have to remember to hold it by the pronounced lip and heal as the thin sides heat up quite a bit. 

I'm hoping the latest batch of LNF floating around, and the new "Superior Navy Flake" copy, are at least as good as the older stuff.


----------



## Stonedog

And, I forgot to say "Good Morning" which puts me at 700 posts.


----------



## houncer

So Gregg, how did you like the Carter Hall?


----------



## gahdzila

mcgreggor57 said:


> I picked up a couple of new OTC's to try (Half/Half and Carter Hall). While I still really enjoy PA, I kind of plateaued on CBW. It fits the bill when I'm in the mood, but I think there are better alternatives. This morning's commute was the Half & Half. Definitely a keeper and i'm looking forward to the Carter Hall tomorrow.
> 
> About mid morning I went back to my car for a pick me up bowl. If the cigarette smokers can take a break then so can I dang it!


I haven't tried Half and Half yet, but I may put it on the list to try. I only went through one pouch of Carter Hall, and it's been a while....but I seem to remember it being ok, but not as good as PA...very very similar to PA but with a stronger topping presence and the tobacco flavor more to the background, and a little too sweet for this genre. It's been a while, though, and I may revisit it at some point.

Next OTC on my list to try is Granger. The bright blue tub with the dog on it just calls to me for some reason. I think I vaguely remember seeing it on a shelf at a grocery store when I was a kid....maybe that's what's intriguing me. Or maybe that it's one that I haven't heard much about. Whatever....I'm gonna snag some with my next order.

Today, it's Sir Walter Raleigh with a pinch of 5 Brothers. Per Jim's recommendation, I rubbed it out a bit over a paper plate before packing (it has a somewhat clumpy consistency in the pouch). Good stuff! Not better than PA, but every bit as good, and different enough that I'll be keeping both SWR and PA on hand, methinks.


----------



## mcgreggor57

houncer said:


> So Gregg, how did you like the Carter Hall?


I was impressed with the first bowl and am about ready to go to the car for a mid morning break. :smile: It seemed to be a bit more interesting than PA and burned very cool. Me likey!

Jim... I've decided to go with the "close your eyes and swing" method next time out. Struggling off the tee for the last 2 weeks but this too shall pass.

Jon...congrats on #700!


----------



## Nachman

I tried Kentucky Kendal today (Thanks Dan). It seems to be the tobacco in Dark Flake Unscented cut in a shag with no Lakeland casing. Pretty good stuff, but you wouldn't want to smoke it in a breeze. It would be like a forest fire with that fine cut.


----------



## karatekyle

Congrats on the 700, Jon! I'll be popping a jar of OGS here today, bringing a few flakes to work with me for break.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I tried *Kentucky Kendal *today (Thanks Dan). It seems to be the tobacco in Dark Flake Unscented cut in a shag with no Lakeland casing. Pretty good stuff, but you wouldn't want to smoke it in a breeze. It would be like a forest fire with that fine cut.


:lol: I do that ALL the time. I want always want to put Kentucky first, as in Kentucky Derby, Kentucky whiskey, Kentucky bluegrass and so forth.

Having a little of that Kendal Kentucky straight up myself right now. p (Assuming tobakrevs has it right, it's actually Kendal's Kentucky, so I haven't got it right yet. :spy: I'm sticking with KK from now on.)


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> :lol: I do that ALL the time. I want always want to put Kentucky first, as in Kentucky Derby, Kentucky whiskey, Kentucky bluegrass and so forth.


Matt (mmiller) makes fun of me ENDLESSLY for mistakenly (and constantly) saying Nineteen Seventy Two instead of Seventeen Ninety Two when referring to the Gawith flake.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> :banana: I'm BACK!!


"Don't worry, Jimmy, you'll get it over it."

:ss


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> "Don't worry, Jimmy, you'll get it over it."
> 
> :ss


 :brick:


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Puff Pipers! I'm chewing on some Royal Yacht this morning after visiting the Gym. A quick word of advice, don't make your return to weightlifting after two years with your teenaged son. My pride wouldnt let me slow down, and now I can't lift my pipe to my mouth. :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

I'm down to the last bits of my F&T Golden Mixture now. I'd like to order some of this but I wonder how long I'd have to wait until it came close to tasting like this 12 year old sample. I turn 40 next month and I'm not sure I could handle waiting until my early 50's to smoke it again...


----------



## Desertlifter

Morning all - starting out the day with Jackknife Plug. Smells tasty. Returning to work after taking yesterday off and reading all day.....not so tasty.


----------



## freestoke

After some PA, I used the DGT on some of the St. James Flake that Mark sent me for the PBTT that I didn't finish last night. Tasted pretty good! :tu Gonna skip the links today and spend the time on the range, grooving some swing thoughts for Saturday's big scramble. 22 teams, Big Casino skins. :evil:


----------



## karatekyle

DanR said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers! I'm chewing on some Royal Yacht this morning after visiting the Gym. A quick word of advice, don't make your return to weightlifting after two years with your teenaged son. My pride wouldnt let me slow down, and now I can't lift my pipe to my mouth. :lol:


Just started lifting with my old man again. Problem is, he kicks my ass!


----------



## mcgreggor57

Carter Hall for the second day in a row in the Missouri Pride. I'm still amazed at how cool and well it burns.
Good morning to all and I trust your day will be well!


----------



## gahdzila

I'm gonna get back to the gym later today. I havent been since the kitchen fire/remodel a couple of months ago. I'm just gonna work on cardio for now. Lifting is much more fun for me, but to be brutally honest - I'm getting older, and I'm an ectomorph anyway, and I never put on a huge amount of muscle when I lifted in my 20's even. I get better overall return on my investment of time and energy expenditure (calorie burn, health benefit, and overall "feel good") from cardio...so that's where I'm gonna start.

I was _planning_ this anyway, but that doesn't necessarily mean I was actually gonna make it to the gym today. It usually takes a LOT of motivation to get me back after laying off for a while. See there? Now I've said it, for ALL to see, so I *have to* follow through!

SWR/5Bs in the MM Freehand.


----------



## karatekyle

Where was the Sotweed Bohemian today? Must've gone straight from the coffee pot to the PA tub and out to the course!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Where was the Sotweed Bohemian today? Must've gone straight from the coffee pot to the PA tub and out to the course!


Pretty close. Watched the early Open coverage, went and played 9, back now at the tube on tape fast forwarding through the ads! A bowl of Sail Green and an Old Mil a the moment. :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

So, to follow up - I *did* make it to the gym Wednesday. Worked yesterday. Planning to head back to the gym in a few...but I'm gonna polish off this SWR first ipe:


----------



## Stonedog

I need to start doing _something_ for exercise. My belt size is catching up to my age and sitting in front of a computer 10 hours a day doesn't help.

This morning's commute was extended thanks a big bowl of PA that was unusually flavorful.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Good for you returning to the gym! If I could incorporate exercise into my routine, maybe I wouldn't be hungry all of the time. The 20 lbs I've lost so far has strictly been calorie counting. 

Kaywoodie and Carter Hall kept me company on the drive in this morning. I'm sure the remainder of the bowl will also accompany me home as well.


----------



## Desertlifter

My IT band issues are pretty much killing off my marathon/half - marathon running. Even occasional 4-6 mile runs are agonizing, and PT isn't helping.

Good thing for this bowl of Haddo's Delight.


----------



## freestoke

Haven't seen an Open like this in a while! :tu I love to see those guys suffer. :evil: Hopefully, the scores are a bit higher today. :biglaugh: Was sort of happy to see this chart on iron lofts. I'm a debunker by nature and frankly have about as much faith in club manufacturers as I do the fossil fuel industry. They can talk all they want about how much farther everything goes, including 6 irons, but it boils down to this: titanium allows driers to be lighter and larger, giving them a larger sweet spot. The larger sweet spot and lighter weight allows a longer shaft on a club you can still hit the ball with. The guys are a little bigger, too, but basically it's the shaft length that's getting the ball out there so far. In the 80s, a driver was 43", now they're 46 and longer. And the irons? Not only are the shafts longer, but look at these lofts! (For some reason, I can't get the loft table to display inline, so if you're interested, just scroll to the bottom for the bottom line on lofts. :dunno A six iron has the same loft as an old THREE iron! :shock: "I seem to be getting more carry out of this eight iron than my old one!" :banana: (Well, yeah...because it's actually a seven iron with a "6" stamped on the bottom. :lol:

http://www.leaderboard.com/LOFTINFO.htm

Wow! They've changed the page since yesterday! The latest table isn't there any more. :spy: The last table there still makes the argument.

A little PA and some Open with my coffee! :smile:


----------



## freestoke

freestoke said:


> "I seem to be getting more carry out of this eight iron than my old one!" :banana: (Well, yeah...because it's actually a seven iron with *"8"* stamped on the bottom. :lol


Didn't catch this typo in time. sigh. Gotta pick up the pace with some RY!


----------



## 36Bones

Good morning all. Fired up my new estate pipe from Ebay, a 1936 Kaywoodie Super Grain with some FMOTT and black coffee. Have a great day!


----------



## gahdzila

Stoney. I deserve it :thumb:


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, and happy father's day, everyone! 

Nothing special for me today. My wife is working nights, and I'm off work, so I'll just be chilling at home with the kids today. A little cleaning up around the house, and I'm gonna put up a ceiling fan in my son's room later.

In between exercising my pipes, of course :thumb: Starting out with the usual codger burley....today, it's SWR and 5 Brothers in the MM General. I had a General before, and it burned out. I didn't particularly care for it, actually - I thought it was too big, hard to keep lit, and unbalanced. I bought another one, though, intending on cutting it down and making it a little smaller. But after fitting it with a new stem, I found that I really like this pipe after all. Yeah, it's big, but it's not unwieldy, and the beefier and slightly longer stem balances it out nicely.


----------



## DSturg369

Good morning all and Happy Dad's Day!

The coffee is hot and the PA in my Dr Grabow is mighty tasty this morning. I think I might have to pull out my sole Meer today and load her up... You only live once, right? 

Lazy day planned. Chicken on the grill and quality family time. A perfect Sunday and Holiday.

I wish for all the Dad's out there, as well as all Puff members, a great day!


----------



## freestoke

I hope everybody's having a better morning than I am. There was nobody even close to contention that I would not have rather seen win the Open yesterday. Depressing finish, depressing winner. There should be two trophies, one for who played the best golf and one for whoever lucked out and had the fewest strokes. Dufner played better than anybody else, but got no breaks whatsoever. Sad. Golf sucks. :lol:

Opening with a Diplomat of PA. More coffee!

Oh...a quick observation on Saturday's horrible golf event that I played in. They say "A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work." Not always the case at all, as the tournament in Turin proved.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

PO in the trusty basket pipe this morning. Again the flavor was quite nice. Sweeter than usual and I wonder if all of the VAs and VaPers I've been enjoying have left a very subtle, very sweet ghost?

My recent recurrence of TAD has been greatly dampened, unfortunately. For Fathers Day my wife and kids bought me a 3rd generation iPad. While I was thrilled (who wouldn't be?!) I'd feel a bit guilty about placing a big tobacco order. Horrible problem, I know, but my shopping cart may sit idle for a few days.

Not that anyone cares, but the contents have been altered based on recommendations in the thread I started last week:

- 2oz tin of GLP Robusto (I'm not a big latakia fan but but I have to have something different on occasion)
- 4oz G&H Bright CR Flake
- 8oz GLP Haddo's Delight
- 2x2oz C&D After Hours
- 100g Old Gowrie
- 100g Hall O The Wynd


----------



## RupturedDuck

Stonedog said:


> - 2oz tin of GLP Robusto (I'm not a big latakia fan but but I have to have something different on occasion)
> - 4oz G&H Bright CR Flake
> - 8oz GLP Haddo's Delight
> - 2x2oz C&D After Hours
> - 100g Old Gowrie
> - 100g Hall O The Wynd


Sounds like a nice order in the making Jon!

Somehow I've cellared 20 lbs of tobacco since January. Since the recent house purchase, I've slowed down my tobacco purchases. Luckily, June's P&C sale didn't strike my fancy too hard.

I just finished a bowl of HOTW, and currently queing up the last full bowl of Davidoff Flake Medallions...I've got another half bowl before tossing that tin that I might finish this morning. Then, on to episode D of the PBTT. 

Happy Monday!

RD


----------



## Stonedog

20lbs in six months?! That's impressive and it puts my piddly little order in perspective. Mine is not a big order at all. We spend more on groceries and gas every week and those a _far_ less important... (oh crap, the TAD medication isn't working...)


----------



## freestoke

I'm actually getting ready for a TAD of summer shopping. TPP (Tobacco Prohibition Paranoia) is starting to take hold as the elections draw closer. I'm fretting over my puny two years' supply. :spy:

Having a little of that JKP to bolster the nicotine levels. p


----------



## Whip-Poor-Whill

Puffing on some more Black Raspberry out of my no-name cob.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Just saying "good morning", whilst thinking of all the wonderful tobaccos I could/should be smoking if all 10 of my pipes did not sit in need of a good cleaning. 
How I hate cleaning pipes...

Needless to say, it was a heavy cigar weekend. Happy belated Father's Day to you dads!


----------



## tso-giannis

Some Fvf with a glass of ice tea.


----------



## DSturg369

Good morning Puff Pipers!

Five Brothers in a Dry Filter Red Dot straight Pear to start my day. This stuff is like the 5-Hour-Energy of the tobacco world... Will jump-start your day for sure. Hot coffee on the side. 

Hoping y'all have a great Tuesday!


----------



## freestoke

Just dumped the rest of some Butternut Burley I stumbled on into the Serial Aromatics Pouch and added about 1/2 ounce of 5B to give it some body. This is a damn fine smoke! :tu


----------



## ProbateGeek

Frog Morton in a newly cleaned meerschaum - toasty and satisfying with some hot Lipton on this morning's commute.










Jim?


----------



## freestoke

For somebody who hates cleaning pipes, you seem to do rather a lot of it. Then, if I did as much pipe-cleaning as you do, I'd hate it too. oke: (Come to think of it, I do hate it. :frown Great looking pipe, Terry! :tu


----------



## ProbateGeek

Yeah - it's a great butterscotch color when it's still warm, and exudes a creamy, beeswax and latakia smell. May be time for another beeswax bath, though, to speed the colouring.

I'm telling myself (again) that I will clean each pipe the evening of the day it is smoked, no matter what - it just takes a couple of minutes. We'll see how long this lasts... I cleaned eight last night enjoying a big cigar and listening to Gregorian chant - that's one way to do it.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Home from work and relaxing, enjoying some Red Rapparee in a MM Country Gentleman with sweet iced tea accompanying. 

Am sooooo looking forward to the upcoming weekend... Just feel worn out all week and need to rest up. 

The local tobacco shop at the mall is going out of business after nearly 40 years and selling everything and closing supposedly by the end of July.... So I'll be keeping an eye how that goes. Everything is only 10% off right now so nothing great, especially at typical mall prices.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Good morning Dale, you're up early! Packing a bowl of Hearth & Home Blackhouse that Shawn (Oldsmo54) bombed me yesterday. Today shall be good day as I get to play a private club in a work outing. I'm not a huge fan of scrambles, but this one gets me out of the office and onto a a great track.


----------



## freestoke

mcgreggor57 said:


> Good morning Dale, you're up early! Packing a bowl of Hearth & Home Blackhouse that Shawn (Oldsmo54) bombed me yesterday. Today shall be good day as I get to play a private club in a work outing. I'm not a huge fan of scrambles, but this one gets me out of the office and onto a a great track.


A Scramble is my absolute favorite form of golf. I used to love tournament pressure and the $5 Nassaus from the tips, but there's a totally different type of pressure involved with scrambles. I enjoy being in the "Save us, Jim!" mode. :lol: I generally hit last even in the "good player" scrambles I used to get in, where the winning score would be 14 under or better, so I get in that spot a lot -- and like it. "Give me the ball, coach!" :lol: I don't like putting last, but on a "normal" team I usually have to. My game suits scrambles -- or I should say USED to suit scrambles, when I had a little more length. I've always been able to hit the ball, but I never could make putts inside four feet. Three extra putters pretty much takes care of that action! I've probably won close to half the scrambles I've played in over the years, so I also have very positive experiences in them. I love scrambles! :banana:

Good luck today, Gregg!

Smoking a little PA to start the day. Ground some Columbian coffee fresh last night and it tastes fantastic this morning. :cp


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning All,

I rarely get out to golf and have never broken 100. My last outing was a few years ago with my son, my father and grandfather who was in his late 80's at the time. My grandfather is in his mid 90's now and isn't quite the same person so I treasure the memory. While I hope to get back into golf some day, if for some reason I don't that was a fitting last game of my meager golf career.

This morning was a half bowl of my 50/50 mix of Uni Flake and PA Choice Blend. The more I focus on this mixture the more it appeals to me. It is possible to coax earthy and occasionally cocoa flavors from the burleys and every once in a while the Uni Flake's topping (or casing??) comes through.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> While I hope to get back into golf some day, if for some reason I don't that was a fitting last game of my meager golf career.


Nice memory to have, Jon! :tu Wow! Four generations in one foursome! :shock: Fantastic!

Give me half an hour around the practice green before we tee off and then play with me and I'll bet you break a 100! :smile: Dozens of times, after people have played with me and Audrey they say, "That's the best round I've ever played!" And I don't offer tips or give lessons on the course, either. I think 99.9% of the time people don't play as well as they should is because they don't ever see anybody in their playing group "playing the game". It's very much a "monkey see, monkey do" operation, golf. I was lucky. I started playing with very good players while I was in high school.

Gotta crank it up a notch with some KK to the get the nicotine flowing. p

This morning was a half bowl of my 50/50 mix of Uni Flake and PA Choice Blend. The more I focus on this mixture the more it appeals to me. It is possible to coax earthy and occasionally cocoa flavors from the burleys and every once in a while the Uni Flake's topping (or casing??) comes through.[/QUOTE]


----------



## RupturedDuck

This morning I picked up my pipe from The Briar Workshop to smoke some Presbyterian Mixture. The pipe has Elliot Nachwalter's signature on it, but also another one underneath. Does anyone happen to know if Jorg Jemelkson had his signature on all Briar Workshop pieces as well as Elliot's? That would have been an interesting place to visit back in the 70s. Brad Pohlmann, Elliot Nachwalter, and J.T. Cooke, not to mention Carol Burns (now proprietor of Pipeworks & Wilke).

RD


----------



## DSturg369

Home late again, dog tired, and after 3 chili-dogs and 2 tall glasses of sweet tea, I'm enjoying some PA in a MM Legend. Had a Halon system protected room deploy today... A TON of paperwork but no one was hurt so that part was good. One more day to go to get to the weekend...woot!


----------



## Stonedog

That doesn't sound like fun Dale, but like you said the weekend is almost here.

This morning I enjoyed the heck out of some Wessex Brown Virginia Flake (BVF?) courtesy of MarkC. It did the fold-twist-and-stuff load into my MM Patriot and it was quite nice, pretty much just what I was looking for. Last night I tried the same but fully rubbed out and loaded into my wider basket pipe. It was still good, but the nod goes to the fold-n-stuff in a narrower bowl.


----------



## DSturg369

Not a fan of the fold and stuff method. Rubbed out seems to work better for me.


----------



## Desertlifter

SG Skiff Mixture in my Bjarne with a nice "co-eds walking to class in summer" backdrop.

Great way to start the day.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Hate to waste the weekend so still awake and puffing on some choice backy. The coffee is hot and Netflix is rolling... Watching Return To Lonesome Dove. Not quite the original but pretty good so far.

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday Morning!


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Dale and Everyone, 

This is the first day of a two week vacation and was able to kick it off with a MM Patriot full of PA. I'm off to do yardwork now and hope to enjoy some more of that great Brown Virginia Flake that Mark sent me.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning, guys!


----------



## freestoke

Fantastic day today! The hot spell has ended, my golf game has returned in full force (early summer euphoria, right before mid-season collapse), and the *Ennerdale *is tasting grand out of the Country Gentleman. And this Columbian I ground the other day is delicious, too. :cp Tried something new with the grind and it made a big difference -- cut the grind time by a third so it's a little coarser than even standard canned coffee. Back in my mind somewhere is something I read about what parts of the bean taste like what and that coarser grinds prevent some of the more unpleasant-tasting components from getting into the brew. From the taste of this stuff, I'd have to guess it makes a nice difference.


----------



## freestoke

Cranked up the Kendal's Kentucky right off the bat. I have no excuses to offer. No golf yesterday because of the rain. Just another 5 or ten miles east and the storms wouldn't have touched us, but we needed rain for the gardens. Better gas up today, guys. They raise the price at every opportunity and what better than a storm in the Gulf of Mexico? :spy:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Five Brothers in a Dr Grabow in one hand and hot coffee in the other to stat the day.

Noon Chat today... Hope y'all can drop in. I'll be there for a bit. Daughter's new BF is dropping by for lunch around 2PM to meet for the first time so I'll need to get my War Face on.

Have a Great Sunday!


----------



## beardly parrish

Great thread. I usually find my morning pipe the most pleasurable, especially with a cup of coffee in my hand. 

Today was Dunhill EMP in a Peterson 313 with a nice cup of coffee. 

ipe:


----------



## karatekyle

Morning pipers! Got four new tins of tobacco and a new spigot billiard coming this week. Looking forward to getting started on it all!


----------



## DSturg369

karatekyle said:


> Morning pipers! Got four new tins of tobacco and a new spigot billiard coming this week. Looking forward to getting started on it all!


Sweet! :tu


----------



## RupturedDuck

DSturg369 said:


> Daughter's new BF is dropping by for lunch around 2PM to meet for the first time so I'll need to get my War Face on.


Sounds like a good excuse to be out on your front porch cleaning one of your shotguns!

RD


----------



## DSturg369

RupturedDuck said:


> Sounds like a good excuse to be out on your front porch cleaning one of your shotguns!
> 
> RD


He says he likes Scotch. I do not, in an way, condone drinking at his age... But at least he's got good taste.


----------



## RupturedDuck

DSturg369 said:


> at least he's got good taste.


That is a given...he's dating your daughter isn't he?

RD


----------



## DSturg369

RupturedDuck said:


> That is a given...he's dating your daughter isn't he?
> 
> RD


True 'dat!


----------



## Stonedog

No pipes today but I did get to enjoy a well aged Cu Avana Intenso. It was a very nice cigar that came to me in a trade last year. I'd consider buying a few...

Tomorrow morning the family and I head down to Orlando for a 6 day visit with Mickey. I'm really looking forward to it (more for the break than the parks), but I won't have much time to enjoy my pipes. So, if you don't hear from me for a while have a good week everyone!


----------



## DSturg369

My daughter Murray and my GBD Universe...


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

It's supposed to be well over 100 degrees here today. Some reports say maybe 105!?! But, its nice out at the moment, so I thought I'd better sneak outside early and grab a smoke. Weapon of choice is the Dunhill Billiard (group 2 - short smoke) loaded with Reiner LGF. Its lovely with my black coffee this morning!


----------



## freestoke

That's one thing I don't miss about Texas. When I was in Dallas, back in the late 70s, they had a record run of days over a hundred. Probably long since eclipsed, but it was some kinda hot! Gonna be in the 60s here today, but it heats up again in a few days. 

Been a long time since I had some PA in the 4Dot! The SWR was good, but it just doesn't have the mindless simplicity of PA. The Columbian is great this morning! :cp


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> That's one thing I don't miss about Texas. When I was in Dallas, back in the late 70s, they had a record run of days over a hundred. Probably long since eclipsed, but it was some kinda hot! Gonna be in the 60s here today, but it heats up again in a few days.
> 
> Been a long time since I had some PA in the 4Dot! The SWR was good, but it just doesn't have the mindless simplicity of PA. The Columbian is great this morning! :cp


I think SWR is like 7up and PA is Sierra Mist. PA is mild in a good way, SWR is just a bit too tasteless. I've got to mix something into SWR.

Morning everyone!


----------



## Desertlifter

Presbyterian in my Bjarne with NPR and a mocha frappuccino.

Pouring down rain and wind gusts to 50mph today around here. Unfortunately, that mean's I have to drive. On the bright side, it means I can have a pipe on the way to the university.

Hopefully today will go better in that regard - yesterday was kind of craptacular.


----------



## gahdzila

Coincidentally, I finished up a pouch of SWR last week, and I'm firing up some PA this morning for the first time in a long time. It took me a while to warm up to SWR, but I really started enjoying it! I could find a very subtle soft chocolate flavor in SWR that I don't get from PA. My beloved PA now has some competition for shelf space in my cellar!


----------



## DanR

gahdzila said:


> Coincidentally, I finished up a pouch of SWR last week, and I'm firing up some PA this morning for the first time in a long time. It took me a while to warm up to SWR, but I really started enjoying it! I could find a very subtle soft chocolate flavor in SWR that I don't get from PA. My beloved PA now has some competition for shelf space in my cellar!


I prefer SWR over PA. However, my 57 year old tin showed up this weekend, so I've been smoking a lot of PA to calibrate the palate (as best I can anyway). Now I'm just looking for a nice weekend where I can open this sucker and, provided the contents are still good, do a little comparison.

The tin is in PERFECT condition by the way. I could hardly believe it when I opened the box. I may have to send the eBay seller an e-mail and ask if they know the story behind this tin. Where exactly did this sit for 57 years??

However, that's not what I'm smoking this morning. I'm having another favorite of mine - H&H Louisiana Red.

Oh, and one more thing, does it mean that I'm getting old when part of my routine every morning is to look at the pill case to see what day it is?


----------



## gahdzila

I'm really looking forward to your review of that aged PA, Dan!

More PA in a cob. After my second bowl, I'm no longer missing SWR ipe: Delicious! Funny how that works!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> It took me a while to warm up to SWR, but I really started enjoying it!


Me too! I think the tipping point for me was when I finally figured out it had to be broken up more, like rubbing out a flake (but harder :lol. Having a little PA my own self right now. p


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Enjoying the morning with some Red Rapparee in a Dr Grabow.

Going to pick up an app for a new job today. It's getting a bit crazy where I am currently and not sure how much longer I can swallow the needless BS going on. Seems we are doing everything except what we need to be doing... Not alone in thinking this as a fevered exodus seems to be occuring lately. 

Have a great day all!


----------



## freestoke

Good luck, Dale! 

Gotta get the Vitamin N content up here after a couple of bowls of PA. Got the CG all gussied up with some MM965. Used to smoke stuff like this ALL the time and it tastes really good right now. p Not kickass nicotine, but enough to keep the wolves away, I suppose. :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Me too! I think the tipping point for me was when I finally figured out it had to be broken up more, like rubbing out a flake (but harder :lol. Having a little PA my own self right now. p


The tipping point for me was getting a fresh pouch of the stuff! My first pouch of SWR several months ago was rather dry. As I'd never had it before, naturally I had no way of knowing if this was the way it was supposed to be or not. This last pouch I got was quite moist comparatively, and definitely much better tasting than the first pouch.

I've begun noticing inconsistent moisture levels in my beloved PA pouches as well. I've still got a few pouches left unopened, but I'm thinking maybe the tub is the way to go for future orders. I'm hesitant to buy 14 ounces of _anything_ at a time, but I have a feeling a sealed tub will give a more consistent product. And there's little doubt I'd smoke through it all eventually anyway :mrgreen:


----------



## DSturg369

gahdzila said:


> I've begun noticing inconsistent moisture levels in my beloved PA pouches as well. I've still got a few pouches left unopened, but I'm thinking maybe the tub is the way to go for future orders. I'm hesitant to buy 14 ounces of _anything_ at a time, but I have a feeling a sealed tub will give a more consistent product. And there's little doubt I'd smoke through it all eventually anyway :mrgreen:


Tubs are the way to go! And yes, the consistency issues will be gone. 14 ozs isn't really a lot for a daily smoke and will start disappearing quicker than you think.


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Tubs are the way to go! And yes, the consistency issues will be gone. 14 ozs isn't really a lot for a daily smoke and will start disappearing quicker than you think.


And you'd be surprised how well that tub keeps the tobacco fresh, too, at least for the duration of emptying it. I only started smoking PA a year and half ago, but I think I've gone through 3 tubs already! I take it out a couple of ounces at a time and put it in a jar conveniently on the desk. Very consistent.


----------



## freestoke

Mornin', all! Fabulous golf day in store. Perfect weather. After two straight bowls of KK in the 4Dot, going for a third of *Ennerdale* in the same pipe. Might have a ghostly experience with the PA later.:nod:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Started the day with a parfait of Five Brothers / PA in a MM Country Gentleman with coffee on the side. 

I'm rehydrating Mark's gift of some PA from the early 70's to see how it smokes... looking forward to trying it soon. 

Have to take an exam next Saturday (at my expense) to turn in for a possible new job at a local state prison. They're expanding and needing lots of help so hoping for the best. Looking into several part-time options as well. Current employment is a daily, constant struggle with Management and it's wearing on my quickly. 

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Started the day with a parfait of Five Brothers / PA in a MM Country Gentleman with coffee on the side.


"Parfait" is one of the better Frenchy words. Good suggestion, Dale, so I'm doing the same this morning! :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

I had a bit of a hangover yesterday, and nothing pressing to do anyway...so I spent practically the whole day on the couch watching movies. I've got a few things to do today around the house, and I'm going to get an early start....as soon as I finish this bowl of PA.


----------



## laloin

gahdzila said:


> I had a bit of a hangover yesterday, and nothing pressing to do anyway...so I spent practically the whole day on the couch watching movies. I've got a few things to do today around the house, and I'm going to get an early start....as soon as I finish this bowl of PA.


cliff I have a suggestion for you to get off the couch. get busy Now or I will bomb the living daylights out of you with Ennerdale in 500 gram bricks hah


----------



## gahdzila

laloin said:


> cliff I have a suggestion for you to get off the couch. get busy Now or I will bomb the living daylights out of you with Ennerdale in 500 gram bricks hah


NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


----------



## Desertlifter

laloin said:


> cliff I have a suggestion for you to get off the couch. get busy Now or I will bomb the living daylights out of you with Ennerdale in 500 gram bricks hah





gahdzila said:


> NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
> 
> :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


Sitting on my couch.....packing my cob with Ennerdale.....

Might as well join me Cliff - nice day on the patio!

p


----------



## DSturg369

It's Friday and Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Okay, so it's actually past Noon.... But still...

Supposed to hit 105 today so probably won't even need a lighter to fire up on the drive to work. 

Hot coffee and a MM Legend with "matured" PA starting the day. This stuff is rehydrating VERY slowly.... Yet even as dry as the Sahara it's still tasty!

The weekend is almost here so have a great day all!


----------



## mikebjrtx

Just had a short bowl of Royal Yacht that was great, and set out a little green Stonehaven to dry a bit and try it again. The aged sample I had was so good I am hoping for better results this time. I have a pound jarred up for aging but I just hate waiting.


----------



## Whip-Poor-Whill

Well, currently I'm smoking a Marlboro cigarette, but I had a bowl of Black Raspberry out of my Willard earlier this morning.


----------



## Whip-Poor-Whill

Loadin' up some aged aromatic blended with drug store "bacco". Let's see how it goes :bounce:


----------



## gahdzila

It's somewhat cool out this morning, low 70's, I imagine, with a little breeze. The birds are singing from all directions, and a woodpecker is doing some work on the utility pole in front of my house. Gorgeous morning here!

Strong black coffee, and PA/5Bs in a cob. Good morning, gentlemen!


----------



## freestoke

Just a straight PA/4Dot start this morning. Gonna be hot, about 88 it says, so it'll be a sweaty one out there on the course later. I'm hitting so many nice shots I'm due for something good to happen today. The putting god has been very unkind the last two times out, but the coffee god is treating me okay this morning. :cp


----------



## freestoke

Shaved off some more JK[sic]P with MiamiMike's cutter. ExTREMEly thin shavings, but still coherent flakes, loaded into to Bari Dana, that are burning like 5B. :lol: Wow! p Now this is smokin'! :tu And the coffee god continues to bestow its Columbian bounty.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Another HOT day ahead and I'll be indoors soaking up the a/c as much as possible.

Haven't been to sleep yet... Nap soon... But enjoying some HOTW in a no-name bent Dublin currently with some hot Chamomile tea. Earl Grey is on the shopping list. 

Hope to see y'all in the chat room at Noon... Will also have a Piper's vherf hangout opened.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!


----------



## laloin

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> Another HOT day ahead and I'll be indoors soaking up the a/c as much as possible.
> 
> Haven't been to sleep yet... Nap soon... But enjoying some HOTW in a no-name bent Dublin currently with some hot Chamomile tea. Earl Grey is on the shopping list.
> 
> Hope to see y'all in the chat room at Noon... Will also have a Piper's vherf hangout opened.
> 
> Hope everyone has a great Sunday!


Have I managed to convert a coffee drinker to tea


----------



## DSturg369

Not sure I've converted but it sounded interesting and although this Chamomile isn't the best, it is very nice. I can see me adding hot tea to my smoking accompaniments. Looking forward to trying Earl Grey and a couple others soon, although coffee will a;ways be there.


----------



## laloin

I found that Earl Grey really pairs well with a straight Virginia. The Earl Grey tea leaves are infused, cased with oil of Bergamot a citrus fruit. You get some yummy fruit notes from the tea


----------



## freestoke

Working on yet another bowl of KK. The coffee's excellent, the weather is perfect. Can't wait to hit the pill around today! p


----------



## gahdzila

In an effort to motivate myself to go to the gym this morning, I allowed myself only a small bowl this morning, with the promise that I could sit and leisurely smoke the rest of the morning away after I exercised. It worked . Back home now for more of the same...mostly 5 Brothers with a little Prince Albert mixed in, in the Kaywoodie 500.


----------



## freestoke

The Paper Plate Potpourri has to be reduced, so I'm flavoring a bit of KK this morning with pinches from the pile. Nothing spectacular in the PPP and no aromatics, so it doesn't change the flavor a lot, but it does make it a bit more interesting. Mostly it's PA, SWR, MM365 and JK[sic]P. That's pretty much all I've smoked lately, other than the Dart Mix and the Serial Aromatics Pouch, both of which are KK for the most part. This KK seems to go a long way for some reason. :ask: I smoke and smoke and smoke and the jar barely reduces. I think I had it packed in there pretty tight, so it might be fluffing up from the bottom making it look like I'm not emptying the jar. I have become a big fan of KK, which seems to be a great blender as well as a straight smoke. :tu


----------



## mcgreggor57

freestoke said:


> JK[sic]P.


^^ Well done!!

McClellend Grey Havens. This was bombed to me by Shawn (Oldsmo) and is now in my top 2 or 3 to always have on hand. I love this stuff! Now to cram 3 days of work into 2 in order to enjoy Wednesday off.


----------



## Desertlifter

Peterson Connoisseur's Choice in the Bjarne.

Can't refer to it as "the Bjarne" for much longer with another one on the way - let's make that "Peterson Connoisseur's Choice in the Bjarne Copenhagen."


----------



## gahdzila

Morning, all.

I've got an ounce or so of KK that I'll be opening soon. Maybe later today. I'm looking forward to trying it, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I'm supposed to be at work today, but I'm home with a sick kid. Doctor said its just a virus. Poor thing, her fever was 103.6 this morning, but she's fine as long as I keep dumping Tylenol and Advil down her gullet and keeping the fever down. ::: checks watch::: yeah, I better go check her temperature again now.


----------



## ProbateGeek

I've loved Kendal Kentucky since I first tried it, and it was one of the first non-drug store tobaccos I tried. I just haven't had any since I blew the 4 oz. I ordered after tasting it the first time. It goes quick - and is next up when I place an order. Will most likely go for at least 8 oz., maybe a pound if I'm lucky.

Hope you guys have a good week - if you get too hot, feel free to head on up/over to the Pacific Northwest:










Should be a beautiful 4th! p


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Will most likely go for at least 8 oz., maybe a pound if I'm lucky...
> Should be a beautiful 4th! p


Get lucky, Terry. :lol: Haven't regretted a gram of the .5 kg (sounds impressive that way, huh?) box.

Things might be dicey for part of the 4th around here, but we're heading for a picnic with fireworks later! $5000 worth of fireworks! :banana:

Firing up some Dart Mix in the resident Legend, reducing my woe quotient with some Old Mil. "Why so blue, Batman?" The short game from hell has arrived, that's why. Once, closer to my prime, I took 17 shots tee to green on the back side at Rome Country Club, a par 36 with two par 5s, tight fairways and decent length. Tough course. I hit every shot to the green inside 15 feet, six feet for eagle at the par 5 11th which I four jacked. I had 26 putts for a sizzling 43, at a time when I carried a one handicap. I'm certain some of you have children, who have never played golf before, who could easily have turned that round into something under par by putting for me. THAT short game is back. Tragic, in the true meaning of the word. :lol: (Catharsis. I'm feeling better now. :smile

"And this too shall pass." :lol:


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> $5000 worth of fireworks! :banana:


I read the show this year at Fort Vancouver should use 10,274 shots, compared with 7,126 shots last year, and that they're emphasizing a new color this year, purple. Should be an impressive show.

And about the golf game - to quote a very good player's words to you oh so long ago: "Don't worry, Jim, you'll get over it."


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> I read the show this year at Fort Vancouver should use 10,274 shots, compared with 7,126 shots last year, and that they're emphasizing a new color this year, purple. Should be an impressive show.
> 
> And about the golf game - to quote a very good player's words to you oh so long ago: "Don't worry, Jim, you'll get over it."


We'll see how it goes today, Terry. eep:

This is just a friend's private party with the fireworks and he does it every year, apparently. It wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't have a license for it, so we could see the host perp-walked out of the party shortly after the display. :lol: On a side note, the WORST 4th fireworks I ever saw was at the old Griffiss AFB. They must have spent upwards of $50 on it. Un - be - lievable. The AF apparently doesn't grok ground-based ordnance except for missiles that blow up elsewhere.

A little PA/KK mix in the 4Dot. And Columbian this morning. :cp Gonna be a hot one!


----------



## gahdzila

I mixed up the usual PA/5Bs, and packed the MM Freehand. It's a big pipe, and it wasn't quite full, and I noticed a small pile of dried out stuff on my paper plate from yesterday...I shrugged, topped off my pipe with it, brewed my coffee and headed out to my smoking chair.

The small pile of dried out stuff turned out to be mostly GH Sweet Rum Twist. Hello, Mr Nicotine! There wasn't a lot of it, but it doesnt take much of that stuff, and it was definitely a little too much for a first pipe before breakfast! I tucked my tail between my legs in defeat and went inside for a bowl of cereal before smoking any more.

Back to straight PA now


----------



## Malcontent

This morning's bowl was Patriot Flake in my MM Cob. Part of my sampler trade with Troutman22.
Not a bad way to start the morning!


----------



## freestoke

Just a quick DGT of some MM965 from last night before hitting the links. Happy 4th! See y'all in a bit!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Last of my PA with the rest of the big Fellini bowl filled with 5 Brothers. Yowza, with my morning black coffee, this really got me going.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Last of my PA with the rest of the big Fellini bowl filled with 5 Brothers. Yowza, with my morning black coffee, this really got me going.


I try to keep an extra tub of PA in reserve at all times. One never knows when the TobakNazis will strike next. :smile: And that sounds pretty good! Think I'll have the same this morning for my wake-up call. Got the fresh ground Columbian going for me, too. :cp


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen.

I didn't sleep well, and I'm having trouble getting going today. :ranger: I might have to double up on my usual coffee ration. I already see an afternoon nap in my future 

PA & 5Bs in the MM General


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Hot coffee and a 50/50 mix of "matured PA" and Red Rapparee in a Dr Grabow Grand Duke straight brandy this morning... The 2 mix nicely together.


----------



## freestoke

Getting into the morning PA mix and match festivities, I'm already on a second serving of PA/5B, in the same pipe since I feel codgerish this morning. Did something different, putting in a pinch of PA, then a pinch of 5B, and continued on alternating until I had a full bowl of multiple layers along the lines of Dale's parfait. Normally I would mix them together or make a straight up PA with a thick icing of 5B (or vice versa), but this seems to work too! Such versatile tobaccos, wouldn't you say? :smile: More coffee! I'm almost awake after a 4th of beer and fireworks. :smile:

And that was some private fireworks display for "ordinary" people. Guys from Rome Lab really had quite the operation, complete with a safety briefing! :lol: Very professional. We went out and had a look at the pallets and got a rundown on how everything worked. Lots of wiring. Actually had a two-key system like missile launch procedures for WWIII. Some of the guys were making jokes about security violations, because the key should never be kept with the "football". :lol: Amazing fireworks, especially so close, among the best displays I've seen. Another good one tomorrow, too, at the Lee Center Field Days. They do quite the show, a bit more spectacular than last night with bigger mortars I think. I asked the guy in charge of things last night if there were any licenses or anything involved and he told me it was virtually impossible to get a license in NY, requiring six years of apprenticeship and 5 "major" shows to be certified :shock:, so no, he didn't have a license. They said the cops came one year and when they begged them to let them at least do the finale, the cops said okay as long as they could watch. :rofl: Apparently, they don't enforce much of anything. You could see these for miles, but they were going off all over the place, so there's probably safety in numbers.


----------



## freestoke

I figured out my putting again. I feel like an idiot, because I wrote a golf diatribe email to a friend when I figured this out once before. When I was young, I could have a fairly relaxed grip on the putter and control it. That ended by the time I was thirty and I suffered with yips for years. Then I went cross-handed and that fixed it up for a while, but I wasn't making as many longer putts or putts from the fringe. Then I went to the Corey Pavin that I still use. What I FORGOT was that the advice "hold the putter very gently" that everybody from Nick Faldo to Johnny Miller give over and over again in one guise or another, complete with "soft touch" and so forth, THAT advice is not the answer for me. The answer comes fromTom Watson, who says he held the putter very tightly. For what it's worth, Watson has been called the best putter of two foot putts in the history of golf. And here's why it works for me: I cannot, repeat, cannot prevent myself from "grabbing" the putter more tightly than when I started in last milliseconds before impact -- or making sure I don't do that, I loosen my grip with equally catastrophic results. Longer putts are not a problem for yippers, it's the little ones. For me, everything works just fine as long as I take a death grip and hang on. My mind is like a sieve. I had this figured out already. I am going to be rolling the ball today! :tu (Now my driving will vanish because I'll be taking too tight a grip, right? :smile

After a bowl of some excellent St. James Flake, I saw the Country Gentleman and decided to burn a little SWR in it. This is definitely the pipe for SWR!


----------



## freestoke

I managed to avoid three-putting until the ninth hole, where I three-jacked from 20 feet, but it was enough for an even par 36 for a change! I didn't make anything, but at least I didn't miss a bunch of short putts yesterday. Maybe I'll putt even better today.

Right now, it's PA with a 5B icing to get me rolling this morning.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

The weekend is here!!! ... And looks like it's going to be a beautiful but hot day here today in Augusta, Georgia. 

Last night, on the drive home from work, as I was stopped at a traffic light in front of the Augusta Nationals, 3 limousines drove into the gates under police motorcycle escort. Either Tiger Woods had a date or some VIP is playing the course today is my guess. :noidea: Anyways...

Just received a freebie tin from Altadis a couple days ago of Sutliffe Tobacco Company's Private Stock BRG Mixture. Having some of that in a MM Legend with hot 8 o'clock fresh ground this morning. Not bad stuff at all. My first VaBur that I know of, not counting my own blend mixes. 

Firing up the smoker this afternoon. Have company coming over tomorrow and will be up all night with almost 20 pounds of Boston Butt... Good time! With pipe in hand I'll get 'er done!

Lastly, I hope y'all can join me this afternoon around 2PM Eastern time for Pipe Chat in the Puff chat room. I'll have a Puff Piper's vherf going as well.

Hope y'all have a great Saturday!


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Good morning gents!

Samuel Gawith XX Black Twist. 

Yes. Again.


----------



## mikebjrtx

Little bit of Luxury Twist Flake in a cob. My son made me an omlet with apples in it. It tasted good. When I asked him how he came up with the idea to put apple in it, he said he was too lazy to fix bacon this morning.


----------



## freestoke

Mornin', y'all! Some rain early and probably won't get to the course today, so a quick lesson you'll never hear on TV. :smile: One of the scientifically demonstrated facts of the golf swing is that lateral force on the shaft slows the clubhead on the downswing. Counterintuitive in the extreme, so completely beyond TV analysts' capacity to abstract to it. (cf *The Physics of Golf*, by Theodore P. Jorgensen ) We intuitively want to push the club through the hitting area with the index finger, but this is mistake that creates weak hits. "Lag", that is the angle between the shaft and arm, is created by NOT pushing on the club with the front of the hand. Hogan had a drill where he his shots with the right thumb and forefinger completely off the club, effectively eliminating this lateral push against the shaft. Pressure at the front of the grip creates "casting", "hitting from the top", "coming over the top", and so forth, all distance killers -- and you hit it sideways to boot. If you want to hit it solid, long and straight, stop hitting it with your right hand. True, Lee Westwood gets away with it, but not everybody is Lee Westwood. Better like John Daly (perhaps with a shorter backswing :smile who barely has his index finger on the club at all, almost like Hogan's drill. Nicklaus recommends "quiet hands" and was the longest player on tour, and the advice is just another way of producing the proper action with no "levering" of the club into impact.

On my third pipe of the day, some KK following a couple bowls of PA/5B. Good coffee this morning! :cp


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

I'm on my first vacation with the family in three years, and yes, we are enjoying it! Puffing on a bowl of Reiner Long Golden Flake this morning, with black coffee and the sounds of the ocean. Cheers!


----------



## freestoke

Our sympathies, Dan, that looks really hard to take. I guess if you have to put up with that sort of thing, at least there's LGF to soothe the pain, eh? 

Gorgeous day out there today, high of 81 projected, low wind. :tu Sort of wish it would rain here soon, but doesn't look like it will for a week or two. Lots of watering in the near term for the gardens, I think. Good for the lawn, though, less mowing! :smile: Having me a wake up bowl 5B/PA. One of the damn cats woke me up at 4 this morning and kept pestering me until I was wide awake. :frown: Anybody want a some cat fur-lined gloves?


----------



## Stonedog

Well, my first commute in two weeks. The upside to coming off of a two week vacation is that at least I can return to a regular pipe schedule...

This morning it was my 50/50 PA Choice Blend / Uni Flake mixture. I'm considering ordering more of both just to that I can keep mixing them!


----------



## MarkC

I've had a jar of Bright CR Flake sitting on my 'open' shelf for months now, afraid to smoke it for fear of ghosting and desperately hoping for a pipe that could solve the problem, when, this morning, in a stroke of brilliance (derp!) pulled out my old Dr. Grabow and loaded a bowl. Odd thing: I got an hour and fifteen minute smoke out of this minature thing!


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I've had a jar of Bright CR Flake sitting on my 'open' shelf for months now, afraid to smoke it *for fear of ghosting*...


:ask: Ghosting in which direction? BCrF never struck me as anything but straight up tobacco.


----------



## Stonedog

MarkC said:


> I've had a jar of Bright CR Flake sitting on my 'open' shelf for months now, afraid to smoke it for fear of ghosting and desperately hoping for a pipe that could solve the problem, when, this morning, in a stroke of brilliance (derp!) pulled out my old Dr. Grabow and loaded a bowl. Odd thing: I got an hour and fifteen minute smoke out of this minature thing!


Mark, does the Bright CR Flake have the floral/soap essence? From what I've read it's not supposed to... If it does it begs the question, does GH quality control include protection against cross contamination of these casings and toppings?

And, speaking of small Grabows, I was able to get about 80 minutes out of a single flake of Wessex BVF :biggrin: using my new Grand Duke. It surprised me, to say the least, as the bowl is quite small (it barely swallows my pinky finger to the first knuckle).


----------



## MarkC

Stonedog said:


> Mark, does the Bright CR Flake have the floral/soap essence? From what I've read it's not supposed to...


Yes it does. It's very light, so much that it pretty much fades in mid bowl only to return at the bottom of the bowl. I know it's not supposed to, and from what I've read, many can't taste it at all. My guess is the same thing that occurs to you: it just picks up the scent in the warehouse or something.



> And, speaking of small Grabows, I was able to get about 80 minutes out of a single flake of Wessex BVF using my new Grand Duke. It surprised me, to say the least, as the bowl is quite small (it barely swallows my pinky finger to the first knuckle).


Yeah, that's about the size of mine (can't remember the model name, and there's nothing left to read after I sanded it down to get rid of the bubbling finish); it's amazing what a flake can do!

So what do you think of that tobacco?


----------



## Stonedog

3/4 of a bowl of Edward's Bishop Burley in my Edward's bent bulldog. I think I may have to man up and post a review of this blend when I'm done with the pouch.

Mark, I'm definitely enjoying the BVF and there will be a few tins in my next order. I get that chewy but muted sweetness that I was looking for. Definitely a blend for thinner flake-friendly bowls as it doesn't work as well (for me) rubbed out and dumped into a bigger bowl.


----------



## MarkC

Yeah, I have to agree. It seems to lose it's intensity if you rub it out.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Yes it does. It's very light, so much that it pretty much fades in mid bowl only to return at the bottom of the bowl. I know it's not supposed to, and from what I've read, many can't taste it at all. My guess is the same thing that occurs to you: it just picks up the scent in the warehouse or something.


It could be polluted at the retail end, too, as in, "We keep all the GH&Co. and SG stuff over there by the window...". I know I'd never order Ennerdale in bulk with any other bulk that wasn't also a violent Lakeland, either; PS Luxury Navy Flake would never be the same.

First thing I noticed sitting down for my opening smoke was the silly amount of tobacco on the paper plate. Silly, I tell you! I filled the TwoDot Canadian about half full with it and topped it off with PA. Really dry stuff, mostly 5B and PA, with some MM965 and KK in there for good measure, but should be quite nice by the time the ember reaches it.

Looking forward to my nicotine death wish to wend its way here. Under duress for the monthly review, I place an order yesterday for:

Dunhill: ROYAL YACHT 50g
Peterson IRISH OAK 50g
Solani 656 AGED BURLEY FLAKE
Samuel Gawith Bulk BLACK XX ROPE
Gawith Hoggarth Bulk BROWN IRISH TWIST
TAMBOLAKA 100g.

Was interested in giving the Tambo another go because I wasn't all that impressed with it the first ounce I had, and I've never tried either this rope or this twist, and thought I'd give the ABF a go on reputation alone. The RY is merely for stockpiling.

Splendid day in store!


----------



## gahdzila

Jim, ABF is really great stuff. I think you will enjoy it.


----------



## freestoke

Well, the ABF should be in the pipe tomorrow sometime. :smile: As long as I'm still conscious after trying the rope and twist. :faint:

This morning, it's Ennerdale in the lead-off position since I'm starting so late. Wow. After 10 and I'm having my first bowl! :shock:


----------



## Stonedog

PA in the small bowl of my new Grabow. This pipe is downright _dainty_ - perfect for a quick little 20 minute smoke.

Jim, I've been wanting to try ABF for a while now. Please let us know what you think.


----------



## Nachman

@Freestoke: That Brown Irish Twist is my second favorite strong tobacco after RY. Let us know what you think of it.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> @Freestoke: That Brown Irish Twist is my second favorite strong tobacco after RY. Let us know what you think of it.


Wilco, Nick. Wilco, Jon. The Ennerdale just didn't get the job done, so I'm moving up to some KK to move things along a little faster. p


----------



## gahdzila

I'm curious what you think of the Brown Irish as well, Jim; particularly since you've smoked Happy Bogie before, I'd be interested in how they compare.

I got an order in last night - I killed three birds with one stone! I ordered a tin for the pipe lotto winner, ordered some Irish Oak for the tobacco of the month, and lucked into a couple of tins of FVF! With all the talk lately of SG's Black XX, I couldn't help snagging a tin of that as well 

Late start for me, too. Inaugural smoke of PA in this big guy, a Kilimanjaro meerschaum lined billiard:










This pipe is stamped "Made in Tanganyika.". Anyone ever heard of Tanganyika? Me either, so I looked it up. Apparently, it was a UK colony, became a sovereign state in 1961, and joined with Zanzibar in 1964 to become Tanzania (and was no longer called Tanganyika after that). So, putting two and two together, I guesstimate that this pipe is likely 50 years old, possibly even older. Kinda neat, huh? . I got this one and another (same shape, but black and rusticated) from Marty Pulvers for a song.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> This pipe is stamped "Made in Tanganyika.". Anyone ever heard of Tanganyika? Me either, so I looked it up. Apparently, it was a UK colony, became a sovereign state in 1961, and joined with Zanzibar in 1964 to become Tanzania (and was no longer called Tanganyika after that). So, putting two and two together, I guesstimate that this pipe is likely 50 years old, possibly even older. Kinda neat, huh? . I got this one and another (same shape, but black and rusticated) from Marty Pulvers for a song.


Neat! It's probably made by an English emigre from the Comoy's factory in London. :smile: One of the few things I've managed to hang onto over the years that dates to my childhood is my stamp collection, that I haven't looked at in literally decades. The stamps from "Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika" were absolutely beautiful. 









Right after lunch, I'll find something with African leaf in it. :smile:


----------



## MarkC

Yeah, I was going to say, anyone who's been bit by the stamp collecting bug knows about Tanganyika!


----------



## freestoke

One of the neat things about collecting stamps is that the country names keep changing. :smile:



















Hammerin' down some KK this morning. Gonna get out there and play early before the heat, might even hit 90 today. The bowl is rolling at last! Hit a couple of really long ones yesterday, 295 and 305. (Be aware that a long hitter would be out there about 350+. :lol Starting to feel like Kansas. :banana:

Gotta tell my longest drive story again. Anybody who's heard it, feel free to groan. Nothing can stop me! :evil: I was playing the Norfolk Naval Air Station course in Virginia when I was at Old Dominion College (later University), but I was a service brat, so I got to go to the Officer's Club and play the base courses. (And buy cartons of cigarettes for a $1.25 and go to the doctor free. :smile I was on a 500-ish yard par 5, with a tailwind and OB to the left. The OB fence marked the edge of a concrete runway, a portion of said runway along the other side of the fence lined for automobile traffic. I crushed a pull hook over the fence that bounded along the road/runway, helped along by the wind. It had begun to slow down, with bounces only about waist high at this point, when a blue and white, two-tone 1957 Chevy sedan going about 50 nailed it on the bumper (the solid, tank-armor steel of a* real* car bumper), kicking it back over the fence up to the edge of the green. I had a chip shot for an albatross, but alas, had to settle for a tap in eagle. Maybe today one of the eagles that glide over the course from time to time can give me an assist. :smile:


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> I was playing the Norfolk Naval Air Station course in Virginia when I was at Old Dominion College (later University), but I was a service brat, so I got to go to the Officer's Club and play the base courses. (And buy cartons of cigarettes for a $1.25 and go to the doctor free. :smile I was on a 500-ish yard par 5, with a tailwind and OB to the left. The OB fence marked the edge of a concrete runway, a portion of said runway along the other side of the fence lined for automobile traffic. I crushed a pull hook over the fence that bounded along the road/runway, helped along by the wind. It had begun to slow down, with bounces only about waist high at this point, when a blue and white, two-tone 1957 Chevy sedan going about 50 nailed it on the bumper (the solid, tank-armor steel of a* real* car bumper), kicking it back over the fence up to the edge of the green. I had a chip shot for an albatross, but alas, had to settle for a tap in eagle.


Pics, or it didn't happen.

< _GROAN _>

p


----------



## gahdzila

PA again, in the Kilimanjaro billiard again. Unfortunately, this pipe has some kind of nasty sour ghost. I assume it's in the shank since the bowl is meer lined. The stem of the pipe was clean as a whistle when I got it from Marty, but the shank still had some old gunk in it (I don't blame him for this....I wouldn't spend hours with pipe cleaners on a pipe I was selling for $12 either!). I've cleaned it out really well, but the ghost remains. I guess I'll have to try to smoke it out ipe:

Actually, when I grabbed this pipe this morning, I was still half asleep and I didn't realize it had only been two days since I last smoked and cleaned this pipe. Probably should have let it rest longer.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Good morning all, Royal Yacht, again. :twitch:


----------



## gahdzila

Kendall Kentucky in a cob. This is the first time in FOREVER that I don't have any 5 Brothers open, and....well....KK is a very similar blend to my taste buds, just as good, <gasp!> maybe even a bit better. I've still got a whole bunch of 5 Brothers cellared, so this old staple isn't getting knocked out of the rotation any time soon.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning all, it's the end of the first week back after the nice long 10 vacation. I feel like I've been run over a truck and seriously wonder if it's time to make a career move.

However, I was able to enjoy a bowl of PACB/UF mixture in my Edward's bulldog. Great little pipe now that it's broken in, I'm wishing I'd picked up a second when I was down at their shop on Memorial Day.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Kendall Kentucky in a cob. This is the first time in FOREVER that I don't have any 5 Brothers open, and....well....KK is a very similar blend to my taste buds, just as good, <gasp!> maybe even a bit better. I've still got a whole bunch of 5 Brothers cellared, so this old staple isn't getting knocked out of the rotation any time soon.


I agree. Very like 5B, Kendal Kentucky. If KK were cut as small, it would be virtually identical I think.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> I agree. Very like 5B, Kendal Kentucky. If KK were cut as small, it would be virtually identical I think.


Well, that and you'd have to put KK out in the sun to dry for a few days


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Just finishing up a bowl of Solani Silver Flake, compliments of ProbateGeek. This stuff is Amazing! If not for the price, this could be in my top five easily.


----------



## ProbateGeek

That's great, Dale - now I'm thinking I'd best give the Solani another try one of these days... p


----------



## gahdzila

I guess Solani baccys are a little pricey. Reasonable, though, I think. The Silver Flake is $22 at P&C, but it's a 100g tin. I haven't tried the Silver Flake yet. I've only tried their Aged Burley Flake so far, and it is absolutely wonderful. At $12 for 50g, it's even more expensive, but I'll be buying more!

PA/KK in a cob for me. My piano teacher is from the Czech republic, and she goes back home every year in the summer. She just got back, so today will be our first lesson in 6 weeks or so. Looking forward to getting back at it. I've got Bach's Prelude in C major sounding pretty good. I've also been working on Mozart's Sonata Facile, and it's a bugger!


----------



## karatekyle

There's nothing better than hearing a piano played well! Have fun with it, Cliff!

It's a beautiful Saturday morning and I am WORKING! No worries though, I've got a nice Sas with a wad of London Mixt in it ready for me on break.


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## freestoke

My last pipe last night was a Diplomat of Brown Irish Twish, but I didn't finish it. A few gallons of home brew began to take its toll. :faint: Finished up the BIT for a quick jato boost and having some PA. p Really a fun tournament yesterday and I'm VERY happy with the way I played -- except for those stinky little 50 yard wedge shots. Maybe I should start hitting them with my driver instead? :ask:


----------



## Nachman

gahdzila said:


> I guess Solani baccys are a little pricey. Reasonable, though, I think. The Silver Flake is $22 at P&C, but it's a 100g tin. I haven't tried the Silver Flake yet. I've only tried their Aged Burley Flake so far, and it is absolutely wonderful. At $12 for 50g, it's even more expensive, but I'll be buying more!
> 
> PA/KK in a cob for me. My piano teacher is from the Czech republic, and she goes back home every year in the summer. She just got back, so today will be our first lesson in 6 weeks or so. Looking forward to getting back at it. I've got Bach's Prelude in C major sounding pretty good. I've also been working on Mozart's Sonata Facile, and it's a bugger!


Sonata Facile means easy Sonata. Makes you wonder what a hard one would be for Mozart.
MM965 this morning because I just have six more tins of RY. Trying not to buy more tobacco this year. It is silly for a man of my age to have several years supply of tobacco.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I've got Bach's Prelude in C major sounding pretty good. I've also been working on Mozart's Sonata Facile, and it's a bugger!


To paraphrase a famous classical guitarist, playing piano badly is hard, playing piano well is easy. :smile: Relax. Make everything you play as easy as possible. Find the easy fingering, the easy hand position. Know where your fingers are going and why. When you thoroughly understand what you want to happen, your brain will happily oblige with tension free execution. (Then prepare for the moment of weightlessness as that hard passage tumbles out like Artur Rubinstein and you totally fumble the easy little bit at the end. :lol

h2g2 - How to Practise Music
*The magic jump

Leaps or shifts on a string or keyboard instrument are impressive feats (to put it positively; negatively you could call them major problems). They are learned quickly and reliably by the Magic Jump, as follows:

Play the note before the leap

Leap instantly to the position ready to strike the note after

Do not play that note

The third step is counterintuitive, but essential. Step 1 and step 2 gradually merge into a single motion; that is the goal. From 'play, shift' progress to the smooth transition 'playshift' and finally to the single gesture 'plift'. The sound of the first note, played as short as possible, is your starter's gun. Aim to arrive at the new position before a bystander can hear the first note. Observe your final position and notice any change you want to make next time; but do not play. (The need to stay hungry at this point cannot be over-emphasised. Playing the final note gives psychological closure you have not yet earned.) Expect many surprises; there are often tangled loops of unnecessary behaviour to be eliminated. Repeat until smooth; you will achieve miraculous improvement straight away.*

I punished the pill really well today. :smile: Ten foot eagle putt on the last hole, but I couldn't make it. sigh. A little after-golf Dart Mix and Old Mil. :beerchug:


----------



## gahdzila

Nachman said:


> Sonata Facile means easy Sonata. Makes you wonder what a hard one would be for Mozart.


When I first started learning it, that's _exactly_ what I was thinking :lol:. But, it's in C major, the easiest key on piano (on most other instruments as well, I would think), and a lot of the piece is just scale runs up and down...which look and sound more difficult than they actually are. In the world of classical piano sonatas, it _is_ easy, relatively speaking, I suppose. I'm not saying it's easy for a beginner like me, there are some difficult passages for sure, but it's coming along, and I feel like I'll have it conquered in a couple of months.

Thanks for the tips, Jim. You're definitely right about relaxing. When one plays while tense, that tension comes right out in the sound. Lots of good tips on that link! Some interesting advice on making big jumps...I'll keep it in mind next time something like that comes up! Nothing I'm actively working on right now has any big leaps, but the last piece I finished has a couple of big jumps in the left hand of almost two octaves. It took a while to get that under my fingers!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> But, it's in C major, the easiest key on piano (on most other instruments as well, I would think), and a lot of the piece is just scale runs up and down...which look and sound more difficult than they actually are. In the world of classical piano sonatas, it _is_ easy, relatively speaking, I suppose. I'm not saying it's easy for a beginner like me, there are some difficult passages for sure, but it's coming along, and I feel like I'll have it conquered in a couple of months.


I always look at a "hard" piece of music as the vehicle to learn the techniques to play it. Obviously, you don't want to bury yourself under something that requires going over a lot of new technical hurdles, but new music keeps one's interest up. C major is the "simplest" key to play in, with no sharps or flats, but the black keys can "lay under the fingers" quite naturally in many pieces that would be a tiny bit more awkward transposed to C. (One of the nice things about piano is that you can play anything in any key at all without insurmountable difficulties. The same is definitely not true on a guitar! Generally you have to use a capo.) BTW, one of my educational reforms when I'm king will be to force every child to learn the Bach prelude you've learned by the third grade. One note at a time, how bad can it be, right? :lol: With luck it would immunize them against the likes of Mariah Carey in later life and encourage them to play songs with more than two chord changes when they form up garage bands.

Starting off with the old 4Dot/PA standby. No golf today. Hopefully the letter will arrive from the R&A this week, with my special invite to the Open Championship. I called them yesterday after my round and they sounded really interested in how well I hit the ball. Got my passport ready. :smile:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Started the day with a mug of hot 8 o'clock and a MM Country Gent with Old Gowrie. Have some Solani Silver Flake drying out a bit for later.

Headed to a cookout later this afternoon with some friend's .... Steak and baked tater kinda thing. Wife is making Deviled Eggs and Coleslaw and I'll be contributing a pleasant room note with some choice tobacco. Karaoke and merriment to follow.


----------



## freestoke

Just a HUBBUB of activity here this morning! :spy: I still managed to find some time, amid frantic efforts to keep up with all the threads, to cut me a dollar's worth of dimes off the Black XX. Got a few of them broken up with some PA in the Two Dot Canadian. I like the PA with it, maybe 1/3 PA, to give it a nice burn. Take my word for it, the nicotine is not fatally diluted -- or perhaps, still fatal. :lol:

The fresh ground Columbian is fantastic this morning! :cp

And a further note on the "how many extra notes can I pack into this measure", viz. Mariah Carey, style of singing so popular now: there is a word for it, "melisma". (Greek, of course. All the really good words are.) The worst example I've yet encountered came at the car dealer when I was getting my car serviced a couple of Christmas's ago. Who knew that the opening phrase for "Silent Night" contained 1368 notes? I fled in panic.


----------



## freestoke

Didn't see you here yesterday, Dale. Our posts must have crossed in the the ether. :smile: Hope your cookout was a blast! 

Another effort to lower the Paper Plate Potpourri excess this morning. Laundry day. Massive laundry day. Been falling behind!


----------



## MarkC

Ah...does anything feel better than reading a post like that and knowing you did laundry yesterday?


----------



## netbeui22

Good morning guys! Got some EMP loaded in my meer, and watching a little news...


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Had a nice cob full of Anniversary Kake, and for once, I finally understood the blend! I am an amateur at pipe smoking, lol. I have been told that smoking VA's slowly is crucial, so I took that advice to heart and had one of the best smokes this month.


----------



## MarkC

8 o'clock in the morning and I still can't get to sleep. Time to pull out the big guns: Sweet Rum Twist.


----------



## MarkC

Wiseguy1982 said:


> Had a nice cob full of Anniversary Kake, and for once, I finally understood the blend! I am an amateur at pipe smoking, lol. I have been told that smoking VA's slowly is crucial, so I took that advice to heart and had one of the best smokes this month.


Yeah, it's so counterintuitive that it amazed me when it worked; the "less is more" thing with Virginias was one of the hardest lessons for me to learn.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Well thank you for teaching it to me, I always catch myself wanting to puff harder, but then I just retell myself that it will bite and taste like crap.


----------



## Nachman

Smoked some Chelsea Morning this AM.


----------



## Desertlifter

GLP Sextant in my Bjarne Saucer.

Yum.


----------



## freestoke

On my third of the day, all the same: PA with shot of BXX for body. p Gonna skip golf today. Might hit 95 the way things are headed, and I hate "big wind", especially around here. In Kansas and Texas, there was "big wind" practically every day, but it was steady, from the same direction. Here, it blows this way and that, hard and soft, infuriating on a golf course. Facing a 10 mph wind in your face, you pull the 6 iron, then on the downswing it shifts to a 15 mph tailwind and the ball sails into the crap behind the green. Hit it left against a left-to-right wind and the wind shifts to the other direction -- or stops completely -- disaster. Annoying. :frown: Love it in a tournament, though! I'm generally better at coping with the wind than most, so it gives me an edge. (Unfortunately, the guys with great short games have an even bigger edge in the wind. :frown: The golf god giveth and...) 

Too many frownies, huh? I'm actually in a very good mood! :smile:


----------



## ProbateGeek

After a week of forgoing pipes for cigars, some FVF in my banded MM Country Gentleman with a beautiful Forever Stem. This stuff is divine. 

And once more, the world is spinning in greased grooves. p


----------



## Stonedog

Reporting in a little late today, but I had the second to last bowl of Bishop Burley from my Edward's pouch. For some reason the Orientals really came forward this time. Maybe the smaller scraps are primarily oriental where I was getting bigger strips of burley and VA earlier in the pouch.

And, for what it's worth, this is the last Tuesday I'll spend as a thirty-something. I turn 40 on Monday and though I don't really care that much it does alters my mood and I'm finding it hard to take anything seriously.


----------



## MarkC

Stonedog said:


> ...and I'm finding it hard to take anything seriously.


Congrats! It took me until fifty to get there!


----------



## Stonedog

MarkC said:


> Congrats! It took me until fifty to get there!


It is unexpectedly liberating.

I enjoyed some of my new Ashton Gold Rush this morning. I had my first bowl of it last night after drying it for half an hour and wasn't too impressed. It wouldn't stay lit and I couldn't get a consist flavor from it. This morning I took it straight from the tin without drying it, and loaded loosely. I was rewarded with a clean VA flavor that was quite satisfying. It is nowhere near has heavy as the darker flue cured Virginias which, for me, makes it ideal for the morning commute.


----------



## freestoke

Cracked the review tobak, Irish Oak, this morning for my first bowl, employing the venerable Mayfair. Seems like a very nice smoke! Very different tin note. 

Nicely snorky, too. p I like it.


----------



## gahdzila

Still working on my usual PA and KK in a cob.

I started taking a lot of things less seriously when I turned 35. I'm looking forward to 40 because from what you guys are saying, it sounds like the stuff that still ruffles my feathers now will slide right off 



freestoke said:


> Cracked the review tobak, Irish Oak, this morning for my first bowl, employing the venerable Mayfair. Seems like a very nice smoke! Very different tin note.
> 
> Nicely snorky, too. p I like it.


I got mine yesterday, and will be opening it later.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I'm looking forward to 40 because from what you guys are saying, it sounds like the stuff that still ruffles my feathers now will slide right off


Until you reach Codgerville, at which point everything pisses you off.







Especially people under 50. :lol:

I'm with you on the PA/KK wavelength, in the Country Gentleman. p Felt something was missing this morning and it was pissing me off!


----------



## Desertlifter

Chelsea Morning to celebrate my thesis proposal presentation/defense.


----------



## DSturg369

Pulled out some Kentucky Club Mild this morning and filled a Dr Grabow Duke... This stuff used to bite me somewhat but smoked slow it was pretty good. Another "Old Codger" blend with good Burley flavors.


----------



## ProbateGeek

DSturg369 said:


> Pulled out some Kentucky Club Mild this morning and filled a Dr Grabow Duke... This stuff used to bite me somewhat but smoked slow it was pretty good. Another "Old Codger" blend with good Burley flavors.


Uh, Dale?

Isn't there something else you should be smoking this morning? http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...aged-petit-corona-blowout-11.html#post3624687

:biggrin:


----------



## DSturg369

:lol: ... It's coming. This weekend for sure, nowhere to go... Just a weekend of smoking and reviews.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Hot coffee and a MM Country Gentleman loaded with Kentucky Club Mild this morning.

Celebrating making it through and home from a 4am Walmart shopping trip. Even this early in the morning that place is a war zone. About 25% of the stuff I wanted was out of stock and had to run an obstacle course of pallets and boxes in the isles. At least I didn't have to fend off little old ladies in the produce and bakery departments, so that's a plus I suppose. 

Anyways.... Hope y'all have a great Thursday!


----------



## gahdzila

There is a special time of day, close to 5:00 am, when shopping at Walmart is actually almost a pleasant experience. The stockers are all done and have put away their palates, the moppers and buffers are all finished, the floors are clean, the place is almost empty, and the lone cashier at the front of the store is just sitting there waiting on you with a smile on her face. It's a zen-like experience. Almost eerie! As for the other 23.5 hours of the day, Walmart is a veritable war zone. I usually avoid it. It's worth paying a little more to have a pleasant shopping experience...and the price difference isn't huge anyway.

PA/KK in the MM Freehand this morning, on my second cup of coffee already. Good morning, gentlemen!


----------



## Stonedog

Other than a quick in-and-out to buy ear plugs on the way to a shooting range, I'm not sure I've ever had an even remotely pleasant shopping experience at Walmart. On the plus side they usually carry a wide variety of Ball jars...

This morning I loaded up my Country Gentleman with Ashton's Consummate Gentleman and hit the road. I smiled when I imagined the meeting of a country gentleman and a consummate English gentleman. I smiled even more a few puffs into it. Very nice light english with some earthy sweetness from the burley and virginia with just enough smokey spice to make things interesting.

My last Thursday as a thirty-something.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Until you reach Codgerville, at which point everything pisses you off.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Especially people under 50. :lol:


and here's positive proof:

Father Accused of Shooting Adult Son Over Karaoke - ABC News


----------



## mcgreggor57

A slight stroll down memory lane had me picking up some Middleton Cherry. I vaguely remember sampling this in my college days and, sure enough, the taste and aroma brought me back in time a bit. Not terribly tasty or repulsive. I'm sure this pouch will be fully consumed eventually and then it might well be another 30+ years before buying it again. LOL


----------



## Wiseguy1982

freestoke said:


> Until you reach Codgerville, at which point everything pisses you off.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Especially people under 50.


What if you reach that stage in your early adult life? My wife could attest to the fact that, literally, almost everything pisses me off, *ESPECIALLY people under 30*, let alone even 50!

Black XX Twist in my Brigham Voyageur with some Black Silk by Folgers.


----------



## gernick

I was born old. Just finished a bowl of Peterson's Irish Flake in my MM Patriot with the 4 3/4 inch lucite forever stem.


----------



## Stonedog

Still mad about last night's Oliva G Maduro. The draw was horribly tight until it dawned on me that I could use the poker from my Czech tool to try to open the draw a little. It worked, but what a disappointing first experience.

I was not disappointed, however, with my second bowl of Consummate Gentleman this morning. I think this blend will find its way into my next TAD order.


----------



## gahdzila

PA/KK and a good bit of leftover Stonehaven in a cob. Outstanding! :thumb:


----------



## freestoke

Hell, they might as well be playing the Open in Massachusetts. Rain -- but not when they have to suffer with it, overnight instead. Soft, easy course, target golf. BOOOOO!!!!! :frown: Not NEARLY enough suffering out there for a British Open. Just finished a simple PA/4Dot, but think I'll step up the pace a little with my third cup of coffee. :cp KK seems like a winner.

Come on, WIND!! At least a miserable rain WHILE THEY'RE ON THE DAMN COURSE, okay!? These guys look like they're enjoying themselves out there and that has to stop.


----------



## DSturg369

Good morning Puff Pipers!

Friday!! :woohoo:

Hot 8 o'clock and a MM Legend with Old Gowrie starting me out today. 

Going to go through, inspect, and clean-up my cellar this weekend. I think I might t trade a few tins for some MacB bulk I've been wanting... Will see what I have to work with as the weekend progresses. I know I have some 4+ year old tins of SL, Margate, and Penzance that'll probably go.... Just a head's up.

Also, having another Pipe Chat on Saturday around 14:00 hours Eastern Time, for those interested.

Hope y'all have a great Friday!


----------



## ProbateGeek

At 49, I'm fast approaching the off ramp to Codgerville. Still, I never stay pissed off for long.

FVF in my Savinelli Venezia (803ks) billiard/lovat. I must say, most flake tastes much better to me in a MM Country Gent, including this one. Wonder why that is. . .

Still, I love the way this FVF burns - flavor, strength, and duration. All good. Nice weekend to you, gentlemen.


----------



## Desertlifter

Good morning. Or not - take your pick. Windy as all get out, pain in the *ss truck traffic, and 4 hours of genomics that bore me to tears.

I brought my diplomat and some English Aro, but I really want some Ennerdale.

And Scotch.

And another hour before class.

And the summer cheerleader camp to last another week here on campus. 

Okay - I feel better. Still want some Ennerdale though.b


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> At 49, I'm fast approaching the off ramp to Codgerville. Still, I never stay pissed off for long.


Well, ya just can't, ya know? So many things to be pissed off about in Codgerville, that you can''t dwell on just one. Plus, it's hard to concentrate on one thing that long anyhow. Downtown, you won't even remember what pissed you off in the first place, so it's sort of a symbolic gesture in any case.

Having a little Dart Mix and an Old Mil, basking in the love of the Golf God. Proof positive today. "You always hurt the one you love." Check. "Love means never having to say you're sorry," and there has been NO APOLOGY forthcoming for the the ripoffs at 4, 7, and 9. Silence. Won't even talk to me. Hope she hates my guts tomorrow, though. Big scramble! Much glory if we win this one. Unfortunately, the stupid, boring British Open sucked up all the airtime, so The Golf Channel has decided not to cover us this year -- again! :frown: "Too many codgers in the field. We want the younger, 30-40 Cialis crowd," is their excuse this year. sheesh.


----------



## karatekyle

Enjoyed an Oliva Serie G Maduro this morning at the smoke shop. Great medium bodied stick. A bit tight in the draw at first but opened towards the end (to be expected from a box pressed cigar). I think I'll take it in a toro or small next time though, the churchill got pretty boring towards the end after my mouth hit well done.


----------



## gahdzila

karatekyle said:


> Enjoyed an Oliva Serie G Maduro this morning at the smoke shop. Great medium bodied stick. A bit tight in the draw at first but opened towards the end (to be expected from a box pressed cigar). I think I'll take it in a toro or small next time though, the churchill got pretty boring towards the end after my mouth hit well done.


The G Maduros don't come in toro size. The 6x52 torpedo is the next size down, but I've found that the draw on them is even worse. Go for the perfecto, it's 5.5x54. It's not as pointy on the ends as you'd expect from something called a perfecto, but it is fatter in the middle than the ends, so the name fits, I suppose. This is the vitola I buy them in by the box. They have a tight-ish draw too, but I just make sure I have my draw tool handy when I smoke one. One of my favorite cigars.


----------



## karatekyle

gahdzila said:


> The G Maduros don't come in toro size. The 6x52 torpedo is the next size down, but I've found that the draw on them is even worse. Go for the perfecto, it's 5.5x54. It's not as pointy on the ends as you'd expect from something called a perfecto, but it is fatter in the middle than the ends, so the name fits, I suppose. This is the vitola I buy them in by the box. They have a tight-ish draw too, but I just make sure I have my draw tool handy when I smoke one. One of my favorite cigars.


Well listen to that! I'm glad it wasn't just mine I had a problem with. I had a few hours so I grabbed the Churchill, I usually smoke >6 in, >55 rg cigars. I'll have to see if he's got the perfecto next time I'm in, the taste was wonderful.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> These guys look like they're enjoying themselves out there and that has to stop.


At the British Open?? Isn't that a two stroke penalty?


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

The weekend id Officially underway! Home from work and having a cup of Earl Grey with a MM Country Gentleman loaded with some HOTW.

My daughter Murray is spending the weekend,,, A very pleasant surprise... And her friend Asha is coming over for supper tonight (Saturday). It was requested that I make my famous "Dale's Chili Dogs" as Asha as heard about and wants to try them. Well, it's turns out that Miss Asha is a part-time smoker... A PIPE SMOKER, no less. I may have to adopt her! :smile:

And don't forget... Pipe Chat at 14:00 hours today!

Hope y'all have a GREAT Saturday!


----------



## karatekyle

Morning pipers! Working this AM, dosing out of an old tin of Toque Whiskey today.


----------



## mcgreggor57

A rare Saturday morning at home. I'll be playing one of the casino courses this afternoon as a guest of the pro and decided to enjoy the morning watching other hackers parade past the house. Don't they realize taking an extra club will help them reach the elevated green? 

A nice breakfast blend in the coffee mug and some Orilk Golden Sliced for my maiden smoke in the Sav I got from Shawn. Ahh, it's truly a beautiful morning.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> At the British Open?? Isn't that a two stroke penalty?


I think it's a disqualification! Cancel and hope for a rain date later in the month.

PA in the Alpha Litewate because I was too lazy to go into the living room and get the 4Dot that I was smoking last night watching the Open. Got the PA topped off with some Black Irish Twist and PPP to give a some extra character. Gotta be nicotine strong for the tournament, to get the "little grey cells" crankin'. My team carries a three shot advantage into the day on smoking alone!


----------



## freestoke

At least there's a little wind to brighten things up some this morning. Kendal's Kentucky to start the round. p And homemade blueberry muffins, an Open tradition for us. Yummm. :smile:

Yesterday was a weird success. We hit 16 greens, with a lot of birdie putts in the 10-30 foot range, many of them makeable, a couple inside 10 that were kick-ins -- and did not make a single one! :shock: I'd say that is statistically nearly the same oddity as making ALL of them and shooting 54. But! We did make the 10 foot eagle putt for one of the two skins out! :banana:


----------



## freestoke

Getting interesting now! Put some well-rubbed SWR and BXX in the Country Gentleman to enjoy the gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands. :smile:


----------



## Wiseguy1982

A small bowl of Irish Flake, because I couldn't resist any longer.

I had to come home early from work because my ankle gave out on me and caused me to fall.

For those of you who don't know, I shattered my ankle May 15, 2011 and had to be laid up for 6+ months and have never been the same, lol.

Well, now that I ponder it, I _don't think_ it gave out, but I get intense pain all of the time, and today I got something more intense than I have ever had before and it floored me.


----------



## phinz

Black Irish X in a MM Patriot. This stuff is just plain intense. Tastes like steak and smacks you in the head.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Did you enjoy it? If you did, try the Black XX Twist, it's even more intense in my opinion.


----------



## phinz

Wiseguy1982 said:


> Did you enjoy it? If you did, try the Black XX Twist, it's even more intense in my opinion.


I did, but I will definitely have to smoke it outside. My wife complained about the smell of my tobacco for the first time *ever,* and she *loves* the smell of Virginias, Latakia and all of the other real tobaccos. The only smell she really can't stand is cherry casing. Well, and Black Irish X.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

phinz said:


> I did, but I will definitely have to smoke it outside. My wife complained about the smell of my tobacco for the first time *ever,* and she *loves* the smell of Virginias, Latakia and all of the other real tobaccos. The only smell she really can't stand is cherry casing. Well, and Black Irish X.


Yeah, that's about the only real bad thing with these ropes and twists.

Brown #4 in my Brigham Voyageur


----------



## tar heel

Cob loaded from the left-overs jar (80% a base of Great Outdoors).


----------



## freestoke

My PA jar is empty. Just a second...

Okay, I'm back! PA in the CG and some coffee. Another hot one today, then we're cooling off a bit tomorrow. Need rain! I see we're in the biggest drought ever here in the States at the moment, and deepening.


----------



## Stonedog

More Consummate Gentleman, this time in a briar. 

I watched Fellowship of the Ring with my son last night and now I have a very bad case of CWAD.


----------



## ProbateGeek

FVF in the CG for the morning commute - weather is perfect. Welcome, Monday.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Still awake, will be going to bed soon, but for now enjoying some Maple Street with a hot cup of Twining's English Breakfast Tea. 

Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!


----------



## freestoke

People were getting a bit up tight, what with the heat and no rain, but got dumped on last night, 2 inches (with a little marble sized hail thrown in for good measure! :smile. Needed it, for sure. Didn't think it was going to happen, but all of a sudden storms started popping up everywhere. Nice cold front, with highs in the low 80s today. Beautiful out there right now! Throwing together a little PA and KK to help the coffee pry open my eyes.


----------



## Stonedog

Ashton's Gold Rush in big briar this morning. This stuff hits the spot. Have a good day everyone.


----------



## freestoke

After the PA/KK warmup, was casting around and spotted the *Ennerdale*. Haven't had any in a while and it's just DANDY in the Szabo! p More coffee and then I gotta get myself in gear. Lotsa chores piling up from all these golf tournaments.


----------



## tar heel

Key Largo in a Savinelli something-or-other estate that was practically being given away by smokingpipes.com this time last year.


----------



## Nachman

Chelsea Morning this morning. Nice with a touch of Virginia sweetness to it. Good flavour, but not enough vitamin N.


----------



## ProbateGeek

FVF, 5BR and a little ABF (leftover from last night) really got me started this morning in my Savinelli Venezia billiard/lovat. Thanks for the ABF, Jim!


----------



## freestoke

You betcha, Terry! I haven't given it a shot myself yet, so you're way ahead of me. This morning I've got some 5B/PA mix in the 4Dot, heavy on the 5B for a nicotine wake-up call. Early to bed means early to rise, because you need nicotine and coffee! :cp

Played super yesterday, but had to abandon the round after 5 holes because of thunderstorms. The first four holes are the hardest for me and I played them 1 under. Could have been a superior round. sigh. The last 5 holes have two par 5s, the shorter of the two par 3s, plus an easy par 4, although the hardest hole on the course is number 6. I always think I can pick up some ground on those. Looks like the last of the good golf weather for a while.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

I too enjoyed some Ten Nuts, but with CH instead of PA.


----------



## tar heel

5100 in a Sav Oscar


----------



## freestoke

_Semper excelsior_, with Kendal's Kentucky in the Country Gent and more coffee. :cp KK, like 5B, is a bit overrated in the nic department, I think. Medium-strong is about all I can give it, maybe not even as strong as Royal Yacht. Not that it's mild, not by any means, just not the killer tobacco that tobakrevs makes it out to be. I think the tin description hits the nail on the head, "fairly strong."


----------



## gahdzila

:hmm: I dunno, Jim. Maybe you're right. I wonder if the cut and the dryness, making it so fast burning, have anything to do with it. Burning more tobacco faster = faster delivery of nicotine, making it _seem_ stronger. A small bowlful of straight 5 Brothers (dry and crunchy right out of the pouch) sure seems mighty strong to me...but mixed half and half with PA, it doesn't seem to carry that same sucker punch, even though _volume-wise_, I'm probably smoking the same amount, as I would smoke a PA/5B mix in a larger pipe (or smoke 2 or 3 smaller bowls back to back). Straight KK doesn't seem to me to pack the same whallop.....same cut, but it's moist and doesn't burn as fast.

Anyway. I had some PA/KK in the smooth Kilimanjaro, and now some straight PA. I believe I have nearly exorcised whatever nasty ghost this pipe had when I got it :thumb: It tastes much better than I remember from the last time I smoked it.


----------



## freestoke

Well, we're going to find out. Just filled the CG with straight 5B, dry as a dinosaur bone in the Gobi desert. And I'm still only on my third cup of coffee! :lol: Actually, I've done this quite a few times, so I don't anticipate anything like what might ensue if I filled this thing up with Brown Irish Twist.


----------



## freestoke

I think the 5B was at the flash point. Gone in ten minutes. Think I'll try that again. :lol:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Jim, please know that your incessant smoking/talking about Kendal Kentucky finally got to me - I placed an order for 6 oz. yesterday, thank you very much. And I'm already thinking it should have been more. :yo:

Threw in a half pound of Penzance, just to have. You never know...


----------



## gahdzila

ProbateGeek said:


> Jim, please know that your incessant smoking/talking about Kendal Kentucky finally got to me - I placed an order for 6 oz. yesterday, thank you very much. And I'm already thinking it should have been more. :yo:
> 
> Threw in a half pound of Penzance, just to have. You never know...


. He got to me, too. If you like 5 Brothers, you'll like it. KK is its moist, slightly smoother and more polite British cousin. :lol: Very similar flavor to me.


----------



## ProbateGeek

KK was in my first "real" tobacco order, and I think I order 1/2 pound at the time. Smoked about half that, and bombed the other half, then regretted doing so. 
Great stuff - in my top 5 for sure. Dammit, now I _know _I should have ordered more... :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

Hell, I think I'll just go nuts here. There's a small pile of 5B left, so I'll just throw that together with some KK in the Country Gentleman. Don't think I'll be making too many flavor adjustments. :lol: The Irish Oak was very good, but maybe this is just as good. Meat and potatoes kinda smokin'. :smile:


----------



## tar heel

Escudo in a MM cob (my poor briars, they are becoming shelf dressing while my two cobs get all the work).


----------



## freestoke

On to my third of the day, a wad of the PPP heavy on the 5B in the CG. Should be done in 15 minutes. If we ever run short of fulminate of mercury, 5B might be a good substitute. :lol:


----------



## AgentJuggernaut

Smoking a bowl of Kentucky Select Organic sent to me by mikebjrtx... this is an ideal tobacco for a cigar smoker, not nearly as gentle as the other pipe tobaccos I've smoked.


----------



## freestoke

AgentJuggernaut said:


> Smoking a bowl of Kentucky Select Organic sent to me by mikebjrtx... this is an ideal tobacco for a cigar smoker, not nearly as gentle as the other pipe tobaccos I've smoked.


You cigar side guys need to be smokin' ropes and twists. :lol:

Got a PA/Tambo/PA sandwich going in the Diplomat. Just running into the Tambo layer. I think this is better than the first Tambo I had, way back when. Just looks better. Drier, too. Took about 10-12 grams of little pieces and dust and dumped them into the half-empty Serial Aromatics Pouch to give it some heft. That should perk up my golf game, eh?


----------



## Wiseguy1982

tar heel said:


> Escudo in a MM cob (my poor briars, they are becoming shelf dressing while my two cobs get all the work).


Weird, me too!

The cobs are just so much more cooperative. They dry faster, cool faster, etc...

Erinmore Flake in a MM Washington.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Half & Half (yikes!) w/ 5 Bros. in my dad's Comoy's bent bulldog. I will not weep when my supply of Half & Half has been depleted.


----------



## freestoke

I'm starting to see the bottom of the paper plate! :tu Put another pinch of what is mostly 5B and KK in the bottom and a wad of PA on top and the first of the day is off and burning. I need to get some of those ropes and twists precut, so they'll be ready when I am; if you don't put some of that in a pipe when the impulse strikes, common sense and fear set in and you wind up smoking something else.

The big storm that blasted parts of NY, PA, Maryland and so forth, went just miles south of us, so we had a rain free day on the course. Had one of those hit in '95, where it looked like the Tunguska event, forested areas with trees flattened in a straight line for miles about 30 miles north of here. I keep pots and pans on a peg board on the opposite wall and they were all on the floor after it hit -- felt like an ocean wave have broken over the house It's called a "derecho", which at the time was described as a tornado rolling along the ground sideways. Very odd event.


----------



## Hambone1

Frog Morton on the Bayou in one of my Savinelli pipes. Guess I should know the model number, but I don't have that memorized. I am loving this tobacco!


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Hambone1 said:


> Frog Morton on the Bayou in one of my Savinelli pipes. Guess I should know the model number, but I don't have that memorized. I am loving this tobacco!


I was gifted a sample of FMOTB and I blew through it in less than a day. Great stuff!

Just smoked my last flake of Erinmore Flake in a cob.


----------



## Stonedog

Picked up a tin of Peterson's Nutty Cut after milling around the local shop yesterday. I tried a bowl last night and thought it was decent, maybe one of the better aromatics I've tried but it needs something to up the vitamin N a little. 

I was back to my UF/PACB mixture this morning to give my a MM Patriot a workout. I like the cobs because I don't really worry about charring the rim of the like I do with my briars.


----------



## tar heel

More FVF in a Belgique. Between the over cast (so temps under triple digits) weather and the LOOOOONG dry I gave it, I'm enjoying it like the hype says I should. Tiny pipe and crispy flake makes me feel like an FVF tool because I so wanted to call this overrated, but I really like it (in fairness the tin is probably 18 mos. old).


----------



## karatekyle

A bit of 965. I like this in the AM.


----------



## freestoke

St. James Flake, from the Blind Taste Test. (You know, the stuff where I didn't identify the perique. ) Very nice tobacco...very nice. p


----------



## freestoke

Beautiful day out there! Gonna have a basic PA to start things off, with some basic coffee. p 

Hoping I don't have to waste the morning in the emergency room. sigh. When I first started doing the steroids for asthma twenty years ago, I developed a candida infection, relatively common when you first start on them because it messes with your immune system. Well, yesterday it turned up again and today it's gotten really unpleasant. Perfect. Why do these things crop up on weekends or when your doctor's on vacation? :frown: No big deal, really, but annoying in the extreme. Puffing away, awaiting the stand-in doctor's call. sigh. With any luck, he'll take my diagnosis and I won't have to diddle with the emergency room.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

freestoke said:


> Why do these things crop up on weekends or when your doctor's on vacation?


Murphy wrote laws. I hope everything works out to your advantage Jim.

Longbottom Leaf


----------



## freestoke

Wiseguy1982 said:


> Murphy wrote laws.


Nothing can go wronggowronggowronggowrong...


----------



## freestoke

Heading for the doctor's in a few minutes. Somehow, I've managed to give myself thrush. Would have been better if I could have gotten something for it yesterday, but the norm for "doctor on call" is that you call your doctor's answering service and they say they'll pass it on to the replacement doctor -- then nothing happens. Four times in a row now, thrice with my regular doctor, once with my dentist. Useless. Sometimes I think the fixeroo is in to keep us ranked as high as 37th place worldwide in medical services. Curious how the medical propaganda machine keeps blasting out "We're #1!! We're #1" with absolutely nothing to back it up. We were in the top ten in the 60s, but that was a LONG time ago, back when we had the highest standard of living in the world, and we're not even in the top ten in that any more. Americans believe anything they're told, apparently, as long as it involves flattering them with thinking they're better than everybody else.

Smoking some PA in the 4Dot before heading out. p


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Somehow, I've managed to give myself thrush.


Holy crap; call Napoleon Solo!

Having one last bowl of McClelland Oriental No. 14 to wrap up my day's smoking.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Holy crap; call Napoleon Solo!


:rofl:

Got my medicine, so hopefully this will be done in a day or so. Thrush never wins.

Just finished a bowl of the SAP, heavily bolstered with 5B. Pretty damn good now, the 5B definitely helped matters. Need some lunch...


----------



## ProbateGeek

A little brilliance known as Kendal Kentucky this morning on the way in to work, in the favorite banded Country Gentleman.










< _pretty artsy-fartsy, huh?_ >

I'm seriously thinking of getting myself a whole rack of MM Country Gentlemen (Gentlemans?). They seem to smoke as good or better than almost all my other pipes, which even after about a year of pipe smoking still surprises me.


----------



## Stonedog

Nice picture Terry, how long did that take?

My only gripe with the CG (and even the Patriot) is the standard bit. It is a pain to keep them clean if you're not using the filter. I know the solution is to buy a Forever Stem, but it's still a gripe.  

Ashton's Gold Rush in my Patriot this morning. So far I'm happy with the two Ashton tins I purchased a few weeks ago, and they seem to be pretty easy to find which is a plus.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Stonedog said:


> Nice picture Terry, how long did that take?


Really, almost no time at all. Used an app called PhotoFunia.










Do pick up a forever stem - if you don't like, I'll buy it from you.


----------



## MarkC

I just loaded a bowl of Gawith, Hoggarth Brown Twist from a sample Clifford sent my way. I figured I'd better post this in case I'm never heard from again...


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I just loaded a bowl of Gawith, Hoggarth Brown Twist from a sample Clifford sent my way. I figured I'd better post this in case I'm never heard from again...


Huzzah! Glad to see you filling in while I'm stuck with PA and 5100 for a while. And please get your Puff Last Will and Tobacco form filled out, Mark! :tu

Just a simple PA with the 4Dot for me. Much better mood this morning! :smile: The thrush is almost gone, though, and the hiccups have stopped. Probably be completely done with it by tomorrow.


----------



## freestoke

Just found the CG full of something from last night, which was something of a blur after two nights of hiccup-interrupted sleep. :lol: Now I remember -- 5100. Not a bad DGT at all! :tu

Doesn't ANYBODY speak real English anymore? Just saw a headline, "Curses off reporter". Curses off? Nobody says that do they? :ask: How about, "cusses out"? Or even "curses out". Everybody understands what was meant, to be sure, but...I guess when half the people now writing for public consumption apparently speak English as a second language, these things are to be expected. :lol: How about simply, "Curses *at *reporter"? At least it's English. I'm sticking with "cusses out", though.


----------



## freestoke

Gaining some confidence with the hiccups, I decided to load up a KK. Maybe tomorrow. :lol: Back to some PA. p

Ha! Before I edited it out, I had originally written that "curses reporter" was sufficient, getting rid of a word always a good thing, and voila! They've changed it to "curses reporter"! I feel much better now. :lol:


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Just found the CG full of something from last night, which was something of a blur after two nights of hiccup-interrupted sleep. :lol: Now I remember -- 5100. Not a bad DGT at all! :tu
> 
> Doesn't ANYBODY speak real English anymore? Just saw a headline, "Curses off reporter". Curses off? Nobody says that do they? :ask: How about, "cusses out"? Or even "curses out". Everybody understands what was meant, to be sure, but...I guess when half the people now writing for public consumption apparently speak English as a second language, these things are to be expected. :lol: How about simply, "Curses *at *reporter"? At least it's English. I'm sticking with "cusses out", though.


Depends on what the article was about. If the smaller headline below said something like "Gypsy smirks as reporter rots in grave", it could make perfect sense.

By the way, the Brown Twist was fine except for the overwhelming licorice flavor. I could feel a visit from Ralph coming, and all I had around was half a box of Good 'n' Plenty...


----------



## gahdzila

Licorice? :ask: I don't remember picking up licorice.......ahhh, I see what you did there . Glad you liked it, Mark! Yep, it's strong stuff for sure! This last batch I got seemed to have a little lakeland essence in it that I wasn't crazy about. I'm not sure if maybe it had faded in the first batch I tried and this one was fresher, or maybe it was a contaminant from the vendor storing it down the hall from some bulk Ennerdale :lol: , or maybe it was all in my head. Anyway....fine tobacco either way, but I find myself reaching for Sweet Rum Twist more often....it seems to me to be a small step down in strength making it a little easier to smoke, and I really like the rum topping as well.

I didn't finish a bowl of Stonehaven last night. Sacrilege, I know. But I was exhausted. I saved it, though, and topped the bowl off with PA to have with my coffee this morning. Yum!


----------



## MarkC

I agree; I doubt I'll order any of this after the sample is gone, but a box of Sweet Rum Twist should be here by Friday at the latest!


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All! I loaded up my favorite briar with Peterson's Nutty Cut (hate the name) and made it a point to take it nice and slow this morning.


----------



## DSturg369

With work done for yet another day, relaxing now with some Butternut Burley in a MM Legend. 

Will be risking my mortal life in a few minutes... Headed to Walmart again for a few necessities and such. The really only good part of the trip is that more tea is on the shopping list.


----------



## DSturg369

Well... I survived! Having some Old Gowrie and a cup of hot tea to celebrate!


----------



## freestoke

Once again into the breach, eh Dale? :lol: 

I'm trying to recover from yesterday's bierfest. Loaded up the Diplomate with PA last night, took one puff and went to bed, so I have a virtually new bowl to DGT this morning. Good thing. I might need a cup of coffee and a smoke before I have the strength to pack a pipe. :faint:


----------



## Nachman

I've been smoking a mixture of two parts Old Gowrie and one part rubbed out St James Flake lately. It is even better than Hal O The Wynd. Highly recommended to all Virginia smokers (ATTN Mark)


----------



## MarkC

Ah, another experiment to try!


----------



## gahdzila

PA/KK followed by some SWR Aro. Bronze medal match in Table Tennis is on right now. I'm also keeping an eye on the women's Archery preliminaries - the lady from Mexico is a cutie!!


----------



## freestoke

Looks like my liver is good for another tourney or two. :smile: Just discovered another DGT-able, I think some Irish Oak left over in the FourDot pot. Really good, and I didn't have to do anything but light it! Heading for the course shortly, to get in the round early before the big heat hits. I am EXCITED about my putting! :banana:


----------



## freestoke

Two straight bowls in the Country Gent, one PA, one KK. Nice to be able to smoke the KK again! :banana: (Man, thrush is miserable. :frown

Started with three straight pars yesterday, then the hangover took over in the heat and I limped in with some awful shots, but it was good sweating out the poison. :smile: Should play better this morning.


----------



## tar heel

CG with 965. Cloudy and slight breeze, co it might not hit 90 today. If that holds, I might get multiple bowls today.


----------



## Stonedog

CG and University Flake / some PA Choice Blend this morning. Not much else to report...


----------



## madirishman

A bowl of Boswell's burley and a cup of coffee. Great combination.


----------



## DSturg369

Hot coffee and some Moe's Confetti in a MM Legend this morning. 

Friday! :woohoo:


----------



## PatrickBateman

Smoked my first ever Briar Pipe bowl on the way to work this morning. It is an older Frank Medico Fire Briar with my TinderBox WIlshire blend stuffed inside. I would have used some of the Awesome! stuff Adam sent me but I had packed this long before that package arrived.








Amazing smoke though, can tell a huge difference between the briar and cob! Considering my drive was marred by rain and bad traffic (got to love Memphis drivers) it was very refreshing


----------



## ProbateGeek

PatrickBateman said:


>


Timothy, I think you can fit just _a little more _weed into that pipe! :biggrin:

And is that a shuckins tube I see in the background? Welcome to puff!


----------



## Desertlifter

Sterling 1776 Tavern in my elephant's foot.

Darn good stuff - site describes it as a heavy English, I would call it a lighter-medium one.


----------



## DSturg369

Desertlifter said:


> Sterling 1776 Tavern in my elephant's foot.
> 
> Darn good stuff - site describes it as a heavy English, I would call it a lighter-medium one.


My FAV English blend so far!


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Sterling 1776 Tavern in my elephant's foot.
> 
> Darn good stuff - site describes it as a heavy English, I would call it a lighter-medium one.


Ya know, that was a pretty good smoke. Long ago, somebody sent me some of that and I really liked it. Only Sterling I've smoked, actually, but I remember really liking it.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Ya know, that was a pretty good smoke. Long ago, somebody sent me some of that and I really liked it. Only Sterling I've smoked, actually, but I remember really liking it.


Could have been me, Jim (or was that only cigars your way?:ss).

The 1776 Tavern is the only Sterling I've had as well - it was a really nice-sized free sample, too. I've never been back to buy more, but definitely would. That is an excellent tobacco (and great company).


----------



## gahdzila

Yep, Tavern is pretty good. :thumb: I agree, Brian, it's not as heavy as the website description implies.


----------



## Desertlifter

gahdzila said:


> Yep, Tavern is pretty good. :thumb: I agree, Brian, it's not as heavy as the website description implies.


Good to hear that - I was wondering if my taste buds are getting too latakia cynical.

This was my third Sterling blend - chairman of the board, 1776 tavern, and bargain blend.

Although every time you buy bargain blend you are likely getting something different.


----------



## karatekyle

A bit of PA today. Nothing fancy sounded good but PA sounded great!


----------



## karatekyle

Rainy day here in Sioux Falls. Finally. Been pretty drought-y for the past 2 months. Nice to get a bit of moisture.


----------



## cp478

Rainy day here too. enjoying some (of course) royal yacht.


----------



## freestoke

PA in the Diplomat. Heading for a day trip eastward in a couple of hours, so I'll be incommunicado until probably midnight. Looking forward to something different! The weather will be pretty hot here, so won't be missing much in the golf world.


----------



## freestoke

Had the SAP with me for the trip and wound up with it in the house this morning, so I'm smoking some of that in the Country Gent after my first bowl of PA. Slept until after 10 -- exhausted! Just now coming back to life with my second cup of coffee. A busy morning already! :faint:


----------



## DSturg369

First was Butternut Burley in a MM Legend... Now on to some PA in a MM Country Gentleman. Hot coffee on hand. 

Just dropped a ham on the smoker, glazed with bourbon, brown sugar, and mustard.


----------



## 36Bones

Switched it up today. I went for a bowl of FMOTT in my Kaywoodie Super Grain and some Italian Roast.


----------



## mikebjrtx

McClelland Classic Virginia, has a light smokey sweet granola flavor with just a bit of pepper on the tip of the tongue. My first time trying this one.


----------



## tar heel

Penzance in my Savinelli Roma with some Blue Mountain coffee.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All! The kids are back to school now which means I'm up at 5:15 to get the eldest son to high school. While I enjoyed sleeping in during the summer, there's something about getting to work early and having the office to myself for an hour. The peace and quiet allows me to organize and focus a little better.

Ashton's Gold Rush in the CG this morning.


----------



## freestoke

Back to school on August 6!? :shock: I thought the kids got the summer off in the United States -- well, at least most of it. Can't keep up with the changing times, apparently. We were just getting into the swing of things and evening out our tans by August!

The 4Dot/PA in action this morning. Gorgeous out there after the cold front came through. Not much in the rain department and we need it, but some.


----------



## tar heel

The FVF fom last night didn't happen, so it should be a good, dry DGT this AM.


----------



## Desertlifter

Daughter has to register for school this Wednesday (last one in school!), but I've been working since last week. The vaunted "teachers only work part time" bit? Bollocks - I had 5 days off last year. This year a few more - I was off for 5 days of summer and 5 in spring. Less time off than when I was with the patrol, that's for sure.

Firing up Union Square in my saucer for the first try. Pre-light smell is amazing.


----------



## DSturg369

First bowl of the day was PA in a MM Legend. Then, it was Butternut Burley in a MM Country Gent. Now, back to PA again. Hot 8 o'clock throughout.


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake in my banded MM Great Dane. Perfect, as usual.

Not so perfect was my first speeding ticket this morning. 46 in a 35, and maybe I was. 
First speeding ticket in 33 years of driving. 
Good thing I had the 1792 going - it wasn't so bad.

The $110 could have gotten me a ton more of the Flake, though. p


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> 1792 Flake in my banded MM Great Dane. Perfect, as usual.
> 
> Not so perfect was my first speeding ticket this morning. 46 in a 35, and maybe I was.
> First speeding ticket in 33 years of driving.
> Good thing I had the 1792 going - it wasn't so bad.
> 
> The $110 could have gotten me a ton more of the Flake, though. p


If that ticket rate continues, maybe your next ticket will be for doing 46 in a 70.

I should be on the afternoon thread, but the West Coast never seems to be able to get with the program. Doing up some pre-golf Ennerdale. p


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> I should be on the afternoon thread, but the West Coast never seems to be able to get with the program.


Yeah, it was a lot easier when we just used the "tonight" thread no matter what time it was.


----------



## karatekyle

MarkC said:


> Yeah, it was a lot easier when we just used the "tonight" thread no matter what time it was.


It's five o' clock somewhere.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> It's five o' clock somewhere.


Day and night, day after day.









Picked the FourDot pot off the coffee table, barely singed with its last load from Sunday. 5100, if I don't miss my guess. Perfect for my second smoke. p More coffee! :cp


----------



## PatrickBateman

Tried the Hamborger this morning on the way to work, kickass! Smoked it out of my ever stuffed Medico briar and it did not disappoint. And i didnt get a speeding ticket:high5:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Nice, Timothy - nor did I.

Some Orlik Golden Sliced in the Savinelli Oscar Lucite. Love the clean flavors, but don't care so much for the slight bite this one gives me.


----------



## MarkC

I know what you mean; I'm hoping some time in the cellar will smooth that out.


----------



## freestoke

Another great day on tap! Around here, 88 is hot. As a high temp, that means most of the day will be cooler, so all in all a superior summer day for me, not at all too hot, but it keeps the local hackers off the golf course. :smile: When it's 64 and no sun, when I've got on a sweater, they'll be back out in force wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts. :lol:

A regular 4Dot/PA day to start. p Think I might carve up some JP for my next bowl.


----------



## tar heel

5100 with coffee. 5100 in a cob, coffee in a mug  Only a few more days and my pipe gets relegated to the weekends.


----------



## freestoke

Too lazy for JP, so I went with KK in the CG. The coffee is going down easy this morning! :cp


----------



## freestoke

Third of the day is a Country Gentleman with Kendal's Kentucky. Might be dicey late in the round today, but we're starting early.

PGA starts today. Gonna be fun when the wind comes up. :banana: Maybe we can finally see somebody post a 90 this year. :lol:


----------



## Desertlifter

My first bowl of Pembroke in the elephant's foot. Really looking forward to it.


----------



## gahdzila

Started off with PA in a cob, with a mug of Green Mountain Dark Magic. Pounded down some breakfast, ran to the gym, and am cooling off now with some Union Square (this month's Tobacco of the Month) and some Dunkin Donuts Turbo. I'm a bit undecided on the coffee - it's good, but not great....and at $8 a pound, it really should be great IMO. This is my first bowl of Union Square - I like it so far!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Very generous bowl of Penzance in my dad's Fellini.










I'm starting to get why this blend is so hard to come by - the flavors are so expertly balanced, and the stuff just smokes so incredibly well. My office smells a bit like a Cyprian firepit afterwords, but that's just fine by me. p


----------



## Desertlifter

Desertlifter said:


> My first bowl of Pembroke in the elephant's foot. Really looking forward to it.


My initial Pembroke review:

Sweet baby Jesus that's good stuff!


----------



## gahdzila

This morning, I got out the red-headed stepchild of my pipe collection, a MM Hardwood. I seem to remember this pipe smoking horribly (and actually considered just tossing it out with the garbage), but it's doing a fine job so far with this morning's PA :thumb:


----------



## freestoke

Watching the PGA this mornin'. The FourDot pot was on the coffee table, so I just filled it with PA and off we go! :smile: The wind's blowin'! I wanta see some 80s!


----------



## 36Bones

Needed a jump start this morning. A Monster Low-Carb and a bowl of SL, in my Savinelli Natural. :sing:


----------



## freestoke

Back from dispatching a "Wood Carving" to Australia. (Nope, not a pipe.) Picking up the 5100 that I failed to finish last night -- and the coverage of the PGA! :banana: "Can you bring us some more coffee, please? Thank you. :smile:" :cp


----------



## gahdzila

The Olympics are on for chrissake! How can you watch golf at a time like this?!? :boink:

No spoilers, please! I recorded a bunch of stuff yesterday and am watching it today. Just watched the bronze medal match in women's water polo; gold medal match is next! Water polo is a really fun sport to watch once you start to understand the game. The players get quite aggressive at times - head locks, ducking each other, grabbing, pushing, shoving, etc. Admittedly, the hats are really goofy looking....but after watching a few matches, I can only assume that the purpose of them is to keep the players from ripping each others ears off.

KK with a pinch of PA


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> The Olympics are on for chrissake! How can you watch golf at a time like this?!? :boink:
> 
> No spoilers, please! I recorded a bunch of stuff yesterday and am watching it today.


Johnny Weissmuller just won the freestyle! :tu

I honestly don't care much for the summer Olympics. I used to like the diving and gymnastics, but I've never gotten much out of track and field, basketball or volleyball. I like the winter Olympics better. I like some of the weird ones, too. Not from the Olympics, but they do have this event: amazing gymnast performance! - YouTube

As for the golf, it's the last major of the year and golf's my game. (If I hadn't had to go in the service, I'd have given the tour a shot in '66. Things were easier then, because there weren't that many good players and there was no "exempt tour" or qualifying, so you could just tee it up and have a go for a few hundred bucks. But the money wasn't anything like it is now, so it wasn't a very good gamble, really, unless were you REALLY good. You could scrape out a living on tour, especially with a sponsor, maybe giving yourself some creds for a cush club pro job somewhere, without doing much of anything but making a few cuts and cashing a few checks here and there. Would have been fun to try. :smile

Just cracked the Union Square, a little drying under the lamp for a review smoke. Right now, it'd just some PA to balance the palate. P


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Johnny Weissmuller just won the freestyle! :tu
> 
> I honestly don't care much for the summer Olympics.


Same here. After the unhealthy crush on Olga Korbut, and the one year I watched all the women's diving looking for a nipple shot, I lost interest. Give me the bobsled and the luge!

Having a lunch time bowl of Sweet Rum Twist.


----------



## freestoke

I liked the Olympics until the professional athletes completely took over. Pro basketball players, soccer players, tennis players, even the Carl Lewis's and Mary Lou Retton's. Sheesh, Tiger Woods will probably be in there in 2016, an "amateur cheat" who hasn't been an amateur since he was 10 years old. (Cobra golf payed his father hundreds of thousands of dollars for Tiger to use their clubs through high school and college. *Really* dishonest. Tiger Woods is a liar and a cheat in my book. Best player ever, probably, but still low-rent scum.) Not that it hasn't always been so for some of the high profile sports (the winter Olympics are not better in this regard, with the professional skiers and skaters ready to glide into million-dollar-a-year Ice Capades acts), but it seems that it really isn't "amateur" any more for the most part. The whole thing is far too much of a production. They should call it the Olympic Sports Gala or something. Looks like Johnny Weissmuller might have an offer from Hollywood already!

Smoked a bowl of PA and then some KK, watching the early PGA coverage. And there WERE a couple of scores in the 90s yesterday! :banana: Plus a very satisfying number of 80s. :smile: Not as much wind today, but hopefully enough to cause some angst.


----------



## Nachman

I braved the mosquitoes and the threat of West Nile virus and went out and smoked some Chelsea Morning today,


----------



## jobes2007

This morning I had a bowl of PS Dansk Black while reading a nice book. Good, sweet smoke.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Sunday Mornings..... Gotta Love 'Em!

Hot 8 o'clock and DGT'ed some Stonehaven to get me started this morning. Now on to some PA and the coffee continues to flow. 

Wishing y'all a great Sunday!


----------



## DanR

Good Morning Gents!

I spent a little time and cleaned up my cellar yesterday. I had too many open tins and baggies everywhere. I cleaned and sanitized my empty jars, made new labels, tranfered everything, and its all beautiful again. Luckily, I had a few extra jars after I was done, so I opened a few new (old) tins as a treat to myself. Right now I am smoking some Virginia Woods with several years age on it (from 2007).

The typical McClelland tin aroma (vinegar, ketchup, whatever) is now a more subdued, musty, and earthy. It's very different, probably something related to the aging process (fermentation?), and it caught me a bit off guard at first whiff. As strange as the aroma is, I found myself wanting to sink my nose back in over and over again. The smoke itself is very smooth and I know now why they call this Virginia WOODS. I frequently get a woodsy flavor coming through, almost like sawdust or maybe cedar like one would detect in a fine cigar. I haven't had this one "fresh" before, but I can certainly recommend it for the cellar! This was a 50g tin, but luckily I have a 100g tin still resting.

I was tempted to open my 56 year old can of PA yesterday, but the 104 degree temps outside persuaded me otherwise. I am still looking for the right moment...


----------



## gahdzila

Breaking in a new MM 5th Avenue with some PA.


----------



## jobes2007

Would it still be good in the can after 56 years?



DanR said:


> Good Morning Gents!
> 
> I spent a little time and cleaned up my cellar yesterday. I had too many open tins and baggies everywhere. I cleaned and sanitized my empty jars, made new labels, tranfered everything, and its all beautiful again. Luckily, I had a few extra jars after I was done, so I opened a few new (old) tins as a treat to myself. Right now I am smoking some Virginia Woods with several years age on it (from 2007).
> 
> The typical McClelland tin aroma (vinegar, ketchup, whatever) is now a more subdued, musty, and earthy. It's very different, probably something related to the aging process (fermentation?), and it caught me a bit off guard at first whiff. As strange as the aroma is, I found myself wanting to sink my nose back in over and over again. The smoke itself is very smooth and I know now why they call this Virginia WOODS. I frequently get a woodsy flavor coming through, almost like sawdust or maybe cedar like one would detect in a fine cigar. I haven't had this one "fresh" before, but I can certainly recommend it for the cellar! This was a 50g tin, but luckily I have a 100g tin still resting.
> 
> I was tempted to open my 56 year old can of PA yesterday, but the 104 degree temps outside persuaded me otherwise. I am still looking for the right moment...


----------



## freestoke

jobes2007 said:


> Would it still be good in the can after 56 years?


I think he should hold out for the monthly review, in case PA wins. It's in the lead at the moment. :smile: Talk about one-upmanship! :hail:

I'm having some baby PA, merely a year old from a plastic tub.


----------



## DSturg369

I smoked some from the early 70's and, although it needed a little rehydrating, it was very smokable and tasty.


----------



## gahdzila

Polishing off the Union Square in the Sav Capri.


----------



## DSturg369

Pic of the Capri?

Here's mine... A 904 Capri Root Briar...


----------



## Thirston

What great shape. 
Enjoying some Nightcap (German tin fm the Dunhill US exit days) in an old beat up no name Italian estate.


----------



## Blue Raccoon

it's sunday so a pot of 8 o'clock and a AF Short Story on the patio reading the Sunday paper.


----------



## gahdzila

DSturg369 said:


> Pic of the Capri?


Here ya go. A well used estate I got from Marty Pulvers for a song. It is a _fantastic_ smoker:


----------



## DSturg369

Very nice! :tu

Same here on being a great smoker.


----------



## freestoke

After my standard PA, I've decided on some *Ennerdale* to celebrate the partial return of function to my left foot. WHEW!! I was really worried there, starting Saturday night. (Not that I'm completely unworried now, but...) Went to a party Saturday afternoon and sat in a rather uncomfortable chair outside for about 4 straight hours, pounding down the Old Mil. When we got home, went to the quick-stop for some milk and had "foot slap" on the left foot walking into the store. Foot drop! Paralyzed!! :shock: I mean PARALYZED!! I was not a happy camper, needless to say. Spent all day Sunday on the yoga mat and the past two nights in a row, trying to exercise the foot in my sleep. This morning, there is some function returning! :smile: I can actually flex the muscles on the my shin a little now, so I think I'll get it back. Not a pleasant experience. All I could think of was stroke, MS, ALS, et cetera. Even polio!  (I *might* have had polio as a toddler and I've heard it sometimes "returns".) Apparently, I "merely" damaged the peroneal nerve sitting in that chair. Scary.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All!

I had to abort my commute and run back home to handle a high priority customer escalation. Unfortunately by the time I was able to jump back into the car and head in to the office, the rush hour traffic was in full swing. Keep in mind that this is the first day of school for the surrounding counties, so I had a nice slow drive... Not to worry, my freshly cleaned CG was up to the task. First was a bowl of Ashton's Gold Rush followed immediately by a bowl of PA. My clothes and my car stink of smoke now, but it was worth it.


----------



## freestoke

Another bowl of PA before lunch. That Ennerdale seemed -- uh -- stronger than normal. ainkiller:.

This is such a good read, I thought I'd pass it on: Mark Hyman, MD: Three Hidden Ways Wheat Makes You Fat. For what it's worth, I dropped about 15 pounds after going wheat-free (or almost wheat free at least), to address my asthma problem. Now I'm 15 pounds underweight, but it's all flab. :lol: I know it's the big and happy "American look", but a lot of my friends could do with a little less fitting in culturally and a little less waistline.


----------



## MarkC

So I'm finally awake in the actual morning, and no one's here? Fine; I'll just enjoy my bowl of Wessex BVF in quiet...


----------



## ProbateGeek

Mornin', Mark. I've just finished another bowl and a half of Penzance, this time in the banded Great Dane Egg. 
The more I smoke this stuff, the more I like it. 

p

Dammit.


----------



## DSturg369

PA & coffee this morning. Have to head into work an hour early today for a monthly meeting and have a MM Legend loaded with some PA for the drive.


----------



## gahdzila

SWR with a sprinkling of KK in the MM Freehand. Looks like we might get some much needed rain today! It's cloudy, and an unseasonably cool 72 degrees this morning.


----------



## gahdzila

No rain yesterday after all. :mmph:

I had PA and KK with my morning coffee, and am now enjoying some Irish Oak.


----------



## freestoke

Looks like Texas continues on its anti-environmental journey, aerial spraying for mosquitoes in Dallas. Totally brain dead. Every study shows that there are more mosquitoes afterward than there were before within a few weeks and that since you've killed the predators, especially spiders, the population will soar and remain high for years. They sprayed for mosquitoes in Cicero swamp around Syracuse because the mosquitoes were carrying West Nile virus way back when. They wound up with 20 (yes, TWENTY!) times as many mosquitoes as they had before. It's taken years for things to start returning to something resembling what it was like before they sprayed. And they were actually going to do it AGAIN, last year, but somehow, somewhere, somebody managed to stop the idiots. Same thing spraying for mosquitoes in Africa for malaria. DOES NOT WORK. You kill the predators! Anybody with a brain remaining in a position of authority anywhere in Texas at this point?

Smoking some PA in total misery at the stupidity of it.


----------



## Nachman

I once spent some time in a swamp where I was never bitten by a mosquito. There were tons of Dragon Flies so you never saw a mosquito because the Dragon Flies gobbled them up. Smoking FVF this morning left over from last night. I loaded up a size six pipe with a big flake last night, but after nearly an hour of smoking I got tired of it and saved the rest (almost half) for this morning.


----------



## freestoke

The dragonfly is one of my favorite animals, Nick! :tu The most advanced predator on the planet, according to some, and the best flyer without a doubt. 

I had a weird schedule today. Woke up hungry and fixed myself a big breakfast at 5, went back to bed and got up at 8 letting cats in and out. Decided I needed more sleep, so I slept to eleven then realized about half an hour ago that I hadn't had any coffee!  Luckily, I've been able to gulp some down in time to avoid having to call the medics. On to only my second pipe of the day, some KK in the Country Gentleman. 

My leg/foot is finally almost normal today, after four straight days on the yoga mat, unable to spend any significant time in a chair. Was really starting to panic last Saturday night, when the foot was TOTALLY paralyzed. :shock: Luckily, it was apparently only an injured nerve. Scary while it lasted, though.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Looks like Texas continues on its anti-environmental journey, aerial spraying for mosquitoes in Dallas. Totally brain dead. Every study shows that there are more mosquitoes afterward than there were before within a few weeks and that since you've killed the predators, especially spiders, the population will soar and remain high for years. They sprayed for mosquitoes in Cicero swamp around Syracuse because the mosquitoes were carrying West Nile virus way back when. They wound up with 20 (yes, TWENTY!) times as many mosquitoes as they had before. It's taken years for things to start returning to something resembling what it was like before they sprayed. And they were actually going to do it AGAIN, last year, but somehow, somewhere, somebody managed to stop the idiots. Same thing spraying for mosquitoes in Africa for malaria. DOES NOT WORK. You kill the predators! Anybody with a brain remaining in a position of authority anywhere in Texas at this point?
> 
> Smoking some PA in total misery at the stupidity of it.


This brings back memories - Deer Park, Texas (think Urban Cowboy, that's the locale), late '60s, early '70s, 6 or 8 kids on Schwinn Sting Ray bikes riding directly behind the spray/fogger truck as it makes its evening rounds, huge billowing clouds of white mosquito-killer smoke, approaching zero visibility as we race around the neighborhood deep in the stuff, laughing, clammy sweat and bugspray on lots of exposed tan skin and an awful bugspray taste in our mouths and nasal passages. Ah, the joys of youthful summer in the South...

That COULDN"T have been good for us, huh?

Savinelli Venezia billiard/lovat with, you guessed it, Penzance.


----------



## DSturg369

Hot 8 o'clock and PA in a MM Legend started my day this morning. Right now, some Old Gowrie in a Grabow Duke... Relaxing before work.


----------



## Hambone1

Bald Headed Teacher in a Savinelli.

And yes, I live in an area the are spraying. Alot of upset people here but there is a huge spaz attack going on about an out break of West Nile Virus.


----------



## Monday

Enjoying some 965 in an MM cob while I wait for my shipment to arrive today


----------



## freestoke

A hefty bowl of KK in the somewhat large Sasieni Canadian this morning, for an early morning nicotine kick to get me crankin' for the 10 AM shotgun start. Gotta drink fast! (I'm not used to this sort of early bustle any more! :lol


----------



## 36Bones

Beautiful morning. Sat out on the patio this morning, 70* and raining. Wife enjoyed a book, while I enjoyed a bowl of Sutliffe Molto Dolce, in my Savinelli Natural. We both drank some Eight O'Clock Dark Italian Roast. It's going to be a good day!!


----------



## freestoke

'If any of this has been blasphemy to you, then good! Because it's been a blast for me, too!', A. Whitney Brown, NOT Robbie Williams! I hate plagiarists, especially when they make more money off somebody else's joke than the clever person who came up with it. 

Girding my loins for another battle on the links. Gotta play better today. Working on my second bowl, some KK to get the morning nicotine fix under weigh.


----------



## freestoke

I hate to follow my own posts.  Makes me feel like I'm shutting down the thread. out: 

Going for a 4Dot of PA this morning. Only 8 under in the scramble yesterday, no eagles, no skins, but we played a bit better than that. Don't know HOW Greg's chip shot got out of the hole at the 16th, a 300 yard par 4 that I drove, but that 2 would have given us a skin at least. Was sure we were going to make that to continue our skins streak. Not to be. Fabulous day for golf, though!


----------



## gahdzila

Got the elder kid registered in school this morning, and gotta take the younger one after lunch. Right now, I'm enjoying some coffee and PA in the MM 5th Avenue while she pedals her tricycle around the driveway. Good times 

I really like this 5th Avenue! It's kind of a fluke - my understanding is that they made these as a replacement for the Diplomat due to poor crop yields and a lack of large diameter cobs. The 5th Avenue is about the same diameter and shape as the Legend, but taller. Sort of a mini-General. 

Word on the street is that crop yields are bad this year as well (no surprise with the drought) and the availability of larger MM cobs is going to get even tighter for the foreseeable future. So I'm planning to order a couple more of these 5th Avenues before long.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Word on the street is that crop yields are bad this year as well (no surprise with the drought) and the availability of larger MM cobs is going to get even tighter for the foreseeable future. So I'm planning to order a couple more of these 5th Avenues before long.


The price of gasoline goes up with the price of corn, due to the most disastrous, suicidal law ever passed in this country, the one that requires 10% ethanol per gallon of gasoline. Tree-huggers, fossil fuel CEOs, senators and congressmen, factory farmers and global warming deniers, holding hands and jumping off the cliff together into the abyss. I proposed a bumper sticker about 20 years ago, "Better out of oil than out of soil."

Having a little Irish Oak.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I have most of a MM Country Gentleman bowl of Davidoff Flake Medallions left from last night. I just brewed a french press pot of coffee beans I roasted yesterday afternoon. Time for a pipe and a mug on the porch.

It a perfect 72 deg F with a light breeze. I'm tempted to go out there in just sandles, T-shirt and boxers! It's not like I have any neighbors.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Had the alarm set for 05:30 hrs but a thunderstorm woke me up at 04:15 hrs. The dog and cat pouncing on the bed, terrified from the thunder had nothing to do with it, I'm sure. So, just decided to stay up. Have FEMA training classes at Fort Gordon all this week so my normal evening schedule is gone to the wayside and I'm a 08:00 hrs to 16:00 hrs kinda guy (home evenings) for now. Next week, I have Fire Response & Rescue training at Aiken Tech College, so same hours. And, headed to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for Radiation Rapid Response training at the Y-12 National Security Complex the last week of September... Hoping I can meet up with a Puffer or 2 while there.... We'll see how it goes. Will have to pack for that one. Pipes, tobaccos, a couple cigars... Oh yeah, and some socks and junk. Fun times!

Hot coffee is brewed and DGT'ing some Luxury Cherry Twist in a King's Cross panel to start things off today. A stout tobacco but not overly so and the very first Cherry flavored one that I would actually try again. Good tobacco flavors... Sweet but with only a hint of Cherry now and again. Had a sampling of this and this was only my first bowl, but I could see me buying this one.


----------



## gahdzila

Blasphemy, I know....but no cob and no burley for me this morning. I was feeling adventurous :lol:

Sterling 1776 Tavern in the Kilimanjaro.


----------



## gahdzila

:hmm: Not sure what I was thinking there. Nothing else tastes right this early in the morning.

Back to PA ipe:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> :hmm: Not sure what I was thinking there. Nothing else tastes right this early in the morning.
> 
> Back to PA ipe:


:sl Serves you right.

That sounds pretty good to me right now, too. p


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> :sl Serves you right.


Yep!

Taking no chances today. Coffee, PA, MM Diplomat.

It's my day off, but I've gotta play plumber today. A clogged sink yesterday somehow morphed into a broken drain pipe last night (don't ask). I shouldn't have any issues fixing it, it's just a PITA.


----------



## freestoke

Wow! Made a deal with Andrewdk for some SG Cannon Plug that arrived Monday. YOWZAH!  Audrey hates Ennerdale (she calls it bug srpay), so I let her smell "the Sam Gawith competition" this morning. :rofl: "OMG!! That's disgusting!" :behindsofa: Might have to spend a little time in the back yard today. p

Lighting up some KK for my second bowl. Another beautiful day! Should be seeing a little roll out there today. Too bad the greens are so horrible, but it's a nice walk even if I can't make a putt. Hmm :spy: I might have to fill a Pride with some Cannon Plug for the first couple of holes! :smile:


----------



## Andrewdk

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> Had the alarm set for 05:30 hrs but a thunderstorm woke me up at 04:15 hrs. The dog and cat pouncing on the bed, terrified from the thunder had nothing to do with it, I'm sure. So, just decided to stay up. Have FEMA training classes at Fort Gordon all this week so my normal evening schedule is gone to the wayside and I'm a 08:00 hrs to 16:00 hrs kinda guy (home evenings) for now. Next week, I have Fire Response & Rescue training at Aiken Tech College, so same hours. And, headed to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for Radiation Rapid Response training at the Y-12 National Security Complex the last week of September... Hoping I can meet up with a Puffer or 2 while there.... We'll see how it goes. Will have to pack for that one. Pipes, tobaccos, a couple cigars... Oh yeah, and some socks and junk. Fun times!
> 
> Hot coffee is brewed and DGT'ing some Luxury Cherry Twist in a King's Cross panel to start things off today. A stout tobacco but not overly so and the very first Cherry flavored one that I would actually try again. Good tobacco flavors... Sweet but with only a hint of Cherry now and again. Had a sampling of this and this was only my first bowl, but I could see me buying this one.


I like your packing priorities, tobacco, pipes, cigars, oh and clothes too, nice.


----------



## Andrewdk

freestoke said:


> Wow! Made a deal with Andrewdk for some SG Cannon Plug that arrived Monday. YOWZAH!  Audrey hates Ennerdale (she calls it bug srpay), so I let her smell "the Sam Gawith competition" this morning. :rofl: "OMG!! That's disgusting!" :behindsofa: Might have to spend a little time in the back yard today. p
> 
> Lighting up some KK for my second bowl. Another beautiful day! Should be seeing a little roll out there today. Too bad the greens are so horrible, but it's a nice walk even if I can't make a putt. Hmm :spy: I might have to fill a Pride with some Cannon Plug for the first couple of holes! :smile:


Female reactions to stinky tobaccos can be quite amusing. My wife is currently pregnant and sensitive to smell, I ripped open a package in the car containing PS Proper English, I'm damn lucky the car is not equipped with ejector seats. Her reaction was far from "pleasant to tolerable". LOL


----------



## Desertlifter

Boston 1776. Nice and mild morning.

Craving some Pembroke, but this was at hand.

Mmmmm......ketchup....


----------



## freestoke

Andrewdk said:


> Female reactions to stinky tobaccos can be quite amusing.


From some of the reactions on this forum, I'd have to say the same for the guys. :lol: Got some of that CP drying out on the porch. (Wet!) Think I'll pack the Szabo instead of a cob for the first shot over the bow, since that's the one I normally smoke Ennerdale in. Right now, I'm going to have some PA in the Szabo to "air it out".


----------



## Kevin Keith

Big ol' cup of Folger's and Mac B Virginia Flake, MM CG


----------



## freestoke

Nothing fancy this morning, just some PA in the 4Dot. Heading for the NY State Fair in Syracuse in a while. Audrey has entered 5 basket weaving competitions every year for the past few years. This year, she took a 1st, two 3rds, a 4th and an Honorable Mention, so we're going to check out the displays for Arts and Crafts for sure. (Her worst year to date. The first time she went undefeated, taking four blue ribbons, and one 2nd where they gave no first place.) Not much going on at the fair this year apparently, for whatever reason. Gotta have the hot sausage (maybe BBQ this year...) and later on the baked potato. I kid you not, the baked potato is a big deal. :lol:


----------



## MarkC

Burning some Union Square in my Tinsky Puff pipe when I should be in bed...


----------



## freestoke

And I'm burning some Union Square in the TwoDot apple when I should be doing laundry.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Mac B Vintage Syrian in Sav Monza while I _am_ doing what I'm supposeta! Multi-task, gentlemen!


----------



## gahdzila

Breaking in a new cob with PA, a Missouri Pride. This is my first "natural" unvarnished cob (well, there's also the mini, but it doesn't really count).....and the jury's still out. I've heard that they're supposed to smoke better...but if it does, I can't tell. Not that it's a bad smoker, it's just as goods as any cob, just not any better. I kinda like the rough feel of the natural cob in my hand. However, I have concerns about its durability. Crumbs of cob are breaking off of the outside of the bowl with only minimal handling. Time will tell, I suppose.


----------



## 36Bones

gahdzila said:


> Breaking in a new cob with PA, a Missouri Pride. This is my first "natural" unvarnished cob (well, there's also the mini, but it doesn't really count).....and the jury's still out. I've heard that they're supposed to smoke better...but if it does, I can't tell. Not that it's a bad smoker, it's just as goods as any cob, just not any better. I kinda like the rough feel of the natural cob in my hand. However, I have concerns about its durability. Crumbs of cob are breaking off of the outside of the bowl with only minimal handling. Time will tell, I suppose.


Clifford, I don't notice that my Pride smokes any different than my other cobs, either. I use mine for a "quick" smoke. It does seem to be a little bit cooler. :noidea: Mine had some flaking off, when it was new. It stopped though and this one is about 8 months old and going strong. The replacement cost outweighs the durability factor a tad, doesn't it?


----------



## freestoke

I've got both, the Pride and the Legend. (I think I'm always getting them confused when I say what I'm smoking...) I can't tell them apart for sure.


----------



## gahdzila

36Bones said:


> Mine had some flaking off, when it was new. It stopped though and this one is about 8 months old and going strong.


Oh, good, that's reassuring.



36Bones said:


> The replacement cost outweighs the durability factor a tad, doesn't it?


On this one, definitely. It's basically an unfinished Legend - same size, same shape, and a couple of bucks cheaper!

However, I really really like my Freehand, and have been considering getting another one to add to the rotation - perhaps a natural one, just to have something a little different. MM sells natural unfinished Freehands, but their site is the only place I've seen them ($31)....considering I can get a finished Freehand from mars for $22, I wanted to try another unfinished cob before I slapped down that much for an unfinished Freehand.

Yeah, I know, I'm splitting hairs and pinching pennies


----------



## 36Bones

gahdzila said:


> I wanted to try another unfinished cob before I slapped down that much for an unfinished Freehand.
> 
> Yeah, I know, I'm splitting hairs and pinching pennies


I totally agree. I just bought my first Freehand Natural. Even though I've always wanted one, I still cringed at the cost, when I hit the "add to cart" button. :decision:


----------



## ProbateGeek

It amuses me that of all the pipes I count in my small collection (6 briars, 3 cobs), it is the banded MM Country Gentleman with a Forever Stem that I enjoy smoking most. More than the Peterson, more than the Comoys, even more than my two tried-and-true Savinellis.










Anyone else feel the same way? Or am I just a rustic?


----------



## 36Bones

ProbateGeek said:


> It amuses me that of all the pipes I count in my small collection (6 briars, 3 cobs), it is the banded MM Country Gentleman with a Forever Stem that I enjoy smoking most. More than the Peterson, more than the Comoys, even more than my two tried-and-true Savinellis.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone else feel the same way? Or am I just a rustic?


I agree. I'll never give up my cobs, NEVER!! Everything going okay with you, Terry? I haven't seen you posting much, lately. I hope all is well.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Thanks for your concern, Hilman. Been a busy household since June - inlaws from Korea here from June to December, plus visits from brother-in-law and a niece (both also from Korea) been keeping us busy (trips here and there to show the niece around). What keeps me off puff, though, is my mother-in-law stealing my laptop to watch her Korean soaps. 
Keeps me off cbid, I guess, so maybe that's a good thing? :ss


----------



## Kevin Keith

I don't think the Pride smokes any cooler, but the bowl doesn't get as hot. Terry, I feel the same way about my CG...better than any pipe I own!


----------



## 36Bones

ProbateGeek said:


> Thanks for your concern, Hilman. Been a busy household since June - inlaws from Korea here from June to December, plus visits from brother-in-law and a niece (both also from Korea) been keeping us busy (trips here and there to show the niece around). What keeps me off puff, though, is my mother-in-law stealing my laptop to watch her Korean soaps.
> Keeps me off cbid, I guess, so maybe that's a good thing? :ss


LMAO I hear you. I'm glad all is well, my friend!


----------



## freestoke

Yep, it was the CG that gave the Cannon Plug the good burn on the course today. It's at least the pipe I smoke second most often, the 4Dot being the most smoked, and I might smoke it even more. I have another one "on ice", for when this one disintegrates, but it looks to be in good shape thus far! :smile:


Smokin' some Dart Mix in the Pride, previously known as the Legend. 

Tweedy, Terry! :tu


----------



## gahdzila

You are not alone, Terry. The CG seems to be extremely popular.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the CG. I only have my one, and I know that MM cobs can sometimes vary from pipe to pipe, so it's possible mine is an oddball. But mine seems to have a tall slender chamber (that is, when compared to some of its comparables, the Diplomat, the Great Dane Egg, etc), and thus isn't as easy to pack. Also, the walls are paper thin on mine (again, compared to its peers) and it gets quite hot to hold. It's not a bad pipe, it's just not my favorite.

If you're referring to cobs in general - yep! I've got a dozen or so briars, but my cobs are what I keep reaching for! Love 'em!


----------



## freestoke

Your CG sounds defective. Splurge. Get another one, Cliff. How bad can it be to have one more cob? :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

I probably will eventually, Jim. There just always seems to be something else on the radar that I want more, and I cut myself off when I hit that magical free shipping tipping point :wink:


----------



## gahdzila

PPP (ABF from last night) and PA. Nice combo! :thumb:


----------



## freestoke

Looking at 89 degrees this afternoon. Not long ago, temperatures that warm around here were rare, and about 10 years ago, the hottest day of that year was 86. Still, cooler than other places this year. I'm just afraid people are going to start moving back north; the first time I hear somebody yell "YeeHa!" in the neighborhood, I might go postal. 

PA/4Dot to start off the action. Might have to visit the back yard table in a while for some of this Cannon Plug Andrew sent me. :smile: Pretty good on the course yesterday!


----------



## Kevin Keith

Im-a sittin' here lookin' at a tin of Dorchester and fiddlin' with a cob so I guess I'll smoke. "Oh mah, Ah've got the va-pers!"

View attachment 70647


----------



## 36Bones

FMOTT and CG. Dug the CG out of a box. Time to break it in.


----------



## KBibbs

Good morning puffers. Sitting around on a brisk morning wishing for a smoke with my coffee. I don't smoke much during summer because it's so hot. While the afternoon will warm up considerably, this would be a perfect pipe morning. 
In the meantime I daydream with my coffee


----------



## karatekyle

Heading up to Brookings today. Looking forward to getting started on school again!


----------



## Kevin Keith

36Bones said:


> FMOTT and CG. Dug the CG out of a box. Time to break it in.


All this cob talk kinda got _to_ ya, didn't it? haha :banana:


----------



## 36Bones

Kevin Keith said:


> All this cob talk kinda got _to_ ya, didn't it? haha :banana:


Yes, dadburn your hide. I was digging in the closet and found a box that said old pipe stuff on it. It was mostly old tobacco pouches and matches...etc. On the bottom, there was a paper bag with a brand new CG in it. WTH? I don't even remember buying it. It must of been a _long _time ago.


----------



## Desertlifter

Went on a one-hour run and now I'm off to work. Navy Flake should be just the ticket.


----------



## Kevin Keith

It's a balmy 85 degrees here on the banks of the Rio Bravo, the Folgers has just perculated and the tin of 2009 Mac B Symphony has been popped open. The faithful Country Gentleman is ready as is the cup. Mass at Our Lady of Refuge at 9 AM, so plenty of time for a ban muffin! Should be a good day.


----------



## karatekyle

Desertlifter said:


> Went on a one-hour run and now I'm off to work. Navy Flake should be just the ticket.


My one hour runs usually are the result of drinking too much coffee. Have a few cheese sticks, that always does the trick :thumb:

Coffee from Costa Rica, EMP in the Sas Windsor. Have a great day everyone.


----------



## freestoke

Chock Full o' Nuts and the 4Dot full of PA. Another beautiful day for golf, but we need some rain. Looking forward to it, because I played really well for a change yesterday. Despite a bad bogie at 4 and not making any putts, I was only one over going into 9, but the stinking "spikeless" shoes got me when I slipped on my tee shot. Instead of an easy-ish birdie, I managed to go bunker to bunker and three-putt on top of everything else for a double. sigh. 39. I HATE "SPIKELESS" golf shoes. Three times in the past three TV viewings, I've seen players slip on a shot wearing these atrocities, Ricky Fowler, Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods. Why in the WORLD would they wear spikeless shoes when they don't have too? :ask: Must be really big endorsement bucks to risk having a slip cost them a tournament win. At their income level, you couldn't pay me enough. 

Incidentally, the people who came up with not being able to repair spike marks on the green, back in the '50s, should have spent the last 50 years in PRISON! It's the stupidest rule change in the history of golf, bar none. Total insanity. The person who invented spikeless spikes should be sent to China, to work in a golf shoe factory at slave wages. The people who ban spiked golf shoes on their courses should be rounded up and forced to set pins in bowling alleys and banned from ever stepping foot on a golf course again.


----------



## gahdzila

Finishing off the last of the jar of Solani ABF in a cob.


----------



## freestoke

I don't even know where my ABF is at the moment. I think I opened the can, smoked a bowl, then jarred it. Whatever, I'm back to the CP/BXX blend from last night. For a Diplomat, it's smoking forever! That CP burns super slow, even with the help from the BXX. Oh, wait -- BXX burns pretty slow too. :spy: Anyhow, I smoked on this last night for at least half an hour, but it still seems to have a lot of life left in it -- or death, depending on how you may want to view it.


----------



## DSturg369

Hot coffee and a cob full of Butternut Burley started my day.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

A cup of STRONG sweet black tea, and a cob fulla golden burley. It's a beautiful morning!


----------



## 36Bones

75% chance of rain today. Where's the rain I ordered? Molto Doce in my Savinelli Natural and a Big Blue cream soda.


----------



## pipinho

Northwoods in a falcon with ice coffe


----------



## ProbateGeek

Not really morning, but my first smoke so what the hey. Two bowls of 1792 Flake in the MM CG as usual. French roast in the French press, waiting for Jim to tell us what he REALLY thinks about spikeless golfing... p


----------



## karatekyle

ProbateGeek said:


> Waiting for Jim to tell us what he REALLY thinks about spikeless golfing... p


It's so tough to get him to really open up, eh? :lol:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Starting my 2nd week of training. I'm carpooling all week so getting my puffing in now... Butternut Burley in a MM Legend with a side of hot coffee. 

Hope y'all have a great Monday!


----------



## freestoke

Watering the gardens. It might rain tonight, but they need it now. Got the Pride burning up some PA for easy clenching in the yard. Might take this opportunity to smoke some more Cannon Plug! ainkiller:


----------



## Hambone1

Frog Morton on the Bayou in one of my Savinelli pipes and some ice water with Mio liquid (Orange/Tangerine). School buses buzzing all around today. Got stuck behind an sob that was going 15 even though the school zone lights were not flashing yet. Guess all the activity around the school caused him to slow down. Glad I left early today. Have a good day puffers.


----------



## Stonedog

Consummate Gentleman in my CG this morning. The burley in Consummate Gentleman rounds out the blend nicely, making it somewhat complex and more interesting than SL.

I should have a Great Dane egg on the way soon. It's not the bent model I've always wanted, but it is a fair trade for the three cigars I sent off considering the eggs are hard to find now.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning folks (or damn near afternoon, laid in bed until 8:30 like a middle school bum). After a scrambled egg and peanut butter on toast, I'm heading out for some EMP.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers! 

Looking to be a very wet Tuesday morning here. Looks like Isaac is stretching his arms out a little. Started my morning with Butternut Burley in a MM Legend with hot coffee and have a bowl of Darth Waffle loaded up for the ride in.

Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!


----------



## Kevin Keith

Symphony, CG and hot coffee


----------



## Stonedog

Dale, we've got heavy cloud cover over here in north metro Atlanta but no rain yet. Stay dry over there!

This morning it was Ashton's Gold Rush in my basket briar. Not much flavor out of it for some reason. not sure what went wrong.


----------



## freestoke

Hmm...guess I wasn't quite awake when I wrote my first post to the afternoon thread. Moving on to the KK that's seen little pipework the past few days, having been crowded out by a stack of BXX coinage I put on the paper plate to dry the other day. I know the Forever stem is getting a bit "spicy" from yesterday's outdoor waterfest, but I think smoking KK in a totally clean pipe is probably not in keeping with the nature of the tobacco. I'll run some alcohol through it when I shift to something a bit more upper crust. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

Joining Jim with the morning Kendal Kentucky - two bowls in the MM Great Dane Egg on the ride in to work - but with an immaculately clean Forever Stem. :tongue1:
Very tasty, and good enough to give me some mid-morning hiccups... p


----------



## Kevin Keith

I'm having more Symphony 'cause it's really gettin' along with the Gent.


----------



## freestoke

Standard PA/4Dot start, but I'm looking at the Irish Oak for some inspiration at the moment. No...I'm going for the My Mixture! Just spotted it on the shelf and with the cool night, I'm starting to feel Limey Season on the way.

Had an old swing thought pop into my head on the way to the first tee yesterday. One of the tricks about using swing thoughts, BTW, is that there can only be one or two in your head at a time -- even two is getting dicey. Yesterday, it was consistent grip pressure, something that is rarely mentioned or taught and seems seriously underrepresented in the tomes of golf pedagogy. Only Sam Snead seems to make much of it, but I can see how his inferior ball striking would undercut his advice. :wink: It's important in so many ways, from creating a smooth takeaway, to making a consistent transition to the downswing, to maintaining a firm left side at impact. With too light a grip, the grip pressure can wander around, up and down the grip, creating bad positions and minor "pinch points" (for want of a better description). Too tight and the hands lock up the wrists and there is a loss of natural feel for club position; too tight produces dramatic losses in clubhead speed, which may not be a huge problem for a big person, but for small people it's a killer. Just beyond loose is where it belongs, but it's important not to allow that pressure to change during the swing, because it ripples all the way from the club down to your feet. Yeah, Bobby Jones got away with it, but believe me, most of us aren't Bobby Jones. And Snead hit it better than Jones did, too.

My Mixture! Haven't had any Latakia in a few days. p


----------



## 36Bones

Some SL in my Kaywoodie and a Monster Lo-Carb. Have a great day, brothers and sisters.


----------



## 36Bones

freestoke said:


> Haven't had any Latakia in a few days. p


This is unacceptable, Jim. _Alert the authorities!_ Jim has gone :loco: :mrgreen:


----------



## mcgreggor57

MM Pride and some My Mixture. It was waaayyyyy too dry and I swear the entire bowl was gone inside 10 minutes. LOL.
Early indications are the remnants of Isaac will be here by Friday. On the one hand we could use the rain, but on the other hand there are perfectly good weekdays for it to hit rather than the long weekend.


----------



## freestoke

mcgreggor57 said:


> MM Pride and some My Mixture.


I'll see your Pride and raise you a second CG of MM965. :lol: Tasted really good for a change and was just the right moisture, so it seemed worthy of another go. Gotta get it into a jar now, though.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Loaded up with Mac B Vintage Syrian in Sav Monza, a large Dublin.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Escudo in the CG. Last winter this was my favorite - now I'm more Penzance, Kendal Kentucky and FVF. What's next?


----------



## karatekyle

What are your thoughts on MM965, Jim?


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> What are your thoughts on MM965, Jim?


A most pleasant smoke. Close to mild but it has a little nicotine in it, the Latakia isn't too heavy and it doesn't seem to bite at all. Might be a little moist when you open the can, but that's easily dealt with. I far prefer it to English Luxury, for example, and probably like it more than Balkan Sasieni, but I haven't smoked that for a long time. Was smoking it in a CG and it seemed to go fairly quick, so I'd say it would smoke even better in the Savinelli. I think it probably works better in a bigger pipe than I've been smoking it in, so I think I'll pull out one of the Canadians for my next fill of it.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> A most pleasant smoke. Close to mild but it has a little nicotine in it, the Latakia isn't too heavy and it doesn't seem to bite at all. Might be a little moist when you open the can, but that's easily dealt with. I far prefer it to English Luxury, for example, and probably like it more than Balkan Sasieni, but I haven't smoked that for a long time. Was smoking it in a CG and it seemed to go fairly quick, so I'd say it would smoke even better in the Savinelli. I think it probably works better in a bigger pipe than I've been smoking it in, so I think I'll pull out one of the Canadians for my next fill of it.


That's exactly what I think. Taste is mild enough for it to go well with morning coffee. Nicotine isn't _high_ by any means. But present.


----------



## pipinho

emp in a cobwarden. The blend is growing on me.


----------



## karatekyle

EMP in the dots. After bacon, eggs scrambled in the grease, and toast. It's gunna be a great day!


----------



## gahdzila

Rain, rain, rain, wind, wind, wind. And more rain. Thankfully, we're on the back side of Isaac and we're missing the worst of it.

PA and 5 Brothers in a cob


----------



## freestoke

I went with KK in the 4Dot. I did a quick blood test with my Edmund Scientifics hemoglobin kit, and sure enough my Vitamin N levels were critical!  Feeling a little better now, but it was touch and go for a while. :faint: Got some fresh ground Columbian going, too! :cp


----------



## Stonedog

Worked late last night and had to get in extra early this morning so it was a huge cup of very strong coffee and a bowl full of PA for me.

I have an Oliva Connie Reserve waiting for the ride home tonight and I'm looking forward to it as a change of pace.


----------



## Desertlifter

C&D Orient Express in my saucer - thanks to Floogy!


----------



## freestoke

After a DGT failure, I'm cleansing my palette with a bowl of PA in the Country Gent. I spotted the Mayfair on the coffee table in the living room from last night's JK[sic]P, so I figured I'd finish it up. About two puffs into the light, a mouthful of ashes let me know I had finished it earlier -- like 10 hours earlier. :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning everyone. I picked Consummate Gentleman to christen my new MM Egg. The drive in was nice a short thanks to what seems like half of Atlanta taking the day off.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Virginia #1 in the Big Pipe


----------



## 36Bones

Some Voodoo Queen in my MM CG, to get the juices flowing this morning.


----------



## karatekyle

A jar blend from the smokeshop. "Penguin Sunset." BurCav with a sweet topping. It was... well it was a bulk aromatic. Enough said.

Now for a bit of something good. EMP in the dots.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

The past few days I've had NOTHING, and it's been quite easy. I've had a couple smoking dreams, but no cravings.

Kat and I are visiting family in the Land of the Smoking Nazi's: California.

I have two diesel unlimited and two Oliva O's safely tucked away in a herfador for Kat and I to enjoy on the drive home!


----------



## TheRooster

I'm about to embark on a weeklong vacation with my girlfriend's family. None of them smoke, most of them don't drink... None of them eat red meat or pork. A wiser man would abstain from these things as a way of maintaining the peace.

I am bringing some penzance, some esoterica blackpool, P.S. Cube cut, and my diplomat. Also bringing an Oliva V, Oliva G churchhill, an Alex Bradley second that shuckins sent me, and a nicaraguan second. I am packing heat for what is sure to be a long ordeal... Also 4 favorite, rather long, books. And a flask.

Godspeed gentlemen, I shall return in a week.


----------



## freestoke

TheRooster said:


> I am bringing some penzance, some esoterica blackpool, P.S. Cube cut, and my diplomat. Also bringing an Oliva V, Oliva G churchhill, an Alex Bradley second that shuckins sent me, and a nicaraguan second. I am packing heat for what is sure to be a long ordeal... Also 4 favorite, rather long, books. And a flask.


Might want to include some beef jerky.


----------



## gahdzila

Nah, just order veal every time you go out to eat together :lol:

Good luck, Bill!!!


----------



## Kevin Keith

gahdzila said:


> Nah, just order veal every time you go out to eat together :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> And specify force fed pen raised!
Click to expand...


----------



## Blue Raccoon

*I'm about to embark on a weeklong vacation with my girlfriend's family. None of them smoke, most of them don't drink... None of them eat red meat or pork. A wiser man would abstain from these things as a way of maintaining the peace.*

why? even w/o their 'problems' a week with the GF's family! man you must be whipped good.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Blue Raccoon said:


> . . . even w/o their 'problems' *a week* with the GF's family! man you must be whipped good.


Whipped? You wanna talk about whipped?

My INLAWS are living with us from early June through early December this year. Think about that awhile, gentlemen, as you enjoy your smokes in your respective mancaves.

Six months under the same roof with your inlaws!

:twitch:


----------



## gahdzila

Gadzooks, Terry! My inlaws stay at our house for about two weeks every year and I thought I had it rough!


----------



## 36Bones

I love my in-laws, but to be honest, probably only about a months worth.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Actually, I'm fine with it - they usually only come for the summer to get out of the sweltering heat and humidity in Seoul. Only this year their stay is a bit extended (max 6 months on a tourist visa). While they're here it's Korean food every evening, no dishes to wash, no cleaning chores for me (woo-hoo!), my yard is IMMACULATE without me touching a lawn mower or sprinkler, all at the cost of a higher grocery bill, having to watch the occasional Korean drama on the tube, and my father-in-law drinking up my good scotch and Pacific Northwest IPA. 

He'll even smoke a Cuban with me every now and again. It's good - I just like to play up the martyr angle, is all. :biggrin:


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

2 weeks of training behind me now and will be returning to normal work duties on Monday... The party's over. :drinking: Although getting up at 04:30 hrs for the first couple days was a chore, I kinda got used to it and even liked it in the end.

Since I'm working on the holiday on Monday, I'm tossing a couple slabs of ribs on the smoker today... Pics forthcoming. Daughter is here for the weekend and her boyfriend will be joining us this afternoon for the eats.

Starting my day with some PA in a MM Legend, with hot coffee accompanying. Have quite a few samples I'm wanting to get around to trying this weekend, so the prospects are good for a great weekend ahead.

Hope y'all have a great Saturday and Labor Day Weekend!


----------



## Kevin Keith

Gettin' started with a Dr G Big Pipe full of Mac B Navy Flake and coffee. The long weekend is full of possibility so, yay!


----------



## freestoke

Terry will be pleased that I cleaned my Forever stem last night, now providing a nice smoke for my first PA of the day in the Diplomat. Coffee is especially good this morning. :cp

Not that it matters, or even that I think there is an answer available, but I was just wondering about responding to RG. Some always say thanks, I always do and others never do, but sometimes it makes me feel a bit paranoid when there's no response, as if, "That asshole freestoke is giving me ring gauge again." Once, during a rare snowstorm in Dallas, a woman had slid off the road and was stuck at the entrance to the apartment complex where I lived, so I stopped, worked my ASS off to get her moving again -- and she just sped off into the night without a word. sheesh. :frown:


----------



## freestoke

Getting ready to head to the course a little early today, letting this Diplomat get some further work with the KK. One of my favorite words that I don't use nearly enough is "chuffed", and it's perfect to describe how I feel about yesterday's play off the tee. I was chuffed. Caught it one groove low off the first tee, straight down the middle, then totally flushed every other tee shot. I rate my tee shots on a percentage scale, my last 100% tee shot being in a scramble in July. Yesterday, it was 85% off the first tee and 90-95% the rest of the way around.


----------



## 36Bones

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> 2 weeks of training behind me now and will be returning to normal work duties on Monday... The party's over. :drinking: Although getting up at 04:30 hrs for the first couple days was a chore, I kinda got used to it and even liked it in the end.
> 
> Since I'm working on the holiday on Monday, I'm tossing a couple slabs of ribs on the smoker today... Pics forthcoming. Daughter is here for the weekend and her boyfriend will be joining us this afternoon for the eats.
> 
> Starting my day with some PA in a MM Legend, with hot coffee accompanying. Have quite a few samples I'm wanting to get around to trying this weekend, so the prospects are good for a great weekend ahead.
> 
> Hope y'all have a great Saturday and Labor Day Weekend!


Glad that's over, Dale. Have a great one. Fix you up a bowl of that Darth Waffle. I think you'll really like it.

Today is going to be HOT! 100*+. Up early with some Stonehaven, in my new Kaywoodie from Gregg. Eight O'Clock Colombian to round it out.


----------



## Desertlifter

After my Illusione the other night that followed a bowl of Orient Express in the morning, I am suffering this for a couple of days:










Ob-geek-gasm - it's a freakin' huge basalt monolith. My wife - whose degrees are in psychology and social work - gets the full lecture.


----------



## DSturg369

36Bones said:


> Fix you up a bowl of that Darth Waffle. I think you'll really like it.


I've had a few bowls now Hilman... That stuff smells and tastes fantastic! :tu


----------



## TheRooster

freestoke said:


> Not that it matters, or even that I think there is an answer available, but I was just wondering about responding to RG. Some always say thanks, I always do and others never do, but sometimes it makes me feel a bit paranoid when there's no response, as if, "That asshole freestoke is giving me ring gauge again." Once, during a rare snowstorm in Dallas, a woman had slid off the road and was stuck at the entrance to the apartment complex where I lived, so I stopped, worked my ASS off to get her moving again -- and she just sped off into the night without a word. sheesh. :frown:


With me it's just that there's no forum mechanic in place to just reply to the RG and say thanks, so I'm never sure what the appropriate way to say thanks is... There's also the issue that sometimes you're getting RG as a "thankyou" for one thing or another, and it always feel a little weird saying "thanks" when someone else says "thanks."


----------



## freestoke

TheRooster said:


> With me it's just that there's no forum mechanic in place to just reply to the RG and say thanks, so I'm never sure what the appropriate way to say thanks is... There's also the issue that sometimes you're getting RG as a "thankyou" for one thing or another, and it always feel a little weird saying "thanks" when someone else says "thanks."


Most just go to the profile page and drop a visitor message in there, which is what I do. That way it doesn't use up your PM quota. Whatever, I apologize for my little display of crankiness this morning.  Historically, probably a third or so don't say thanks, but lately it's been about 90%. It makes me feel unwanted. :lol: I attribute that to "newbiness", though, since I have a tendency to give RG to new forum contributors more than to the old hands, and a lot of them probably haven't noticed the page that tells them where their RG was coming from.

And it's Dart Mix Territory we're in, BotL. Good stuff, Dart Mix.


----------



## 36Bones

DSturg369 said:


> I've had a few bowls now Hilman... That stuff smells and tastes fantastic! :tu


I'm glad you liked it.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Most just go to the profile page and drop a visitor message in there, which is what I do. That way it doesn't use up your PM quota. Whatever, I apologize for my little display of crankiness this morning.  Historically, probably a third or so don't say thanks, but lately it's been about 90%. It makes me feel unwanted. :lol: I attribute that to "newbiness", though, since I have a tendency to give RG to new forum contributors more than to the old hands, and a lot of them probably haven't noticed the page that tells them where their RG was coming from.
> 
> And it's Dart Mix Territory we're in, BotL. Good stuff, Dart Mix.


I give RG freely, but don't usually respond when someone gives it to me, primarily because for the longest time I didn't get notifications that someone had done so, and I am not vain enough to always check my profile page (okay, I'm really just too lazy to check). Jim, it's only RG on a forum - I don't think anyone feels we're breaching some kind of etiquette by not sending thanks each time - the thanks are understood amongst the brothas, IMO.

Gotta clean the pipes today - looking forward to some Ennerdale Flake this evening!


----------



## Kevin Keith

The acknowledgement is nice. I always do it, always have...you know a "thanks for the bumpage" visitor message. It's just good manners.


----------



## TheMadMan

Good morning all from a newbie here. It's CH, MM cob, Coffee to start the day.


----------



## Kevin Keith

SWR/5th Ave MM Flogers, black


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> *I am not vain enough to always check my profile page *(okay, I'm really just too lazy to check). Jim, it's only RG on a forum - I don't think anyone feels we're breaching some kind of etiquette by not sending thanks each time - the thanks are understood amongst the brothas, IMO.


The first thing I hit is the "Settings" link, to see if any of the subscribed threads have new posts (otherwise, the reviews, bombs, and other forums don't show up), so any bumpage I've received is right there and I immediately open their profile in another tab, say thanks and move on. The only reason I see it is because it's right there on the same page as the subscribed thread list, although I'd notice I had more RG eventually in any case. Vanity doesn't enter into the picture at all. As for thanks being understood -- maybe, maybe not. Not many kids say thanks when trick-or-treating any more, so I was thinking more along the lines that it might be yet another disappearing social nicety, as the fabric of society unravels. :lol:

Honest, it doesn't matter. Got the PA burning in the 4Dot, cleverly prepacked last night. I was going to smoke it then, but ran out of gas and went to bed beforehand. I had three pipes lined up, the CG with SWR, the Diplomat with KK and the 4Dot with PA to watch the golf, but only got through two of them before it was over. p


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Hot 8 o'clock coffee and a bowl of Darth Waffle to start out my day. 

Got invited to dinner at some friend's at 16:00hrs for today but not sure if I'll go or not. Start back to normal work duties tomorrow and kinda just want to relax and hang out today.... Still pretty full from yesterdays eats. On the fence still.

Hope y'all have a great Sunday!


----------



## 36Bones

ipe: Good morning pipers, a Monster Lo-Carb and a bowl of SL. Already hot, at 9am @ 81*. :help: We need some :rain: _BAD!!_


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> The first thing I hit is the "Settings" link, to see if any of the subscribed threads have new posts (otherwise, the reviews, bombs, and other forums don't show up), so any bumpage I've received is right there and I immediately open their profile in another tab, say thanks and move on.


Jim, I think I'm going to adopt your system - I *never *see my "Settings", so only see the RG days/weeks/months after it's been given. The way I do things now on puff, I only know of new posts to threads I'm subscribed to by email notification, and am blind to what's going on on "my page". So I'm thinking your practice is better. Still, hard to teach an old dog new tricks...

So hey, Jim - THANKS! :mrgreen:


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> I only know of new posts to threads I'm subscribed to by email notification...


I've got that disabled, actually. With my post volume, I wouldn't be able to find my regular email. :spy:

Headed to a party with the SAP, the Legend and Forever stem. :banana:


----------



## BigKev77

Not such a good morning. Too early. Smoking some Squadron Leader in a Mastercraft meerlined. The SL has things looking up though.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Leftover Virginia Flake mixed with some leftover SWR in the Big Pipe and coffee.


----------



## Mante

As per usual I'm ass about face, it being monday evening here & I've had a crap day. Enjoy your smokes my friends as I just want to sleep tonight & forget about this one. :thumb:


----------



## Kevin Keith

Tashaz said:


> As per usual I'm ass about face, it being monday evening here & I've had a crap day. Enjoy your smokes my friends as I just want to sleep tonight & forget about this one. :thumb:


Sleep tight buddy! We'll keep things rockin' on the West Side! :dude:


----------



## 36Bones

Tashaz said:


> As per usual I'm ass about face, it being monday evening here & I've had a crap day. Enjoy your smokes my friends as I just want to sleep tonight & forget about this one. :thumb:


Man that stinks, Warren. I hope Tuesday is better!! 
This morning some Stonehaven, in my 36 Kaywoodie and Eight O'Clock Dark Italian Roast. Why are the things we love the most, the hardest to get? _Stonehaven!!_ :mmph:


----------



## DSturg369

Had to force myself to stay in bed this morning. After 2 weeks of training on days and getting up at 04:30hrs, I sorta got used to it.... Even liked it. But, back to my normal 16:00 to 00:30hrs shift for the next 3 weeks then off to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for a week. At least today is a holiday, which translates into less staff at the hospital to look after and pay at time & a half.

Training at the Y12 National Security Complex from Sept 25 to 27 but heading up on the 24th and coming home on the 28th.... Already got the word that the hotel is non-smoking so I'll be spending considerable time outdoors. Not happy with having to leave the wife alone for a week, considering her back problems, even though she assures me she'll be okay. So......

Up around 09:30 hours this morning, made a pot of 8 o'clock while DGT'ing some PA in a Grabow Duke from last night. Now having some Butternut Burley in a MM Legend. Have another Legend loaded up with Darth Waffle for the drive to work. 

Y'all stay safe and smoke your best today! I hope everyone has a great holiday today!


----------



## 36Bones

Busy, Busy, Busy, Dale. Be safe with all that traveling. I hope your wife gets to feeling better. ray:


----------



## freestoke

Brought up the morning with a ****&span 4Dot and some fresh PA from the tub. Running the fresh 4Dot again, this time with PA laced with a coin of extremely dessicated BXX. p And some fresh ground Columbian just finished brewing! :cp


----------



## floogy

C&D OE In a CG. With some black tea. More acronyms around here than the military. It rhymes too.


----------



## freestoke

And here comes Isaac, or what remains of him. Supposedly some heavy-ish rain for a couple of days, which we desperately need. Celebrating with the PA/4Dot -- oh, wait, it just finished. Make that some PA mixed with some BXX -- in the 4Dot again. Good coffee this morning. :cp


----------



## BigKev77

freestoke said:


> And here comes Isaac, or what remains of him. Supposedly some heavy-ish rain for a couple of days, which we desperately need. Celebrating with the PA/4Dot -- oh, wait, it just finished. Make that some PA mixed with some BXX -- in the 4Dot again. Good coffee this morning. :cp


It dumped 8.5 inches of rain on us here in Arkansas. Today it is going to top 100. Just how fast can the grass grow.

50/50 BCA/PA COB


----------



## Stonedog

Consummate Gentleman in the MM Egg again. I did a pipe-mud fill in the bottom of the bowl Saturday morning. I'm not sure but I think it affected the flavor somewhat. Does anyone else use pipe mud (just cigar ash and distilled water) to fill the void around and below cob's the draft hole?


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Does anyone else use pipe mud (just cigar ash and distilled water) to fill the void around and below cob's the draft hole?


All my regular cobs filled in naturally from the ash and char from smoking, so that the bottoms are now similar to a normal pipe. I make a point of not burning away the stem that protrudes into the bowl, rather gradually charring it over in the early going, something I learned from the experts on another pipe forum. (Never put anything metal into the chamber of a cob, and don't scrape the dottle out of the bottom the way you would with briar.)

Speaking of cigars, I had one that AndrewDK sent me from Australia on the course yesterday. Smoked it straight up, about two-thirds down, then inserted the stub into my Legend at the sixth tee and finished the nub at the ninth green. A regular cigar is perfect for nine holes with the use of the cob. One of these, a Morro Castle.










Which brings me to the present, where I'm smoking the cut tip broken up and mixed with some PA. p Excellent!


----------



## BigKev77

It seems like Stokkebye LBF and LTF get most of the attention but I say LNF is above and away the better of the three. Smoking it in a Sav bent dublin


----------



## Stonedog

Back to back bowls of PA in the MM Egg this morning thanks to a challenging commute. The Egg was a real trooper and is no worse for the extra effort. I'm liking this Egg more and more. It stays cooler than my CG and much cooler than my Patriot.


----------



## freestoke

Having a little PA in the Darth Rader, since my 4Dot was in the other room and I'm too lazy to get up and go get it. Besides, Darth Rader needs a workout. It's definitely got the Dark Side going for it, because it holds about twice as much tobacco as is possible in three dimensions with a bowl this size. :ask: Smokes good, though! p (Thanks, Dan! It's starting to break in properly now. :smile


----------



## Kevin Keith

SWR in the good ol' Patriot with back to back to back black coffee!


----------



## gahdzila

Prince Albert/5 Brothers mix. The MM 5th Avenue is doing its duty today ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> SWR in the good ol' Patriot with back to back to back black coffee!


Think I might head for the SWR myself now. (Those are Gucci overalls, right Kevin?)


----------



## 36Bones

New cobs are suppose to be here today. Status shows "_out for delivery_". 
Enjoying a bowl of Sutliffe Blend No.5, courtesy of Gregg, in my CG. I'm really enjoying this #5 with my black coffee. I think I need to procure some more!!


----------



## Kevin Keith

36Bones said:


> New cobs are suppose to be here today. Status shows "_out for delivery_".


Woohoo! :woohoo:


----------



## karatekyle

Got a new coffee maker. Overflowed this morning. Since I was running late, I grabbed everything except the Zippo I refilled last night.

Drinking some weak coffee and enjoying the sight of a Sas dots full of Nightcap. The day can only go up from here :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

A bowl of erinmore flake in a tiny briar, with home-roasted black coffee with a splash of oat whiskey. (Today is a "me day" and I'm gonna stay home and chill on the porch and hope for rain and play video games.)


----------



## ProbateGeek

Sugar Barrel in the CG - okay, but not something I'd search out. 
I'd rather be on Mark's front porch waiting for rain than in the office, for sure.


----------



## gahdzila

In the mood for a little latakia - Sterling 1776 Tavern in the MM Freehand


----------



## BigKev77

Good morning folks 9 days till deer season here in Arkansas. That makes me happy with my PA and strong black coffee. MMMMM Good.


----------



## freestoke

Wish we managed our forests like the Germans. WAY too many deer around here, now that the wolves, bears and mountain lions are gone. Their only predator is the highway. The grocery stores could be full of prime venison! PA makes me strong with my happy light coffee. :cp


----------



## Stonedog

LNF if my favorite briar this morning. After enjoying the nice open draw of my MM Egg all week I'm reminded that my favorite briar is still just a $35 basket pipe...


----------



## BigKev77

freestoke said:


> Wish we managed our forests like the Germans. WAY too many deer around here, now that the wolves, bears and mountain lions are gone. Their only predator is the highway. The grocery stores could be full of prime venison! PA makes me strong with my happy light coffee. :cp


I am hoping to do my part in thinning the herd here and filling my freezer with some of that prime venison. We can take 6 deer here. Just folded and stuffed a big old flake of BBF. First time I have done that in long time. I usually rub it out.

This BBF used to be one of my go to tobaccos. It doesn't blow my skirt up any more though. Shame I have so much in the cellar.


----------



## karatekyle

Some EMP in one of my Windsors. I love this pipe. Little group two, perfect for a morning walk with coffee


----------



## freestoke

Went with my only FourDot, the pot. (No, not WITH pot! It's A pot. :hippie Man, does this pipe smoke NICE! p Got some fresh ground Columbian in the cup, too. :cp


----------



## Kevin Keith

SWR in the Dr G grand duck billiard


----------



## 36Bones

FMC in my squat Kaywoodie.


----------



## gahdzila

BigKev77 said:


> Good morning folks 9 days till deer season here in Arkansas. That makes me happy with my PA and strong black coffee. MMMMM Good.


Already? Yours must open earlier than ours. Unless you hunt with a bow...I think bow season is opening here fairly soon as well.

Considering my roots, it's quite strange that I'm not much of a hunter myself. Most all of my family hunts. I just never got into it. Sitting in a stand, shivering, holding my breath and waiting for a deer to accidentally stumble across my path....it just doesn't appeal to me in the least.

My family holds a big get-together on the first weekend of squirrel season - everybody kills a couple of squirrels in the morning, then we all get together and clean, cook, and eat the fruit of our labors. That's always fun. But the cooking and eating and socializing part is more fun to me than the actual thrill of the hunt.

Coffee and my usual PA/5B. Have a great day, everyone!


----------



## BigKev77

gahdzila said:


> Already? Yours must open earlier than ours. Unless you hunt with a bow...I think bow season is opening here fairly soon as well.
> 
> Considering my roots, it's quite strange that I'm not much of a hunter myself. Most all of my family hunts. I just never got into it. Sitting in a stand, shivering, holding my breath and waiting for a deer to accidentally stumble across my path....it just doesn't appeal to me in the least.
> 
> My family holds a big get-together on the first weekend of squirrel season - everybody kills a couple of squirrels in the morning, then we all get together and clean, cook, and eat the fruit of our labors. That's always fun. But the cooking and eating and socializing part is more fun to me than the actual thrill of the hunt.
> 
> Coffee and my usual PA/5B. Have a great day, everyone!


Yes it is bow season. I didn't grow up hunting so I was a late bloomer in that sense. I always said the same about hunting until I went a few times and got the bug. Something about taking an animal and processing the meat all on your own. Not to mention the thrill of the hunt. Having all the work you put in pay off.

DGT'd my BBF and am finishing it off now.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> My family holds a big get-together on the first weekend of squirrel season - everybody kills a couple of squirrels in the morning, then we all get together and clean, cook, and eat the fruit of our labors. That's always fun. But the cooking and eating and socializing part is more fun to me than the actual thrill of the hunt.
> 
> Coffee and my usual PA/5B. Have a great day, everyone!


Wow! :shock: Now that's down South, eh? :tu I had squirrel once from a BBQ place in downtown Atlanta that could have been anything with all that sauce on it, but it was pretty good. As for bow hunting, I'm sure there are a few of you out there doing it, but I find it cruel, like trapping. I know there are bow hunters here and there who can actually hit something and kill it, but I'm betting it's like golf and practically every bow hunter is a hacker trying to do some macho thing, sticking an arrow into the deer somewhere and watch it run off into the woods to suffer, so as to impress his friends with his manliness. Lets face it, it's tough to kill a deer or other big animal with an arrow if you don't know what you're doing. Got nothing against hunting in general, though.

DGT-ing the 4Dot with 5100 that I barely got burning last night. I like 5100 a lot! :tu


----------



## BigKev77

freestoke said:


> Wow! :shock: Now that's down South, eh? :tu I had squirrel once from a BBQ place in downtown Atlanta that could have been anything with all that sauce on it, but it was pretty good. As for bow hunting, I'm sure there are a few of you out there doing it, but I find it cruel, like trapping. I know there are bow hunters here and there who can actually hit something and kill it, but I'm betting it's like golf and practically every bow hunter is a hacker trying to do some macho thing, sticking an arrow into the deer somewhere and watch it run off into the woods to suffer, so as to impress his friends with his manliness. Lets face it, it's tough to kill a deer or other big animal with an arrow if you don't know what you're doing. Got nothing against hunting in general, though.
> 
> DGT-ing the 4Dot with 5100 that I barely got burning last night. I like 5100 a lot! :tu


You should do some reading on modern archery. It is no longer sticks strings and stone arrowheads you know. Must be from the the city eh?


----------



## freestoke

BigKev77 said:


> You should do some reading on modern archery. It is no longer sticks strings and stone arrowheads you know. Must be from the the city eh?


Poison tips? Exploding arrowheads? Always willing to learn! :smile: Actually, I'm from small town USA, for the most part, grandparents with small farm type background. Milked a cow or kill a chicken and suchlike when I went to visit my grandparents. One of my favorite movies when I was a kid was Tembo (1952) - IMDb, with Howard Hill killing elephants and lions and water buffalo with a bow. I always loved shooting a bow and arrow and got pretty decent at it. (Pinned a squirrel to the tree in the front yard when I was 15, Clifford, but we didn't eat it. :lol

Off with the SAP and the Legend! lane:


----------



## BigKev77

I can always appreciate someone willng to learn. 400gr+ arrows with 2-4 razor sharp blades that cut a 1 -2 in hole shot at over 300fps that go through and through the animal. The only difference in gun hunting is less kinetic energy and shorter range. Your average bow hunter is usually the most humane hunter because the average hunter isn't going to limit himself to 20-40 yards max shooting range. They will shoot rifles at distances they aren't prepared for because anyone can kill with a gun. It is amazing how many more deer suffer gut shots by guys with magnified scopes than guys with a bow. Modern bows with modern sights are very effective and humane weapons. No one wants to shoot an animal and have to sit and watch it suffer. Hunters right are infringed upon constantly and it is usually done by someone who hasn't taken the time to learn the subject. Hopefully we will have a new advocate soon. VP Ryan


----------



## ProbateGeek

gahdzila said:


> ... My family holds a big get-together on the first weekend of squirrel season - everybody kills a couple of squirrels in the morning, then we all get together and clean, cook, and eat the fruit of our labors. That's always fun ...


Ah, Clifford - you're making me miss my paternal grandmother (maw-maw, we called her). She lived in Brusly, LA (not far from Baton Rouge), in an old dump of a house (was torn in two by a tree during a hurricane, uninsured, and put back together with love and duct tape), and could cook like no one else I've known in my life. _Everything_ was better if she had cooked it, even simple eggs and coffee. And at her table is the only place I've had rabbit and squirrel, the thought of either right now causing my mouth to water.

Had a crappy cigar on the way in to work instead of some Kendal Kentucky in a cob. Will I ever learn. . .


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had some PA in a cob before work this morning.

About 20 years ago I caught the blackpowder bug BAD. I still haven't gotten over it.

I have an old 84 cal smooth-bore musket that I (try to) take an elk with each year. It's a couple inches taller than me, weighs a metric ton, and is flintlock. I didn't have any luck last year. I only got to go out twice and only saw one elk each time... both times were perfect: the elk holding still almost perfectly sideways and maybe 30-40 meters away. I take a DEEP breath, let it out s l o w l y, gently squeeze the trigger, the hammer goes "CLACK", the pan only fizzles, the elk looks at me like I'm an idiot and is suddenly gone. :x


----------



## BigKev77

PA for me too!

El wedo del milagro I have had that happen to me as well and my muzzle loader isn't as primitive. Had a bad percussion cap. It is definitely a BIG let down. I would love to elk hunt! I hope to get that opportunity one day.


----------



## Stonedog

University Flake in my CG helped me through an unusually foggy commute. 

The only hunting experience I've had as an adult happened on a weekend business trip to South Africa a couple of years ago. One of our clients' IT guys took us from Johannesburg out to Kroonstad and I managed to take a nice springbok at about 200 meters. I was using a borrowed rifle chambered in 7x64mm Brennecke. That was an experience I will never forget, but pales in comparison to taking an elk with a flintlock. I am envious, to put it mildly.


----------



## Kevin Keith

And a good morning it is!! Gonna to be another hot day, 105...cool front will pass through this evenin'. I'm ready for actual cool weather. C'mon November! PA in MM Diplomat 5th Ave with black coffee.


----------



## RupturedDuck

Hey! Good morning folks! Hope everyone has been well! It has been pretty crazy for me. Left one job, started a new one with a chaotic (somewhat spontaneous, you might say) transition, and I've been on the road ever since! Say, where do all the pipers hang out in Durham, NC? Looks like I'll be frequenting this part of the country for the next several months.

Morning smoke? I wish. Hotels just don't have smoking rooms anymore. I know it is because they smell like an American Legion when you first walk into them, but usually you just light up a bowl and the room odor becomes much more bearable.

Hope everyone is great.

RD


----------



## 36Bones

Good to see you again, Gabriel. Hope the new job is going well. 
105* here today, as well, but tomorrows high is supposed to be 84*, in my little part of Texas. Hot Damn!! I'm so glad it's cooling off for a few days. Now, if we could just get some :rain:

Stonehaven in the Diplomat and a Monster Rehab Rojo Tea + Energy. _"Light this candle"

_Have a great Puff day, my friends. :tu


----------



## karatekyle

Good morning, folks. B-E-A-UTIFUL day in Dakotaland. Today's high is 66 with just enough breeze to stoke the pipe. Man, these are the days I'm happy I live here.

Give it a month. Fall is just winter is just stretching, getting ready for it's annual regime.


----------



## AgentJuggernaut

SWR in my MM Washington


----------



## freestoke

RupturedDuck said:


> Hotels just don't have smoking rooms anymore.


Yeah, there was once the smoking lobby, bathroom, motel room, restaurant, bar...

My regular this morning, PA with the 4Dot.


----------



## gahdzila

'Morning, gents!

Gabriel! Good to see you back! Yeah, it seems most hotels are 100% nonsmoking these days. It doesn't bother me too badly, honestly, as I prefer not to have a cigarette smoke stinky room anyway. But I must have *somewhere* to smoke! So I usually shop around for hotels with an outdoor pool. Most all of them are fine with you smoking in a secluded corner by the pool. The pools seem to get the most activity in the mid to late afternoons, which works out great because they are usually nice and quiet in the early morning and late in the evening when I'm most likely to be out there.

I got up this morning and dumped the fixings for beef stew in the crock pot. I ain't much of a cook, but I've been in the mood for a simple beef stew (just beef and carrots and taters, nothing fancy) and I found an idiot proof recipe online, so hopefully it will turn out ok. 

The usual for me - PA in a cob.


----------



## Nachman

Chelsea Morning this morning. I have been working on Full Virginia Flake, Royal Yacht, MM965 and Chelsea Morning lately.


----------



## freestoke

Mornin', Nick! Glad to hear you're back to some Royal Yacht again! :tu Gonna have to break some of that out soon, I think. Having a Forever stem with the Diplomatic gear attached, filled with Kendal's Kentucky. Goin' real well. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

Country Gent, again with the same dependable (and immaculately cleaned, Jim!) forever stem, chock full o' Ennerdale Flake. Haven't had this in a while, and find the flavor a bit muted this go-round. Good Friday to you all!


----------



## freestoke

Disappointing advance of the rain shield. Last night, it looked like things would hit this morning and we'd get rain all day. Now it might not rain until late this afternoon without getting much of anything. Rats, I was looking forward to a lazy day watching golf instead of playing it. Might be forced onto the course for yet another grueling day. :faint: Nobody does a thing about the weather any more. Waking up with my usual PA in the 4Dot and coffee.


----------



## Kevin Keith

PA in one of the Vikings/pot of coffee


----------



## 36Bones

A beautiful 61*. and with rain incoming. Molto Dolce in my MP and some back Eight O'Clock Dark Italian Roast. Make it a great day, my friends!


----------



## gahdzila

Glad I checked the weather yesterday. My grass was getting awfully long...I was procrastinating mowing, but I decided to go ahead and get it done yesterday afternoon. Good thing, as it was pouring when I woke up this morning!

PA in the smooth Kilimanjaro. After a lot of time with some drill bits, I've finally gotten the draw sufficiently opened on this pipe. Unfortunately, even though I've cleaned the heck out of it, it still has a funny taste to it (an ancient ghost? a little souring?)...not bad enough to keep me from smoking it, but I do notice it. But I think it's getting better. Hopefully it will go away completely if I smoke enough PA through it  It's probably not worth anything as a collectible, but I think it's kinda neat to smoke a 50 year old pipe.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Clifford, is that the outline of the elephant logo? It looks kinda like it. I like it, classic shape, neat lines. Give it an Everclear bath...that ought to kill any sourness!


----------



## freestoke

Is that briar? Looks more like olive wood or something. (Half a can of tobacco per bowl? More? oke: ) Might try a trick from "The Pipe" (my avatar). Put enough booze in the bowl to have some in the shank, then blow gently and bubble it for a while. Obviously you don't want any in your mouth, so you keep it pointed slightly down, preferably outside. And don't draw on it. :lol:

Smoking some 5100 in the Diplomat with BXX bracing. p


----------



## gahdzila

Kevin Keith said:


> Clifford, is that the outline of the elephant logo? It looks kinda like it. I like it, classic shape, neat lines. Give it an Everclear bath...that ought to kill any sourness!


Rhinoceros - Ki-Km -- Pipes : Logos & Markings
Mine isn't filled in with color like this one (maybe it used to be?) but the lines are still crisp enough that you can make it out.

Thanks, I agree it's a real classic looking pipe.



freestoke said:


> Is that briar? Looks more like olive wood or something. (Half a can of tobacco per bowl? More? oke: ) Might try a trick from "The Pipe" (my avatar). Put enough booze in the bowl to have some in the shank, then blow gently and bubble it for a while. Obviously you don't want any in your mouth, so you keep it pointed slightly down, preferably outside. And don't draw on it. :lol:


Yeah, it's a big beefy pipe LOL. Thick walls, though, so the capacity isn't as huge as it looks. No idea what kind of wood it is (I'm a dunce when it comes to woods). I agree, it doesn't really look like briar. Maybe the wood itself is lending a funny taste? The bowl is meer lined, but there's some bare wood in the shank.

Thanks for the tips. I've actually put a LOT of everclear through it. Everclear soaked pipe cleaners are coming out clean now. So I'm hoping now to just smoke the taste out with some PA. It's not really bad, just noticeable...and it's getting better, certainly better than when I first got the pipe.


----------



## freestoke

Smoke some *Ennerdale* in it and you'll never notice any off flavors, ever again. I don't think you even have to bother cleaning a pipe that you smoke *Ennerdale* in. :lol:

Just got sick of looking at this half ounce of whatever in the jar, taking up pointless space, so I dumped it on the paper plate. Actually, I think that's where it came from to begin with. :spy: Mixed some with a little KK to give it some umbladee and it's not bad. Not great, but not bad. Think it's got some Sugar Barrel in there, maybe a little trace of Latakia from possibly Nightcap, going from how old I think it is. Actually, now that it's burning for a while, not bad at all. p


----------



## Monday

Some fm in a sav.. With a cup of joe... Perfect for enjoying this amazing texas cold front.


----------



## Hambone1

I had 2 bowls of SWR in my Peterson Bulldog fish tail spigot. And....









A Drew Estate Natural English!

Only 64 degrees here today. Was 105 yesterday. I think I will be smoking a few more bowls today due to this wonderful weather!


----------



## freestoke

Wow, Shawn, I have a cigar cutter just like yours! :tu Absolutely perfect for preparing ropes and plugs. 

Early start this morning, for no good reason. After an opening bowl of PA, decided to grab the Mayfair for a flavor-packed bowl of 5100 Red Cake to go with the coffee. :cp Best smoke I've had in days -- and that's sayin' somethin'! p


----------



## gahdzila

Monday said:


> .....this amazing texas cold front.


I haven't watched the weather, but your amazing cold front has apparently moved east into Louisiana. I stepped outside this morning in t shirt and shorts and....brrrr! _That's_ a wake up call! 58 degrees! :smow:


----------



## 36Bones

Another beautiful morning in Texas. 63*, overcast and a light breeze. Black coffee and some Stovehaven in the Savinelli Natural.


----------



## Monday

36Bones said:


> Another beautiful morning in Texas. 63*, overcast and a light breeze. Black coffee and some Stovehaven in the Savinelli Natural.


Looks like we have the same idea.. This morning is amazing... I want to try stonehaven/penzance have the sites set up to email me when in stock!

Fm out of my peterson with some coffee enjoying watchin the resident cat at this cabin eye the koi pond.


----------



## Hambone1

Beautiful morning... football back! Some Frog Morton on the Bayou in a Savinelli


----------



## freestoke

Just finished -- brunch? A bowl of PA, because I'm too lazy to mess with the flakes. p


----------



## RupturedDuck

Thanks guys, good to be back. I'm home next week for the first time since the new job, and looking forward to that. One thing that means that my Sunday isn't occupied by laundry and packing for another week.

In celebration, I've kicked off a bit of McClelland 3 Oaks in a new Ferndown...magnificent pipe. It is a shell group 6 sized bulldog. 

Like I said, good to be back.

RD


----------



## DSturg369

Having a parfait in my Dr Grabow Duke... OGS (bottom) and Tambo (top) with just a sprinkle of more OGS on top again.


----------



## freestoke

Hi, Gabriel! :wave: Group 6, eh? I guess you're set for the rest of the afternoon. :tu


----------



## RupturedDuck

It sure is going to be helpful for cleaning up those jars staring at me that seem to be "almost done" forever.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Everyone,

The weather is exceptionally nice here in Atlanta lately. Temp is perfect and humidity is nice and low for once. Fall is in the air, I can't wait!

I did a fold-and-twist on some stray flakes of Wessex BVF. The CG handled it like a champ and the day is off to a great start.


----------



## BigKev77

Good morning folks. A little change of pace for me. Squadron leader not PA


----------



## 36Bones

Morning all. H&H Strikeforce in my 36 Kaywoodie and some black coffee. Make it a good one!


----------



## freestoke

A little late with the PA/4Dot, but now I'm starting to hit stride with some KK with PPP flavoring. (The stuff I dumped on the plate from a jar of PPP from months ago has some Sugar Barrel and maybe Metropolitan in it, so it's quasi-aromatic.) Damn, was just settling in to watch the rest of the playoff with Paula Creamer and Jyai Shin and Paula three jacked the first (actually the ninth playoff hole, the playoff delayed by darkness yesterday). On to laundry and cleaning up the kitchen. Using the Diplomat for easy clenching. Hmmm...:spy: Maybe another cup of coffee first. :cp


----------



## karatekyle

EMP in the grp 2 Windsor. Nice day!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just got back from an Albertsons/Walmart expedition down to Taos.

Earlier this morning it was hot and sunny when I had a MM General full of a 5 brothers/ Carter Hall mix. It's cool and cloudy now... much better weather. Time to pick one of the three choices I put out this morning to dry... it's PERFECT pipe weather on the poorch!


----------



## freestoke

Cold last night, but it'll be nice in a bit, already over 50. :tu Gonna play great today, I feel it. Right now, I'm having my second bowl of PA, this time spiked with some BXX. Cut up about an inch of rope with the cigar cutter and have a fresh coin all broken up in the mix. Improved the 4Dot's draw a bunch just now, by doing some smooth scraping down by the draught hole with the Brebbia nail and widening the heel that had a lot of char buildup that the Senior Reamer doesn't reach. The coffee is just great this morning, Columbian fresh ground. :cp


----------



## Stonedog

PA in the MM Egg this morning followed by a half bowl of Gold Rush. The flavor profile of GR is a little too ... delicate ... to follow a hearty bowl of PA. Lesson learned.


----------



## mcgreggor57

PA in the MM Pride on the trip into work. I love these cool mornings and evenings. So much so that I'm working toward taking tomorrow off to a) Enjoy the morning b) Get in a mid week round or two c) Catch up on some reading.


----------



## freestoke

mcgreggor57 said:


> PA in the MM Pride on the trip into work. I love these cool mornings and evenings. So much so that I'm working toward taking tomorrow off to a) Enjoy the morning b)* Get in a mid week round or two* c) Catch up on some reading.


Hit 'em good, Gregg! I've got the whole week off, too! :lol: That bowl of BXX with the PA Ignition System was just dandy. Had to brew another pot of the Columbian, so now I have to smoke something to go with it. Life can be hard. :faint: I'm going for some --* ENNERDALE*! ainkiller: The Szabo is eager for some action. p


----------



## 36Bones

Anni Kake in my Diplomat. Doctor appointments today.


----------



## freestoke

Oh no, Mr. Bill! I sent the last of that jar out as a bomblet! I'd have to open another can, so...*Cannon Plug* it is!! ainkiller: With a little PA kindling. p


----------



## BigKev77

I little jar I have mixed. 50% lancer slices 25% BCA 25% PA. Not too shabby for a little mindless puffing.


----------



## Kevin Keith

This may be one of my last posts...last night I logged on and my daughter was sitting by me. I went to "New Posts" and there were probably half a dozen or so with double entendres on the word c*ck. She saw it and asked me what that was all about (she's 16). I said I didn't know and wasn't going to look at the posts to find out. With our own families exposure and more and more women joining Puff, I'd think it would drive us toward more gentlemanly behavior, I'm just too old and the new generation is just too hip and cool. I'm no prude, I just find it tasteless. PA in a bent CG.
edit: just noticed one of the posts was started by a woman.


----------



## freestoke

Actually, you don't see hardly any of that on the pipe side. I never use the "New Posts" tab, so I guess I'm living in the Pollyanna pipe side bubble. 

Okay. Now I remember why I dislike this Dunhill Shell bulldog so much. It's the STEM! I HATE this stem. :frown: Totally unclenchable. I think you have to be giant fat guy with giant teeth for this one. Sad. And ya know, whenever I see a Dunhill photo, I look at that stem -- and most of them are like this one. Absolutely terrible.

Whatever, I'm burning through a bowl of MM965 anyhow. My jaw is already tired and I'm just getting it going good. I think my teeth are suddenly misaligned. Give me a Sasieni every time.


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> Actually, you don't see hardly any of that on the pipe side. I never use the "New Posts" tab, so I guess I'm living in the Pollyanna pipe side bubble.
> 
> Okay. Now I remember why I dislike this Dunhill Shell bulldog so much. It's the STEM! I HATE this stem. :frown: Totally unclenchable. I think you have to be giant fat guy with giant teeth for this one. Sad. And ya know, whenever I see a Dunhill photo, I look at that stem -- and most of them are like this one. Absolutely terrible.
> 
> Whatever, I'm burning through a bowl of MM965 anyhow. My jaw is already tired and I'm just getting it going good. Give me a Sasieni every time.


Maybe that's the solution. I don't nees to read the seegar side...never have had a Liga and never will. I've never had a bulldog (1/4) that I could clench. Love the pipe, hate the clench.


----------



## freestoke

Another thing about this lousy pipe -- it's HEAVY! I have a few Sasienis with at least as much briar and they all weigh about half what this one does. It actually smokes okay, but you can't type with two hands without setting it down. 

The pipe smokers' room is in a dangerous neighborhood. Don't go outside to smoke and you'll be okay, Kevin. :lol:


----------



## BigKev77

Hey freestoke, giant fat guy here. Just send that dunhill along to Arkansas lol. I am a clencher too and if I can't hold her in my teeth I aint smoking her. I started using those rubber tips a few years ago. They take some getting use too but I love them now.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

The porch is finally in shade. It's been a warm morning today, so this will be my first smoke. Half Golden Burley and half Five Brothers in my MM General.


----------



## freestoke

BigKev77 said:


> Hey freestoke, giant fat guy here. Just send that dunhill along to Arkansas lol. I am a clencher too and if I can't hold her in my teeth I aint smoking her. I started using those rubber tips a few years ago. They take some getting use too but I love them now.


It's the size of the stem. If I put a rubber nib on the end, I wouldn't even be able to fit it in my mouth anymore. :lol: Just had an idea! Maybe I could trade it Marty Pulver for something! 

'Bout ready to get under weigh for the course. Looks like a super day to play! :banana: Looking forward to three or four bowls of SAP and watching the wildlife. Lots of foxes, deer, eagles and hawks, turkeys, sea gulls (?), woodchucks, and all sorts of cool birds. The base is a bird sanctuary, with something ridiculous like 600 (?) species of birds out there. That can't be right, but it's a lot of different kinds of birds, that's for sure.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Maybe I could trade it Marty Pulver for something!


Definitely worth asking him. Did you see the Eight dot he had recently?


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Definitely worth asking him. Did you see the Eight dot he had recently?


Nah. sigh. Ain't never had no Eight Dot. 'Twould've merely tempted me, and I have entirely too many pipes for my income level as it is. I've got perfectly fine pipes I haven't smoked in weeks. He said he'd keep an eye out for an old FourDot rusticated prince for me, though. I'd cough up a lot more than normal for one of those. Best pipe I ever had. out:

Forgot my pipe on the course, so I'm smoking some SAP now. And an Old Mil, of course. Putted really good, rolling in a 40 footer for birdie at the last. :tu Thanks, Mr. Mickelson!


----------



## gahdzila

I'm procrastinating.

I bought bunk beds for the kids, and have to assemble them today. They came in a box that looks much too tiny to hold the contents - which means, I'm sure, that it comes in a bazillion tiny pieces and will take me all day to put it together.

2nd bowl of PA is nearing the bottom...which means I *must* get up and get started soon. _sigh_


----------



## freestoke

Here's hoping your electric screwdriver is well charged, Clifford. :lol:

I JUST NOW getting to my first bowl! :frown: PA with some KK booster to put out the Low Nicotine Warning Light. p


----------



## karatekyle

Kevin Keith said:


> This may be one of my last posts...last night I logged on and my daughter was sitting by me. I went to "New Posts" and there were probably half a dozen or so with double entendres on the word c*ck. She saw it and asked me what that was all about (she's 16). I said I didn't know and wasn't going to look at the posts to find out. With our own families exposure and more and more women joining Puff, I'd think it would drive us toward more gentlemanly behavior, I'm just too old and the new generation is just too hip and cool. I'm no prude, I just find it tasteless. PA in a bent CG.
> edit: just noticed one of the posts was started by a woman.


Preaching to the choir. I go to each of the Pipe subforums and click "subscribe" and set them to show in my User Control Panel. That way, I can click Settings at the top and it'll show the "new" stuff for _just_ the Pipe subforums. I got sick of the bar talk a long time ago. And the chesty blonde bikini pictures, and the booze-fueled V-herfs, etc, etc, etc. It's a zoo sometimes. I'm in the same boat. I like to have fun, I like to make jokes. But I think our little nook of Puff forums has a bit more discernment in the jokes we make.

Besides, if I posted pictures of chesty blondes, half you old farts would have heart attacks ound:


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Besides, if I posted pictures of chesty blondes, half you old farts would have heart attacks ound:


I'm a leg and butt man, myself. oke: (Sorry Kevin! ) And speaking of chesty blondes and boob jobs, I find it all very curious. Polls show that a fairly large majority of men, 55-45 as I recall, prefer small breasted women. Count me as one of them.


----------



## Monday

London mixture and some hazelnut coffee


----------



## Stonedog

Consummate Gentleman (appropriate, given the last several posts) in my favorite briar. 

Earlier today I almost posted a review of CG over on tobaccoreviews. I was trying to find a way to balance mindless rambling, relevant review content and interesting personal insight but it just wasn't happening. Oh well, I should be working anyway.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Consummate Gentleman (appropriate, given the last several posts) in my favorite briar.


:biglaugh:

I'm going for some simple PA in the *Country* Gentleman. How staid is that!? :smile:


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> . . . Polls show that a fairly large majority of men . . . prefer small breasted women. Count me as one of them.


Hear, hear! Whoever thought up the champagne glass test, well - he got it right.

And speaking of women so petitely endowed . . . :biggrin:
Didn't have to drop off my wife this morning, so I had a solo commute. Which means I could enjoy three (okay, two and a half) bowls of Kendal Kentucky in the MMCG this morning, with the classical music turned way up to match the sunny, cool (58F), crisp, and absolutely immaculate day here in the Pacific Northwest.










Sometimes, I do not miss Texas...

p


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Sometimes, I do not miss Texas...
> 
> p


Other times I do. Or maybe I just miss the times. out: *http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/288945-stories-briar-patch.html#post3223424*

Getting late! Gotta get crackin' for the course! :banana: The SAP is starting to get light from all this golf. :lol: Might dump the rest of this KK in there -- or maybe tomorrow. Smokin' some KK now myself. p


----------



## Kevin Keith

Jim, your stories are priceless! If you wrote a book of 'em, I'd get it...Snortin' Norbert! haha PA in a Dr. Grabow Viking, smooth dublin


----------



## freestoke

Appreciate it, Kevin! (I just reread one and saw a bazillion typos. ) I think the big difference between then and now is that our soldiers are all professional soldiers. It's their job. When I was in, a substantial number (maybe even more than half?) were there because they were drafted or enlisted to fulfill their military obligation. They had no intention of making a career of it, nor any real interest in being in the service at all. It was something you had to do if they asked you to -- or more specifically, told you to, period. With a college deferment under your belt, you were on your way into uniform if you didn't hit any of the other deferments, so I think the general ambiance of military life was substantially different then than it is now, just because of the membership profile. It was a bit more disorderly. :lol:


----------



## Kevin Keith

And Snortin Norbert...short sleeved white shirt, tie and black horn rims? I may know him! :rofl:


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Here's hoping your electric screwdriver is well charged, Clifford. :lol:


Funny you should mention that.

I actually spent most of the morning getting his old raggedy bed out of his room, and then cleaning up the ensuing mess underneath. 9 year old little boys are really quite disgusting creatures by nature.

Anywho. I got a good solid start on putting the new beds together, and got to a point where I thought: you know, this next part sure would be easier with a drill to drive these screws, but it's not really worthwhile to drag out an extension cord and stretch it down the hall just for this little bit. Then I had one of those light-bulb-over-the-head moments, and remembered that I have a really nice cordless drill that someone bought me as a gift (still in the box!), so I just got done digging it out and putting it on the charger. The box says it charges in one hour....perfect time for a smoke break!

Peterson Irish Flake + a generous pinch of PA in the MM CG.


----------



## ProbateGeek

gahdzila said:


> . . . The box says it charges in *one hour*....perfect *time for a smoke break*!
> 
> Peterson Irish Flake + a generous pinch of PA in the MM CG.


I love it when things transpire in a fashion so beneficial to the pipe smoker. Enjoy your down time, Clifford - recharging for more!


----------



## Stonedog

Strong coffee and a 50/50 mix of Nutty Cut and PA... I was in the mood for something a little different and this burley/aro mix hit the spot. 

It's almost Friday!


----------



## Mante

Stonedog said:


> It's almost Friday!


Not yet it isn't! LOL My day has been topped with a bowl of 5yo McLelland #8. Happy days for me. 

Enjoy your smokes my fellow brethren of the leaf.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Mac B Golden Extra in my Berwyck 85...it smokes swell, fellers, older Grabows rock! and I ain't just a-whistlin' Dixie!


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> Mac B Golden Extra in my Berwyck 85...it smokes swell, fellers, older Grabows rock! and I ain't just a-whistlin' Dixie!


Opening with a bowl of new PA and considering a bowl of Dan's ancient PA, but I don't know if I'm ready yet. I'm afraid to open the envelope. :behindsofa: I have writer's block. Or pregame jitters. Or...


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> Opening with a bowl of new PA and considering a bowl of Dan's ancient PA, but I don't know if I'm ready yet. I'm afraid to open the envelope. :behindsofa: I have writer's block. Or pregame jitters. Or...


Tell us a story Uncle Jim!


----------



## Nachman

Tanking up with nicotine this morning with a big bowl of G&H Dark Flake Unscented in my Lakelands pipe, an Eriksen bent apple.


----------



## 36Bones

Rain and cool weather!! Celebrating with FVF in the CG and some black coffee, while watching it rain and thunder.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Tanking up with nicotine this morning with a big bowl of G&H Dark Flake Unscented in my Lakelands pipe, an Eriksen bent apple.


Good to see you're off the injured reserve list and back playing first string, Nick! I'm loading up a little bit (not quite in the Dark Flake league) with some KK, before heading out to the store. Should keep the Low Nicotine Warning unlit for an hour or so. p And finishing this third cup of coffee for nutrition. :cp


----------



## Monday

36Bones said:


> Rain and cool weather!! Celebrating with FVF in the CG and some black coffee, while watching it rain and thunder.


We are about to get some of that in the DFW area... Enjoyed a FM on the bayou out of my woodie with some coffee


----------



## Kevin Keith

It is another good morning in Fort Worth, 64 right now, drizzle, 70% chance of showers today with a high of 77. Not bad for the last weekend of summer. Symphony in the MMGeneral and a pot of Folgers.


----------



## Stonedog

Happy Friday everyone! 3/4 bowl of UF in my Edward's bulldog. I'm hoping to head home a little early today and get started on the weekend. Mine will be spent watching my daughter in her first year of cheerleading (the football team she's cheering for is quite good which makes it all the more fun). I'll also be watching my son in his 4th year of lacrosse and dealing with the parent politics that come with an organization where 120 kids are competing for about 50 spots total on the spring Varsity and JV teams.


----------



## freestoke

I don't think cheerleaders even did cartwheels when I was in high school. The just danced around and waived their pompoms. :lol: 

Just noticed I went over 5000 posts. :shock: Never did get to that Stonehaven last night, but I think I'll just leave it in the pipe until this evening. Right now, back to normal PA in the 4Dot. p


----------



## 36Bones

GRATS! on the 5000th post, Jim!! Stonehaven sounds good for breakfast, in the Diplomat. I think I'll treat myself and enjoy it with some black coffee. 56* and rainy this morning.


----------



## freestoke

Thanks, Hilman! 

Was reading one of those misused words articles and came across this as an example of the proper use of "fewer" as opposed to "less": "I spend less time shopping in traditional stores, and I expect what I buy online to be shipped in fewer than three days." Could they find a worse example? :ask: Personally, I consider that usage doubtful at best. "Three days" is a period of time, hence "less" is proper. A better target would have been a Mercedes commercial now active on TV, that proclaims "less doors" for one of their vehicles, a truly disturbing lapse for a high end commercial of a product normally associated with well-educated people, but then they didn't even grasp that Janet Joplin despised both Porsche's AND Mercedes Benz's -- and the people who drove them. In passing, I would say a facility with the language probably holds you back in the United States in most professions, including computers. Nobody likes a wise ass and proper English makes you look like a jerk in American society. Hell, you don't have to be able to write complete sentences to get a PhD nowadays. 

Almost done with this PA and that Stonehaven is calling to me. p


----------



## mcgreggor57

Sutliffe #5. Nice latakia in the morning.


----------



## Stonedog

Indeed, Happy 5000th Jim!


----------



## TheRooster

freestoke said:


> In passing, I would say a facility with the language probably holds you back in the United States in most professions, including computers. Nobody likes a wise ass and proper English makes you look like a jerk in American society. Hell, you don't have to be able to write complete sentences to get a PhD nowadays.


Too true.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

It's 40 deg F out on the porch! I live for cool weather.

I just filled my meer with Ham Beer, and am heading out there with a mug of homeroasted coffee with a touch of local wild honey.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Looking forward to the next 5,000 Jim! I agree with you on the "less/fewer" misuse, which is everywhere. I am bothered as much by the phrase "different than" (ungh - even typing it gives me the willies), and the misuse (at least to my ears) of "either" to mean "both" or "each".

But then again, I'm Texas-born and raised. :cowboyic9:

Back to Penzance again this morning, still using the Country Gentleman. Since I seem to prefer this one to my briars, I'm thinking it's high time I pick up a couple of CG extras. I think the band from Walker Briar Works can even be swapped out along with the Forever Stem. You know, to remain the cultivated hillbilly... 

p


----------



## TheRooster

Also troublesome is the recent apparent redefinition of "irony."


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Looking forward to the next 5,000 Jim! I agree with you on the "less/fewer" misuse, which is everywhere. I am bothered as much by the phrase "different than" (ungh - even typing it gives me the willies), and the misuse (at least to my ears) of "either" to mean "both" or "each".


Just between you and I oke:, the golf announcers are surprisingly ungrammatical, considering that they are almost all college graduates, or at least went to college for a year or two to play on the golf team... :spy: Ah. :doh: I just remembered the sports-team-member grading system.

A whole nother country, indeed. Opinions differ, but I don't want the apostrophe there, because that would denote an elision. There IS no missing a, so the apostrophe, which ones sees more often than not, is a phantom. And of course, the Madison Ave monstrosity, found in Texas tourism commercials, "A whole other country," is something somebody from New Jersey or New York might come up with. sheesh. "A whole nother [thing]" is nothing but a form of tmesis, while "A whole other" sounds as if it might be coming from somebody who speaks English as a second language. They asked Madison Ave to make TEXAS commercials? What next, pinto beans imported from Canada? Or maybe it was just a bunch of Yankees that had fled southward to escape taxes and snow, say from Boston, and hadn't quite grokked Texan yet; at least they'd be keeping the business local, sort of. Nostalgic memories of Texas make me almost as unhappy as being there. (Thanks to Willie Nelson. "I'm so sad, now that you're gone, it's almost as bad as having you here." :lol

Having a quick KK in the CG before heading out for another magic day on the unmowed fairways and greens of Mohawk Glen.


----------



## ProbateGeek

EEK!  Jim, don't get us started on that insidious "subjective pronoun as an object" routine (I'm cringing...), at least not before I've had my Friday post-lunch cigar... :ss


----------



## freestoke

Damn sorry, Terry. I had just eaten a nice chicken sandwich for lunch and forgot I was dealing with somebody in a different time zone. "Good mornin', Viet Nam!"


----------



## 36Bones

59* and overcast with a light breeze. I am digging this cooler weather! Breakfast was waffles and scrambled eggs with Johnsonville Brats. Delicious :tu 

This morning SL in my Diplomat and some black coffee. Chit-chatting with the wife. Make it a great day, everyone!


----------



## freestoke

Things definitely cooler here, too. Six months from now, it'll be short sleeve shirt weather, but right now it's sweater time. Some PA to start the day, but in the CG instead of the 4Dot. I transferred the Stonehaven that was in the CG for a full day to the FourDot pot last night, so maybe there's a ghost there. :lol: "The Secret of the Stonehaven Spectre". Now I just have to think up a story to go with the title. :spy:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Toast, bacon, and green chili and tomatos from our garden scrambled into eggs for breakfast.

Now heading out to the porch with a cup of homeroasted and the new Savinelli paneled billiard filled with PA and 5 bros.


----------



## gahdzila

El wedo del milagro said:


> PA and 5 bros.


Obviously, this gentleman has impeccable taste  That's my favorite breakfast blend, Mark!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I learned it from you, Clifford, I'm only standing on the shoulders of giants.

I got my second cup of coffee, now back to the porch for the second half of the bowl...


----------



## freestoke

Sheesh. How is it that I just smoked some 56 year old PA yesterday, new PA today, Stonehaven...and I'm feeling deprived because I haven't had any 5B in weeks. :frown: The tobacco is always browner on the other side of the cellar. I'll just suffer with this SWR and BXX in the Diplomat. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

And somehow I've managed the last 6 months without any PA! Don't ask me how - it's such a staple around here. Sooooooo, it's high time I purchase a tin. Where do you guys generally make your online purchases of PA? I've found the 14 oz. tin at BnB Tobacco for only $25.99, here: Prince Albert Regular Crimp Cut Pipe Smoking Tobacco 14oz

I don't think the price could get much cheaper, but I've not done business with BnB before. Does anyone know them? They're also tempting me with the 50 count boxes of Punch Rothschild Double Maduro - only $139.99.

I'm starting to feel the itch. . .


----------



## gahdzila

You know, you risk enflaming Jim's codgerly rage by calling it a tin mg:

I've never used BnB. But it's the same price at P&C. I've actually been buying it locally - this local place has 7 ounce *TUBS* ( :lol: ) for ~$15 or so.


----------



## freestoke

I'll contain myself for now, merely noting in passing that it's a stinking -- CANNISTER! (Sorry I raised my voice there. I'm okay. I think I can control it. The anger management courses are coming along nicely.)

Just back from a stroll with the Cannon Plug and PA underbrush mixed in for incendiary content. Excellent! We also took a quick trip to the veggie stand for fresh corn (yum!) and some pie punkins. (My yearly battle with the stupid Dutch word "pumpkin" commences. Why do people use this reprehensible word when a perfectly good old English word is available. We speak ENGLISH around these parts, so it's a PUNKIN! As Max Euwe says, there are not two correct opinions about this, and being Dutch, he should know! I try to keep my session lessons in mind whenever I see the signs, "Pumpkins for Sale". "ReLAX. Take deep breaths. Smoke some Stonehaven and move on to more pleasant thoughts.")


----------



## freestoke

I was so angry I misspelled "canister". out: I'm sorry I went off like that, Terry. And Max Euwe didn't have anything to say about "punkin", but I love the phrase -- he was talking about chess. "The advantage of the exchange is decisive. There are not two correct opinions about this." 

DGTing this English Lux + BXX from last night. It definitely finishes well! More nicotine than I generally do this early, but it seems to be going down pretty well. This English Luxury isn't bad with a little BXX to spice things up!


----------



## 36Bones

Polished off a PDR Oscuro. Waiting on the wife, to go into town, to Sam's. I have some Walnut in the MP. I forgot how much I used to enjoy it.


----------



## freestoke

Been through my morning constitutional PA in the 4Dot and had a hankering for some SWR, so I filled the rusticated Sasieni Canadian up and here we are. p With a cup of fresh ground Columbian. :cp


----------



## Chris0673

We were in the bunker for awhile and I just happened to have my pipe and tobacco on me so I lit it up. One of the other Sergeants noticed and asked if I was smoking a pipe. I said "why yes, yes I am" and he told me that the previous company had left a ton of tobacco in their tent! He asked me if I would like to take it off their hands. Well, who am I to turn down a freebie! I'll be getting about 6 POUNDS of the stuff tomorrow! Some of it is a local Afghanistan blend(?) so I'm not sure if it's "legal". lol Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what all I'm getting.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Gents, coming in to work after a fantastic weekend is not easy. 

It's amazing how a season with a very good coach can improve a player's skills. My son chose to play on a club team last year instead of JV. He wanted to learn from the club team's excellent defensive coach. My son had to endure his freshman year not hanging with his buddies on JV... Now he's playing with them again in a non-HS fall league and his skills have surpassed theirs. He was the star defender in the game yesterday and was all grins afterwards... I was quite proud of him!

To keep this on track, I also enjoyed the last of my aged FVF yesterday while working on my car. This morning I was back to the standard commute combo of strong black coffee and a cob full of PA.


----------



## freestoke

Chris0673 said:


> I'll be getting about 6 POUNDS of the stuff tomorrow! Some of it is a local Afghanistan blend(?) so I'm not sure if it's "legal". lol Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what all I'm getting.


VERY cool! Hope there's some interesting stuff in the mix!

Had some boring old PA, then DGTed the TwoDot apple from...? It contained some BXX and possibly Golden Age, but it was very nice for a few minutes before it went out. Right now, I think I'll mix up some of this PPP with a coin of BXX to keep the nicotine ball rolling. p BEAUTIFUL day in store!!


----------



## 36Bones

SL and black coffee in the Savinelli.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Kendal Kentucky and black tea in the Savinelli. 
G'mornin' Hilman. p


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## Chris0673

I was smoking some Captain Black in my cob this morning and drinking a cup of Dunkin Donuts Hazelnut coffee. First time I combined the two. Amazing how different the coffee tasted with the tobacco. Different good. Different very good!


----------



## Stonedog

Consummate Gentleman in the Edward's bulldog this morning and all is right in the world.

I went on a search for Carter Hall last night. I found a few tubs but no boxes. I did find some pouches of SWR and SWR Aro. I bought the regular SWR only to find it was completely dried out. Before I hydrate it, is this one of those burleys that should be dry (like 5 Brothers)?


----------



## Kevin Keith

Stonedog said:


> Consummate Gentleman in the Edward's bulldog this morning and all is right in the world.
> 
> I went on a search for Carter Hall last night. I found a few tubs but no boxes. I did find some pouches of SWR and SWR Aro. I bought the regular SWR only to find it was completely dried out. Before I hydrate it, is this one of those burleys that should be dry (like 5 Brothers)?


SWR is always pretty dry. Try a bowl before you wet it up. I smoke it _alot_...this is normal for the blend. :happy:


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> SWR is always pretty dry. Try a bowl before you wet it up. I smoke it _alot_...this is normal for the blend. :happy:


I seem to need to rub out SWR like flake. Not quite as labor intensive as a regular flake, but still, there are big pieces that are difficult to get burning, at least from the canister I have. That said, unless it's absolutely crispy, it probably would smoke just fine drier than you might suppose.

Think I'll have a little SWR too! p And another cup of coffee before I have to start house cleaning. :faint:


----------



## 36Bones

Good Morning, fellow pipers. 62* and raining. The last of my Stonehaven in the Dipolmat and some espresso. It's a sad day. Now, the great search really picks up, for more Stonie. Make it a good one, people! :tu


----------



## MiamiMikePA

The day the Stoney runs out is not a good day!


----------



## freestoke

Got a start on the cleaning. :faint: Gotta take a Stonehaven break! You guys talked me into it. Sorry to hear of your loss, Hilman. out: 

Don't know where this came from, I'm sad to say, but it's heavily laden with white crystals. I thank whoever sent it, for sure! :yo: (I think it was one of those trades where I discovered the total innumeracy and absence of any semblance of common decency involved in trading with the denizens of puff. :deadhorse: ) I musketballed a tight wad into the Bari Dana and it's just about perfect. Couple of tamps, couple of relights and it's off to the races! p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast. Then I went outside to tend to my container garden on the porch, and finish off a bowl of Frog Morton that I started last night.

The partial bowl didn't do it, so I packed the MM General with 1/3 5 Bros and 2/3 PA. That, and two mugs of coffee, did the trick!


----------



## gahdzila

Stonedog said:


> Consummate Gentleman in the Edward's bulldog this morning and all is right in the world.
> 
> I went on a search for Carter Hall last night. I found a few tubs but no boxes. I did find some pouches of SWR and SWR Aro. I bought the regular SWR only to find it was completely dried out. Before I hydrate it, is this one of those burleys that should be dry (like 5 Brothers)?


I probably haven't smoked as much SWR as the other guys. But I've had one pouch that was dry and almost crunchy; one pouch that was moister but still a hair on the dry side; and one tub that was moister still, but perhaps a little drier than PA. So my assumption is that isn't necessarily supposed to be dried out, but a little on the dry side, and that the pouches aren't very good at sealing it up.

That said, I seem to remember the dried out pouch smoking just fine. So it's worth trying out as is before you try to rehydrate.


----------



## Kevin Keith

This morning started earlier than I wanted...woke up about 2AM. Something about guilty conscience?  Making it better with Maxwell House and HH Vintage Syrian in the Sav Monza.


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> Something about guilty conscience?


You'd have made a really lousy politician, Kevin. Or one who was chronically worn out from no sleep.

My second bowl is some SWR with a BXX booster. Excellent with a fresh pot of freshly ground Columbian! p


----------



## 36Bones

Nice bright morning. Hot weather on it's way back in, today. Some Engilsh breakfast tea and a bowl of Anni Kake in the Kaywoodie. Make it a great day, my friends! :tu


----------



## BigKev77

Well I woke early and hungry this morning. Hmmm? Looks like cornbread and sweet milk and I'm topping it off with the last of my bowl of stonehaven. Now do i go back to bed for an hour or stay up. Hmmmm?


----------



## Kevin Keith

Maxwell house in the cup and Rum and Maple in the "lovat" MM Pride. puff, puff, sip. repeat.
View attachment 71376


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## freestoke

G'mornin' y'all! Gotta enjoy today because the rest of the week looks a bit dicey with the rain and next week fall looks like it's settling in early. Hope the wind doesn't blow all the leaves off the trees this year like last. The autumn leaves are as spectacular here as anywhere and they're just starting to turn. Absolutely incredible displays around here. (And yeah, I've been to Vermont. :lol

Just another PA morning. Made the coffee a bit stronger this morning to counteract the cold -- 43 outside! Brrrr. (In two months it'll feel like a heat wave. :lol


----------



## ProbateGeek

Mornin' gents. PA for me as well, thanks to Jim and his little care package (a reciprocal is on the way and should arrive tomorrow).

It's good to be smoking PA again - been about 6 months since I had any. There's nothing complex there, and not that much Vitamin N, but it is a very tasty and easy-smoking blend. And in the jar/pouch/canister I swear it smells exactly like an Odwalla Choco-Walla Bar. Exactly.










In the Country Gent with the Forever stem.


----------



## Kevin Keith

SWR in the Berwyck 85 with Maxwell house, black no sugar. Since I retired, Friday doesn't have the same oomph, plus the weekends mess up my talk radio schedule. The Mrs tells me I'd complain if they hung me with a new rope, but I wouldn't.


----------



## 36Bones

I was in the mood for something aromatic this morning. Molto Dolce in the MMMP and some HEB French Vanilla, black style. Going to be 94 wonderful degrees today. :cheeky: Fooled again, summer is still here.


----------



## freestoke

MAN that guy was annoying to play with yesterday. Happy enough, friendly enough, but he never shut up and never stopped moving and "doing stuff". Like on the sixth hole. Audrey is teeing off and what's he doing? He's just off to the side and behind her on the white tees (she's on the red), picking up broken tees and tossing them into the little metal cone for broken tees. (Useless, but they try to be upscale I suppose.) DING. DING. Right on her backswing -- DING. Naturally, she hit mishit her tee shot. Later, on the green, Audrey is almost ready to hit her putt -- the rip of Velcro Violence tears through the air. She had to back off and start over. Like that the whole nine holes. I shot a 39 and he cost me probably 3 shots. Nice guy. I hope he never asks to play with us again. I'd rather play with a grump who didn't talk or move while other people were hitting and didn't stand directly in my line fixing ball marks while I was putting, ya know? Hoping the rain holds off until dark today.

More PA! p I'm too busy complaining to be smoking "the good stuff". :lol:


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake - my "good stuff" - in a Savinelli billiard. This 84% RH may be slowing down the burn, but still one of my favorites.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Virginia Cavaliers at TCU Horned Frogs today. Go Frogs! Maxwell house in the cup and PA in a Grand Duke billiard.
View attachment 71471


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> Virginia Cavaliers at TCU Horned Frogs today. Go Frogs! Maxwell house in the cup and PA in a Grand Duke billiard.


When I went to UVa, we'd have been pulled for TCU too! We tied the all time record for most losses in a row (33) and would have had it to ourselves if we hadn't accidentally beaten William & Mary. Besides, the point of going to football games is to get drunk and then party on later. Getting too caught up in who wins and loses is bad form and very untweedy. The beer's the important thing.

A 4Dot/PA start as usual.


----------



## gahdzila

Got up and stumbled my way to the oil change place early to get that little honey-do out of the way. Apparently, everyone else in the parish had the same idea, as there was already a line 15 minutes before they opened.

PA/5Bs in the Kaywoodie 500, Green Mountain Dark Magic in the travel mug.


----------



## 36Bones

61* atm. Hopping outside to enjoy it before they throw on the sun furnace switch. English breakfast tea and SL in the 36 Kaywoodie. Make it a great one!


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> When I went to UVa, we'd have been pulled for TCU too! We tied the all time record for most losses in a row (33) and would have had it to ourselves if we hadn't accidentally beaten William & Mary. Besides, the point of going to football games is to get drunk and then party on later. Getting too caught up in who wins and loses is bad form and very untweedy. The beer's the important thing.
> 
> A 4Dot/PA start as usual.


Ha! Untweedy...I think we may be in the wrong conference...again. Oklahoma will be our only challenge if ya ask me. Mixed 1/3 Rum and Maple with 2/3 SWR in a Grand Duke med. billiard w/ taper bit. Smoking nice and dry. More coffee.
View attachment 71479


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> I think we may be in the wrong conference...again.


Depressing that the once-glorious UVa would stoop to playing football in Texas of all places! They actually take football SERIOUSLY down there, don't they? oke:

Pondering this further evidence of the collapse of civilization with some KK in the Country Gentleman.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Winds are calm and it's a beautiful 68* here in Cowtown. The day is full of promise, the cup is full of coffee and a mix of Rum and Maple/SWR is in a little ol' flat bottomed Grand Duke billiard. So far, so good.


----------



## Blue Raccoon

Sunday morning, bright sun, 37f.. heading out to patio with a mug of eight o'clock and a Hemingway Short Story maduro.


----------



## freestoke

Another miserable day for golf, apparently, windy and cold. Rained all day yesterday and might get some showers this afternoon -- "lake effect" showers, foreboding the white version. :spy: Guess we'll give the Remsen Barn Fest a go later. Some years it's been fun and at least it's fresh air. :smile:

Horned frogs are really weird! (The animal, not the team.) I always thought the TCU mascot was what we used to catch and play with when I visited my grandmother in Wichita Falls, the "horny toads", which are really lizards. Not so! And a very cool mascot! Was trying to find what school (I think in Virginia) that changed its team name from something fairly neat to something stupid, boring and awful a few years back, but damned if I can find it. And it had nothing to do with PC, either. It was like they didn't want to be Toads so they changed it to something every bit as bloodcurdling dorky as the Bluebirds of Happiness. One of the oddest things ever. Or maybe it was the Hokies and the deal fell through because the students threatened to lynch the faculty (and rightly so).

Just some PA for now. Gotta go make some more coffee! :cp


----------



## 36Bones

61* and a light breeze. Expresso and a bowl of Darth Waffle in the Savinelli. Make it a good day. :tu


----------



## Kevin Keith

Jim, they are horny toads...I wish they were called that instead!

TCU Admission | Learning to change the world


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> Jim, they are horny toads...I wish they were called that instead!
> 
> TCU Admission | Learning to change the world


The "actual" horned frog is pretty cool, too. :lol: Unluckily, it's from the Amazon. But then again, we have lions, right? Why not?










At LEAST they could call them horned toads instead of frogs. Everybody called them horny toads, not horny frogs...or even horned toads. Real Texans don't talk sissy like that, or at least they didn't before all those prissy Yankees came and took over the place to escape state income taxes. (Yeah, they were named that as the mascot way before they allowed Yankees across the border at all, but still...maybe those responsible were college edumacated and trying to be "proper" and all. Then again, they could have been immigrants and didn't speak the language yet.)

The paper plate is completely out of control again, so the Country Gentleman has been called in to clean things up a bit. Mostly PA, a bit of BXX, KK and...and...I dumped the bottom of a jar of something the other day...there's even a little hint of Cannon Plug. Pretty decent and fairly stout. New Columbian in the cup! :cp


----------



## gahdzila

Not only is my paper plate out of control with who-knows-what dried and crunchy stuff, but I've still got a good bit of PA/5 Brothers mixed up in a pouch from last week. I was worried that this pouch wouldn't seal well, so I put a humidifier button in there, and now it's a little on the moist side. Mix in some dried out PPP, though, and it's perfect! The coffee is black, strong, and delicious


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Not only is my paper plate out of control with who-knows-what dried and crunchy stuff, but I've still got a good bit of PA/5 Brothers mixed up in a pouch from last week. I was worried that this pouch wouldn't seal well, so I put a humidifier button in there, and now it's a little on the moist side. Mix in some dried out PPP, though, and it's perfect! The coffee is black, strong, and delicious


The crunchy PPP serveth many a purpose. Because of the rain the past couple of days, mine's rehydrated some, so I merely gravity filled the CG and it lasted maybe 15 minutes. There's a lot to be said for the basic tamper-modulated gravity fill. p


----------



## MiamiMikePA

Treated myself to some Stonehaven last night and again this morning in honor of the Canes comeback yesterday. It's all about The U! Now hopefully the Fins can beat those damn Jets. J-E-T-S suck suck suck!


----------



## freestoke

Gotta tell a Texas football story -- again! :lol: I was on a job in Houston when I worked for Brinks, putting in this automated alarm system (open doors, fire, etc) for a hospital. Lounging in the motel room, the sports was on the news. They were interviewing Bum Phillips live on the sidewalk outside the building that had the showers and stuff. A few stairs led up to the glass doors. The reporter asked about dissension on the team and Bum responds, "One thing I've been very proud of since I came here is how well everybody on the team gets along. We've never had any trouble at all between the players." (Or words to that effect.) At that very moment, the glass doors in the background came crashing open and Dan Pastorini and some other player came tumbling out onto the ground fighting, followed by a bunch of other players trying to pull them apart. Bum casually turned his head to the side, spit out some tobacco juice onto the grass and continues while watching the fight, "'Til now." 

More PPP in the Country Gentleman with the gravity fill! This is going really well! p


----------



## Chris0673

Had to make an emergency run back to the laundry point this morning. I dropped off my uniform earlier this morning and then realized I had left my tobacco pouch in my cargo pocket. Got there just in time to see them throw it in the trash! Talked to the manager and was able to get it back. Whew!


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Sitting here at home, enjoying the final moments of of my wife's company for the next 5 days, enjoying some PA in a Dr Grabow Royal Duke with my travel mug filled with hot 8 o'clock. I'll be headed out the door to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for work related training in just a few minutes, to return Friday night. With only one laptop, I won't have a traveling 'net accessibility device (cheap phone) so my on-line time will probably be nil until I return home. I do have a few cigars and pipes/tobaccos packed for the trip, so it should be a decent trip.

Wishing y'all a great week ahead... Hold down the Fort!


----------



## Kevin Keith

Have a good week Dale! Starting the week with SWR in a Dr. Grabow Poker and black coffee. Am I a codger or what? :banana:


----------



## freestoke

The Darth Rader is with the Force. PA to start the week. We'll miss ya, Dale! :wave:


----------



## 36Bones

Be safe, Dale. Windy as all get out. Anni Kake in the Diplomat and some breakfast tea.


----------



## freestoke

Haven't heard (or used) "all getout" in forever. Or even seen it in print, that I recall. I think it's more Southern and Midwestern than Yankee or Far Western, but I heard it a lot when I was a kid. I'd guess I heard it when I lived in Dallas, too, but I don't hear it the way I do thinking of Virginia. This bowl of KK is waxing nostalgic. :lol:


----------



## ProbateGeek

G'mornin', y'all (more fuel for Jim's nostalgic reveries). Penzance for me in the MM Great Dane Egg - lovely on a cool Monday morning.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> G'mornin', y'all (more fuel for Jim's nostalgic reveries). Penzance for me in the MM Great Dane Egg - lovely on a cool Monday morning.


I'm having Gabby Hayes and Roy Rogers flashbacks. And the Cisco Kid, in a moment of free association. I remember clearly, the end of the Cisco kid movies had Pancho saying, "Les' went," and off they'd ride into the sunset. Saw the end of one of these the other day, that had been Bowdlerized with a Mexican accent PC overdub a little on the Cheech side of Chong, "Let's go!" You HAVE to be kidding me. As Tonto might say, "You can bet your bippee, Kemo Sabe."

Gotta smoke some BXX and PA. For some reason I'm having a Low Nicotine Infusion Rate today.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

George (Gabby) Hayes is one of my personal heroes.

In the teens and twentys he was a hugely famous stage actor known for his Shakespearean roles and perfect locution. He was also a multi-millionaire back when that was a HUGE sum of money. He mostly retired until the stock market crash of '29 turned him into a pauper.

Movies were the new media then, so George completely reinvented himself as the old "sourdough" Gabby. It worked, and he built up another small fortune and never again used the stock market.


----------



## freestoke

Really cool, Mark! :tu 

PS: I have an errata to affix here: From memory, the whole ending went, "Hey Cisco!" "Hey Pancho!" and then CISCO said, "Les' went." He was the team leader after all.


----------



## freestoke

First, "I have an *erratum* to affix here." 

Second, g'mornin', y'all! A little celebration setting in. Had to take Heidi to the vet an hour ago, since they weren't going to give me any more (GIVE!? SELL me any more!) bags of saline, line and needles for her. It's the Drug War at work -- those needle buys look suspicious, I guess. The vet has to make sure I actually have a use for them, so they have to see the animal at least once a year. I give her a 125 ml of saline every 3 days to keep her kidneys going, but she weighs more now than she has in 2 years, since she first got sick. The vet says we did "amazing", since the last time she saw the cat it only weighed 3 pounds and was definitely on its last legs. She was given 2 weeks, maybe 2 months. I think they said 2 months just to be encouraging. Twice during the first couple of weeks, I made an appointment to put her out of her misery, but each time, she'd show a little improvement and I'd say, "Maybe tomorrow." We were feeding her by hand, putting food in her mouth and not letting her spit it out and had her sleeping on a heating pad. Pitiful. She's been getting better ever since. She's only six, too, which means she got sick when she was four. An especially entertaining and funny cat when she feels good, which is pretty much all the time now. Maybe she's had a miracle recovery of kidney function, which would be nice.

Having a celebratory bowl of 1792 in the FourDot apple! And more coffee! p


----------



## Nachman

This morning I found a couple of 8 oz jars of very old Squadron Leader. Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to date the stash, but I did have a note that I paid 22USD for 500g. Those of you with better memories than mine might be able to date it from that. The first jar I opened had grey fuzzy mold in it. Luckily the second jar was still good. It was still too moist to smoke after all these years in a jar and had a slightly sour smell. I loaded up a pipe and after a few lights got it going.
Although you can see Latakia and a little light Oriental tobacco in it, the condiment tobaccos have lost all their flavour. It tastes like a mild, not too sweet Virginia. In fact, it started out so mild that Carter Hall is stouter. I persisted, and as I passed the half way point the strength started to pick up so by the time I finished, it tasted like a very smooth and pleasant Virginia. All in all, I would say this is a tobacco without enough backbone to stand up to long aging. Better smoked young, but not a complete waste.


----------



## freestoke

Guess I'd better get those cellared English jobbers going this winter, Nick!

And I've got amazing good news. Heidi's kidneys have recovered! Just got a phone call from the vet, who said she'd never seen it happen. I might be able to stop giving her the saline injections! :banana: And we stop worrying about her, too! :banana:

Gotta open a can of *ENNERDALE *to celebrate! ainkiller:


----------



## MiamiMikePA

I smoked some Ennerdale yesterday, although I was trying to smoke Escudo! ainkiller:


----------



## Dr. Plume

Good news about the cat that's incredible never heard of a recovery from kidney problems.


----------



## freestoke

Dr. Plume said:


> Good news about the cat that's incredible never heard of a recovery from kidney problems.


Neither had the vet!

I found that Stonehaven! :banana: The last bowl of the open supply. :frown:


----------



## karatekyle

Hey guys! Been a while since I've been in the habit of posting here. Haven't quit, just been too busy to chat about my breakfast! It's been EMP most days with a bowl of PA every few. 

Traded a bit of nose-tobaccy to my man Clifford for some of his swedish snus. General Mint Mini's. First pouch went about as regrettably as it could have. Some days I get too busy to eat and end up following the Philosopher's Diet, stout tobaccco and black coffee. Early morning, stomach empty? 20 minutes in the lip and I was quite jittery and uncomfortable to say the least. After taking a week to work up my courage, I tried it again. Putting it in the front of my mouth after a day of eating? Actually, quite a nice way to mainline some nicotine. Very convenient when you're using tobacco as a tool instead of a recreation. Been popping one in at the beginning of those 2 hour night time O Chem study groups. I'm sure I'll keep dry snuff around for something to accompany tea and a good book on those rainy days. But this is certainly a welcome addition to my tobacco cabinet!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Jim, I'm so happy to hear the good news about yer Heidi cat!

I have a small female tabby named Queen Victoria, and I adore her.

Just finished a big bowl of 1/3 5 Bros and 2/3 PA in my MM General.


----------



## gahdzila

Hey, Kyle! Glad you enjoyed it!

I tried the O&G snuff you sent. I thought it was quite pleasant. If I were to get into snuff, this would be a regular for me. I think maybe I'm just not built to be a snuffer, though. It's pleasant, when I get the dose just right, but it seems rather short lived, so then I snuff some more...I try to give my nose a good blow in between, but not all of it comes out, and...well....I won't get too specific and gross you out. Let's just leave it at "I don't think my nose is built for snuffing." Maybe I just need to do some more and get the hang of it, but I'm afriad it's just my anatomy. I haven't tried the other flavor yet, but I will - I'm fine with doing a little at home alone, but I don't feel comfortable doing more than just a little at a time, and not when I'm expecting to encounter anyone else! mg:

Got some of that General mint in my lip now!  Mainline nicotine, ain't it? And this stuff is TAME compared to some of the others out there!


----------



## Kevin Keith

Kickin' this morning off with a hearty brew of Maxwell House and a Dr. Grabow bulldog full of Sugar Barrel.


----------



## Diet Burger

Haven't had a pipe in a couple of weeks, but I'm starting off the morning (2:30 am) with some Blackwoods Flake.


----------



## freestoke

Diet Burger said:


> Haven't had a pipe in a couple of weeks, but I'm starting off the morning (2:30 am) with some Blackwoods Flake.


Wow, you're REALLY starting off -- your first post! Welcome to puff! :wave:

Having my usual 4D/PA eye-opener and some coffee. :cp


----------



## Desertlifter

GLP Lagonda (shocking, right?  ) for my commute to the union office. Meetings until 9pm tonight.


----------



## gahdzila

I always feel like a damned slug when I sleep late on my day off. 9:00 am?!? I wasted a good couple of hours of daylight!

I'll be setting my alarm tomorrow.

I'm having the last few crumbs of 56 year old PA with my morning coffee.


----------



## freestoke

Talked me into it, Clifford! Firing up a little of the PA56 in the TwoDot apple. Perfect! p

Wondering if the weather will cooperate for golf later. At least the wind won't be as bad as yesterday. The hurricane force winds yesterday on the course made me start thinking of how to equip my pushcart with a sail. 

It RYDER CUP WEEK!! :banana:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Nothing this morning, but packing the Country Gent and a generous pouch of Kendal Kentucky for after my lunch time dental appointment. I decided to spare the hygienist the "room note" of its slight lakeland-like essence.

Say, that avatar, I say that's a nice new avatar ya' got there, Jim - stop, I say stop it boy, you’re doin’ alot of choppin’ but no chips are flyin’!


----------



## freestoke

How kind of you, Terry. It's also always a wise move to not piss off the dental hygienist.







.

So I'll just smoke a little KK on your behalf. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> How kind of you, Terry. It's also always a wise move to not piss off the dental hygienist.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> So I'll just smoke a little KK on your behalf. p


Mighty considerate of you, Jim, to do that for a brotha'. And yes, Helga and I have an understanding - I promised her I'd floss daily, and she promised me she'd not jab her sharp metal spike more than 1/2" into my gums.
:cowboyic9:


----------



## gahdzila

Trying out some Granger in a cob - pretty good! Is that some nicotine I detect? Not a lot, but it seems stronger than PA or SWR.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Trying out some Granger in a cob - pretty good! Is that some nicotine I detect? Not a lot, but it seems stronger than PA or SWR.


Granger definitely has a following. Maybe it's the nicotine!

Guess we're going to brave the elements and hope it doesn't rain. Not that it matters much, we'll just walk off.

There are a bunch of golfers who play alone in a cart at this course, always a botheration. Why do they HAVE to play the holes in order? It doesn't matter what they shoot, since it can't be turned in for handicap purposes anyhow, so what difference does it matter what hole they play next? Why do they have to play through and pester the other groups -- and slow down play for everybody else!? There's almost never anybody on the course to speak of, so they could just rev up the engine and head to a different tee without anybody on the hole. I hate wheelchair polo anyhow, but I can't imagine playing alone. I mean, what if I got a double eagle or hole in one?  Horrible thought! "Yeah sure. No way you're reaching the 5th hole today in two. An albatross? Yeah sure. Oh, TWO holes in one today, too? And you shot 28? Yeah, sure." Just go to the damn range or practice green if you want to practice. :frown:


----------



## Dr. Plume

gahdzila said:


> I always feel like a damned slug when I sleep late on my day off. 9:00 am?!? I wasted a good couple of hours of daylight!
> 
> I'll be setting my alarm tomorrow.
> 
> I'm having the last few crumbs of 56 year old PA with my morning coffee.


Aww man don't be down yourself you're not a slug.....but I can't vouch for your profile pic.....


----------



## gahdzila

I didn't have much choice about getting up early today. I've gotta buy new tires for the truck today, and the closest tire joint opens at 7:30, and I plan to be there when they open....so hopefully I can get out of there ASAP. I've got things to do this afternoon.

PA/5Bs in a cob


----------



## gahdzila

Dr. Plume said:


> Aww man don't be down yourself you're not a slug


I think it's an age thing. When I was younger, it never bothered me one bit to lay in bed all day nursing a hangover LOL. The older I get, the more I think of how much time I wasted and what I could have been doing instead of laying in the bed all day!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I think it's an age thing. When I was younger, it never bothered me one bit to lay in bed all day nursing a hangover LOL. The older I get, the more I think of how much time I wasted and what I could have been doing instead of laying in the bed all day!


Really. I can remember when I didn't get to bed before about the time I wake up now. :hippie:

For some reason, I found myself filling the 4Dot with KK instead of PA, so here I am with a little early nicotine content. p


----------



## Dr. Plume

Well while the old wish they were young, the young wish for a garentee to live until they are old so I guess we can call it even. Plus I never sleep in I have a six month old alarm clock.


----------



## Kevin Keith

up and at 'em boys...oh, you already are. Gettin' to the tire place early is the best way...otherwise, in my experience, you have a substantial wait. Lots of people drivin' over nails around here. Durned roofers. PA/SB in a Grabow bent bulldog, black Maxwell House.


----------



## freestoke

Just emptied the last of the PA jar into the 4Dot, so I'll be heading for the tub for a refill. My last canister!!  Oh well, I was running sorta low on pipe cleaners anyhow. Only about 3 or 4 months of PA left, but what would happen if I run out in the dead of winter? :hmm: I guess I could suffer with SWR for a few weeks. :lol: Or maybe I could call for the St. Bruno dog!


----------



## Dr. Plume

freestoke said:


> Just emptied the last of the PA jar into the 4Dot, so I'll be heading for the tub for a refill. My last canister!!  Oh well, I was running sorta low on pipe cleaners anyhow. Only about 3 or 4 months of PA left, but what would happen if I run out in the dead of winter? :hmm: I guess I could suffer with SWR for a few weeks. :lol: Or maybe I could call for the St. Bruno dog!


This is awesome!


----------



## freestoke

Dr. Plume said:


> This is awesome!


Love the old British tobacco commercials. This one's my favorite.






By the bye, you might be able to score those in France, Dave! I like 'em both, but I've only had a little of each sent to me by a BOTL out of the kindness of his heart. (Andrew, aka szyzk, missing in action on the pipe side, having fallen to the dark forces of the cigar side. :frown


----------



## Dr. Plume

Been awhile since i have seen a pro tobacco commercial. That was freaking awesome. And now I know what to ask for christmas. I want a underwater sub so I can sink other kids boats.


----------



## 36Bones

This day has already started to be,_ one of those days. _:frusty: Anni Kake in the CG and some expresso.


----------



## freestoke

There were a few scraps of Stonehaven and few scraps of the last of the PA jar, so I dumped them together and voila! I'd have a hard time saying the combination is not greater than the sum of its parts! :tu More coffee! :cp

I think it's pumped up the nicotine on this Stonehaven! :shock:


----------



## gahdzila

36Bones said:


> This day has already started to be,_ one of those days. _:frusty: Anni Kake in the CG and some expresso.


_Most_ of my days are like that lately, it seems. Here's to hoping it gets better for you.

Today is _not_ starting out to be one of those days for me. In fact, it's been great - a little _too_ great. I woke up on the right side of the bed, bright eyed and bushy tailed, about 20 minutes before the alarm went off - how nice is that?!? I had time to enjoy a pipe and coffee before heading to the tire place. The guys at the tire place put 4 new tires on my pickup in just a hair over an hour (that's lightning fast, folks. I was expecting a 3 hour wait). And the bill was about $70 less than I originally was expecting. The weather is beeeee-yoo-tiful. My piano teacher texted me last night and asked if it was ok to move my lesson a couple of hours later.....to a time that, it just so happens, is infinitely more convenient for me.

I'm deathly afraid. Something tragic is about to take place, I just _know_ it. Things _never_ just fall into place like this for me. The world is going to come crashing down any moment now!

I think I shall just sit here with my iPad and pipe, and avoid all contact with the outside world, and hope to delay the inevitable upcoming disaster for as long as possible.

1776 Tavern in a cob


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I'm deathly afraid. Something tragic is about to take place, I just _know_ it. Things _never_ just fall into place like this for me. The world is going to come crashing down any moment now!
> 
> I think I shall just sit here with my iPad and pipe, and avoid all contact with the outside world, and hope to delay the inevitable upcoming disaster for as long as possible.
> 
> 1776 Tavern in a cob


Having some PPP in the Diplomat. Oh...is that somebody at the door, Clifford? :behindsofa:


----------



## gahdzila

HAHA! Great movie! All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! redrum!!!!


----------



## ProbateGeek

gahdzila said:


> ...The older I get, the more I think of how much time I wasted and what I could have been doing instead of laying in the bed all day!


Hey, now. In my book lying in bed all day IS doing something! p

This morning's commute was Lakeland Brickle in the Country Gent - very refreshing. Would love to try the Lakeland Brickle FORTISSIMO (Hearth & Home Marquee Lakeland Brickle FORTISSIMO) which I only just heard of this morning. Anyone ever had it?


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Hey, now. In my book lying in bed all day IS doing something! p
> 
> This morning's commute was Lakeland Brickle in the Country Gent - very refreshing. Would love to try the Lakeland Brickle FORTISSIMO (Hearth & Home Marquee Lakeland Brickle FORTISSIMO) which I only just heard of this morning. Anyone ever had it?


I'd be hesitant to try the ordinary LB, after Owaindav's review. :lol:

But you remind of an old New Yorker cartoon, from 1980. A classic "rich guy", in a fur-collared overcoat is looking at two bums on a park bench. One of the bums is saying, "We ARE doing something useful! We're boycotting the Olympics!"


----------



## ProbateGeek

Jim, if you mean this thread => http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/286774-h-h-lakeland-brickle.html, thanks for the hilarious read. Funniest thing is, I thought I had gotten the Lakeland Brickle from you! Guess not, so hmmmmm....

If you like Ennerdale, and we know that you do, you should not shy away from "the Brick". And if the original passes muster, why not try the Fortissimo/steroid version? As Michael Hedges used to say (I think), all frequencies are desirable.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Jim, if you mean this thread => http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/286774-h-h-lakeland-brickle.html, thanks for the hilarious read. Funniest thing is, I thought I had gotten the Lakeland Brickle from you! Guess not, so hmmmmm....
> 
> If you like Ennerdale, and we know that you do, you should not shy away from "the Brick". And if the original passes muster, why not try the Fortissimo/steroid version? As Michael Hedges used to say (I think), all frequencies are desirable.


A. That one. But Dave is a Lakeland wuss, with similarly misguided musings about *Ennerdale*, so you're right, I should ignore him.

B. I did not send you any of The Brick. (I rather like that! :tu)

C. Why would I start small!? Go for the gusto, I always say! Forever Fortissimo! I suspect it's merely an improvement over Plain Brick. Following your lead with the musical theme, I suggest Brick Moderato and Brick Fortissimo. :smile: (How can the spellchecker know "fortissimo" but not "moderato"? :dunno: )

The Diplomat is really complaining -- the third bowl of PPP today. If I slip him a couple of grams of PA later, that should shut him up.


----------



## Diet Burger

freestoke said:


> B. I did not send you any of The Brick. (I rather like that! :tu)


hmmmm...I think the person that sent Terry that lakeland brickle had an Afro.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Good morning from Paris with a huge hangover and that is all I have......


----------



## 36Bones

66* and rain. My whole body aches. English Breakfast Tea and some SL in the little Kaywoodie. Make it a pain free day, my friends! :tu


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning Puff!

After taking a week or so off from my pipes I enjoyed a bit of Wessex BVF this morning. I'd forgotten to grab my czech tool so a spent .223 case handled tamping duty. Whatever works...


----------



## Kevin Keith

I'm sorry you're hurtin' Hilman...feel better soon. PA in Dr. Grabow author


----------



## freestoke

Watching the Ryder Cup, drinking some Columbiano, and drawing on some PA fresh out of the can. Fortunately, the player-announcers have crowded out the insufferably golf-ignorant mouthings of Mike Tirico, however he's better than the execrable Chris Berman, who no doubt will make his appearance this afternoon. When I'm king, they will both be permanently barred from reporting on golf -- even the winners and the scores. Not that the old PGA players don't make these kinds of mistakes, but there he goes Tirico with his hyper-annoying grammar already :frown: -- "Between he and Zach..." Puke. And he calls himself a professional announcer. He barely speaks English.


----------



## Ken Hastings

Good Morning :cb

Started the day with some Rooibos tea. Packing for a trip to the Ozarks; a few good sticks in the herf a dor, estate Smoke Master, Pete Rhodesian and a tin of Mac Baren Original Choice. Just love the smell of the pipes on my hands as I type this p


----------



## ProbateGeek

Some particularly potent 1792 Flake this morning in the Savinelli billiard/lovat. 

Last week and this I've seen a piper walking down Broadway with his wife while I sit enjoying my pipe waiting for my wife to get out of the office for the evening commute - an elderly gentleman, looks like he's smoking some Peterson rustic or another. Can't tell what he's smoking, and we've not made eye contact. Just good to know there are other pipers in Portland. Kinda rare these days to see a pipe in public. Far easier in the Pacific Northwest to get a whiff of hemp in public than that of Virginia or Latakia... :biggrin:

Good Friday, gentlemen!


----------



## Kevin Keith

Black coffee and Sugar Barrel in the 07 Freehand. Cool front blew threw, drizzle and the dog's feet are muddy.
View attachment 71761


----------



## 36Bones

Rain, rain go away. :rain: Kevin, I love that freehand. I need a Dr. Grabow. I haven't had one in a_ long_ time. We went from 100's to mid 60's in a week and from dry to drowing. We have received 6.25 inches so far, since this front blew in, this past Thursday. I can't freeking sleep. Strikeforce in the Savinelli and a Lo-Carb Monster. Be dry, my friends.


----------



## Kevin Keith

You definately need a Dr. G Freehand! The 07 shape is my favorite...big bowl, dry, really shines. I don't care for the "pick axe" shape, prefer billiard based bowls on these. There are several, a few new ones, on ebag and not bad prices.


----------



## Mante

Home brewed Lager, 1792, Bulldog, WOOT!


----------



## Dr. Plume

Well afternoon to me but blue in the pony


----------



## freestoke

Good yesterday Morning, Warren...:ask:...or is it tomorrow morning? Either way, that there space-time continuum is really something, huh! :tu Waking up with a bowl of PA in the 4Dot, readying for Ryder Cup day two. Yesterday turned out pretty well, especially since the hockey announcer didn't show up to to flex his he-man voice for us. :director: Columbian brew in the cup again. :cp


----------



## Mante

That is "Mr" good evening to you Jim. LMAO. 

It is 9:38 PM Saturday evening & yet again I did not win the lottery so carry on. :thumb:


----------



## Chris0673

Some Angler's Dream that came in a "bomb" this morning. Went great with the Tim Horton's coffee.


----------



## freestoke

Tashaz said:


> That is "Mr" good evening to you Jim. LMAO.
> 
> It is 9:38 PM Saturday evening & yet again I did not win the lottery so carry on. :thumb:


Hmm...consulting the World Clock site, I see that it's 12:13 AM, aka 0013 hours. I can now employ your alter ego, Mr. Goodmorning. Sounds like the makings a horror movie: Dr. Goodmorn and Mr. Eventide.

How 'bout that Ryder Cup! :shock: Yowzah!

(I forgot to post it! I think it's still morning there though. oke: Mr. Goodmorn -- sir. )


----------



## RupturedDuck

Hey guys! Back in Utah again, from another trip to Dallas (heading back tomorrow). Enjoying some McClelland 3 Oaks in a Briar Workshop billiard. Good to be home, even if only temporarily.

RD


----------



## DSturg369

Gotta love Sunday mornings. :smile:

Spent all last week in the beautiful state of Tennessee training for work. Got home Friday evening and it's good to be home, but already considering a possible move to TN, provided the job search plays out favorably. Time will tell.

Enjoying some hot coffee and a MM Legend with Saint Bruno Ready Rubbed this morning. 

Hope y'all have a great Sunday!


----------



## 36Bones

I hope that works out for you, Dale. Getting ready to head to the medical monsters in Austin. Black Italian Raost and Anni Kake in the Kaywoodie. Make it a great day! :tu


----------



## freestoke

G'mornin', lads and laddesses! Hated to see Dufner get beat yesterday, but we needed the European team to get a couple more points at the end, otherwise today would have been a complete anti-climax. Poulter could lose 10&8 today, and still be the Ryder Cup hero -- what putting! :shock: Gotta wait until NOON to watch the end!? Bummer. :frown: No golf here again today. Rats. I was playing pretty well, too. I'll have to be sent in for regrooving if we don't get out there pretty soon, but the coming week looks great!

Just finishing up my morning PA. The CG is packed with -- :ask:? Never lit it last night after I loaded it up, but I think it's PPP. Maybe I'll wait on that...I know! The TwoDot Canadian hasn't seen action for a while and would appreciate some work with the Red Cake. p Coffee is really good this morning. :cp


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning everyone. On Friday I picked up a tin of Peterson's 3Ps with the intention of letting it rest for half a year or so. Since this is the first plug purchase I couldn't help myself and cracked it open. I sliced off a flake Saturday morning, loaded up my MM Patriot and then had to let it sit until this morning. 'Enjoyed it quite a bit, but it is stronger than most of the tobaccos I smoke during my commute. So, now I sit here at my desk wishing I'd stopped about 3/4 of the way through the bowl... I'm a lightweight I guess. 

Hope you all have a great day.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Brutal loss to the American team...oh well, I think my check will be the same...Sugar Barrel in a Dr. Grabow 81
View attachment 71856


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> Brutal loss to the American team...oh well, I think my check will be the same...Sugar Barrel in a Dr. Grabow 81


Amazing Ryder Cup, eh Kevin!? I'm always torn. Even though my family arrived here in America in 1666, I've always had a soft spot for England (and Europe in general) since I lived there in the '50s. I'm almost all English anyhow, so Anglophilia comes naturally. Plus, I sorta felt sorry for them, pre-1985 and always felt like it was an unfair fight, so I got to pulling for the underdogs. Guess I don't have to feel sorry for them any more! :lol: I'm thinking Woods' "generous" gift of Francesco's last putt might not have worked out as well as Nicklaus' conceded putt to Tony Jacklin, since it gave us a loss instead of a tie -- nice try, Tiger, but I think the team might hate you for it. :hmm:

I'm beginning to buy into the theory that the US team doesn't have enough players who have ever suffered any sort of personal hardship that requires grit and determination in the face of adversity, medical problems excepted. Most of them have never had to work a day in their lives, including Tiger. Some of them don't even KNOW anybody who has ever had to worry about making a living and wouldn't know how to play a course that didn't cut and roll the greens every day. Living outside a gated community would probably terrify half of the team members. 

Decided to put the Savinelli Canadian in play this morning with some PA. Another rainy, dreary day, but it was a perfect weekend to watch the action! p


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

It's Monday morning and time to start the wheel turning again. The house is quiet now, with my dear wife still sleeping... The cat and dog at her side... While I sit in my recliner and simply reflect on the paths taken and those yet to take.

The coffee is quite tasty this morning, as is the Butternut Burley in a MM Great Dane Egg & Forever Stem combo - A very nice pairing of the two, IMHO. 

I hope y'all have a great Monday!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I woke up this morning to a friend knocking on the door. He found out at the last minute he had to work today... too late to catch the bus to Red River.

I gave him a ride, and the drive up and down the mountain was just long enough to polish off a double cup of coffee in a travel mug and the MM General full of 1/3 Five Bros and 2/3 PA.


----------



## 36Bones

Windsor in the Kaywoodie and water. Round two of testing begins soon this morning. Nice morning in Austin @ St David's. The folk's at Pipe World are great people. I bought 4 ounces of Windsor which is a English/Balkan blend, mighty tasty. I realized, this morning that, I'm a English kind of guy. :nerd: I should be done around 11:30am and we are heading straight home. MS does not make riding in a car fun at all. Have a great day, my friends. :tu


----------



## Stonedog

Consummate Gentleman in my Edward's bulldog this morning. I've upgraded my tamper to an empty .300 WSM case. The wider, heavier brass case just feels right and it does a better job than the czech tool I've used for the last year and a half. Does this make me some sort of ******* pipe enthusiast?


----------



## Kevin Keith

SWR in a Blue Ridge 83, a Grabow "cousin" and a cup of Maxwell House
View attachment 71882


----------



## freestoke

FINALLY firing up some Father Dempsey that MiamiMike bombed me back in May, loaded into the inestimable TwoDot Canadian. A dreary, grey morning matches the tobacco perfectly, and this is nice stuff! Latakia Season opened yesterday! :smile:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Stonedog said:


> I've upgraded my tamper to an empty .300 WSM case. The wider, heavier brass case just feels right and it does a better job than the czech tool I've used for the last year and a half. Does this make me some sort of ******* pipe enthusiast?


Not at all. I use a clothes peg as a tamper and I'm not a *******, or if I am, I'm at least an upscale *******. (heh)

I'm takin Kat out to breakfast in Taos this morning. She picked out one of her little coronas and I packed my big Savanelli billiard with Bob's Chocolate Flake for the ride south.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Whoops - I posted in the Evening Thread by accident. Need more coffee... :cp

Good morning gentlemen! LNF and 7-11 coffee on the way into work - a fine way to start the day!


----------



## Dr. Plume

Stonedog said:


> Consummate Gentleman in my Edward's bulldog this morning. I've upgraded my tamper to an empty .300 WSM case. The wider, heavier brass case just feels right and it does a better job than the czech tool I've used for the last year and a half. Does this make me some sort of ******* pipe enthusiast?


No it makes you a b/a! Hoora


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> I use a clothes peg as a tamper and I'm not a *******, or if I am, I'm at least an *upscale ********. (heh)
> 
> I'm takin Kat out to breakfast in Taos this morning. She picked out one of her little coronas and I packed my big Savanelli billiard with Bob's Chocolate Flake for the ride south.


Sounds like fun! The last time I was in Taos, I was riding through New Mexico in a 1967 Mercedes 230 SL, listening to Free singin' All Right Now on the radio, with all the accouterments of The Age of Aquarius. :hippie: I'd write a book about that trip, but it'd wind up in the fiction section instead of autobiography.

Gotta smoke a bowl of this Penzance that MiamiMike just strafed me with. p Choosing my "good" pipe, the Savinelli 120 Anni, the one that was in action the last time I smoked Penzance. Xodar had sent me a booster pack of Penzance as part of his share of the newbie trade, totally one-upping me, and it's the only Penzance I've ever smoked, said Penzance and said pipe delivering the finest end to a bowl I've ever had! This is going to be good. I might have to skip lunch.


----------



## umpalumpa1985

> I've upgraded my tamper to an empty .300 WSM case.


Hmmm. . .I use a 7/16 bolt from a helicopter (don't worry, it was an 'extra' 8) ). Now I realize that a .357 mag would have worked remarkably well!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Stonedog said:


> Consummate Gentleman in my Edward's bulldog this morning. I've upgraded my tamper to an *empty* .300 WSM case. The wider, heavier brass case just feels right and it does a better job than the czech tool I've used for the last year and a half. *Does this make me some sort of ******* pipe enthusiast?*


No, Jon - I'm pretty sure a true ******* would use a full cartridge. :biggrin:

Breaking in a new Country Gentleman with a bowl or two of Kendal Kentucky for this morning's commute, with the trusty Forever Stem. For anyone interested, I easily switched the metal band I purchased with the Forever Stem from the old CG to the new one - ya know, for that little touch of hillbilly class! 
Nothing like the flavors of KK in a fresh pipe . . .


----------



## freestoke

Nice, Terry! I gotta get one of those 1/8 bent Forever stems. That's just a straight CG, isn't it? Whatever, I'm finally getting around to this bowl of Penzance. I needed lunch first after all. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

While I like the look of straights, I always opt for the bend, solely because it's theoretically easier to see what's going on in the bowl when lighting up. 
Enjoy your post-lunch Penzance, my friend. I will try to have some tonight - it's easily in my "Top 3" 'baccy group.


----------



## Dr. Plume

ProbateGeek said:


> While I like the look of straights, I always opt for the bend, solely because it's theoretically easier to see what's going on in the bowl when lighting up.
> Enjoy your post-lunch Penzance, my friend. I will try to have some tonight - it's easily in my "Top 3" 'baccy group.


Penzance seems quite talked about will have to try who makes it


----------



## freestoke

Dr. Plume said:


> Penzance seems quite talked about will have to try who makes it


Esoterica Tobacciana - Penzance pipe tobacco reviews

I can tell you that this bowl is going well. p Gonna give the course a go here in a bit. Might be some rain, but not much and it's pretty warm, not too much wind. Hope we play good!


----------



## ProbateGeek

I agree with this reviewer's description of Penzance: "Greasy, humid, leathery, yet mild and sweet. Strong and creamy at the same time." Time for me to go on the hunt for some. . .:ranger:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Kat and I are back from Taos.

I get tomorrow off from work so I'll put off the new kitchen faucet install untill tomorrow.

Time for a huge mystery bowl from my "leavings jar" in the MM General.


----------



## 36Bones

Feel better.I got some sleep. English Breakfast tea, instead of coffee. Enjoying some Windsor in the Savinelli. Make it a good day. :tu


----------



## freestoke

Might be another golf day today, hopefully better than yesterday! When you're as old as I am, sitting on the couch all day for three consecutive days watching TV (Ryder Cup) doesn't comport with swinging a golf club, I can tell you that. :frown: Barely could get the ball airborne -- but I putted like a dream with this new claw grip! :banana: Good thing, otherwise I wouldn't have broken 50. (Let me revise that earlier statement -- sometimes I didn't even get the ball airborne! :lol After warming up with some PA, I'm joining the crew reviewing Billy Budd right now. p Stinky stuff, but it tastes pretty good. ainkiller: 

Glad things are improving for you, Hilman! Sunshine and vitamin D are supposed to help and it looks like a good day to get some of that in Tuscola today, filtered through a few clouds from your pipe of course! :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

I'm doing a one blend/one pipe/24 hours challenge on another pipe forum. PA in a cob? That would be too easy! SWR in the Dr Grabow Omega!


----------



## DSturg369

Clifford... How do those Dr G Omegas smoke? I've been eyeing them for awhile now.


----------



## gahdzila

DSturg369 said:


> Clifford... How do those Dr G Omegas smoke? I've been eyeing them for awhile now.


I like it enough that I'm thinking of getting another one for the rack, Dale.

It's a small pipe. Mine is semi-dedicated to Peterson Irish Flake, which it handles with grace. The draft hole is well drilled, at the bottom of the bowl, but if you're one of those that likes to run pipe cleaners down the stem while you're smoking, fuggetaboutit. It won't make the bend. You've gotta pull the stem to clean it. I don't usually do that, so that doesn't really bother me. It is a p-lip....which I found kinda neat and novel at first, but I've decided of late I'm not a fan of. I plan to mod it into a regular bit with a Dremel (a trick I read about on another forum). And I would prefer that the stem had a little more bend, but that's an easy fix if I ever get the mind to do that. It is a military mount, which I like a lot, especially compared to the metal tenon on other Dr Grabows. It can take a filter, but I never use one.

Overall, I recommend it. No complaints at all about the way it smokes.

Best and cheapest place to buy new DG's is directly from the factory. For some reason, they still do things the old fashioned way. Go to their website (dr grabow smoking pipes, tobacco pipe cleaner sparta nc) to get their contact info, and either call them or email them and request a price list. They will either email it to you or snail mail it to you. Fill out the order form and snail mail it to them with a check, and they'll get your order out to you in a week or two. It seems like a slow and backwards way of doing things in the internet age, but it is what it is. They give you free shipping if you buy a pipe, and have better prices than most retailers or online vendors.


----------



## 36Bones

gahdzila said:


> Best and cheapest place to buy new DG's is directly from the factory. For some reason, they still do things the old fashioned way. Go to their website (dr grabow smoking pipes, tobacco pipe cleaner sparta nc) to get their contact info, and either call them or email them and request a price list. They will either email it to you or snail mail it to you. Fill out the order form and snail mail it to them with a check, and they'll get your order out to you in a week or two. It seems like a slow and backwards way of doing things in the internet age, but it is what it is. They give you free shipping if you buy a pipe, and have better prices than most retailers or online vendors.


Sounds like a 07 Freehand just jumped to the front of my buy list.TY for the link, Clifford.


----------



## Kevin Keith

36Bones said:


> Sounds like a 07 Freehand just jumped to the front of my buy list.TY for the link, Clifford.


I love mine. All of Dr Grabow Freehands are patterned after Alpha Freehands made in Israel. Check out Dr. Grabow, Mastersen, Alpha and Anderson freehands on ebag. All are Grabow "related".


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning All, black coffee and a big bowl full of Nutty Cut for a change. It's a decent enough aromatic but the name is almost embarrassing.


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> All of Dr Grabow Freehands are patterned after *Alpha Freehands made in Israel*.


That's pretty unexpected, since Linkman/Grabow predates the existence of the state of Israel by quite a bit, you'd think it would be the other way around.

Just an ordinary bowl of PA in the 4Dot and some nice coffee. :cp Dreary morning.


----------



## gahdzila

Started off with my usual PA/5Bs. 

Moving on to some Granger now. I was kinda hoping it was a fluke last time, but apparently it wasn't - Granger bites my tongue! I sure do like it other than that. I'll try some extra drying time next time I smoke it and hope that helps.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> That's pretty unexpected, since Linkman/Grabow predates the existence of the state of Israel by quite a bit, you'd think it would be the other way around.
> 
> Just an ordinary bowl of PA in the 4Dot and some nice coffee. :cp Dreary morning.


Kevin would be able to answer this better than I. But he was talking about the Freehand line of DGs, which _I think_ is a fairly recent introduction, relatively speaking (1980's???). Recent enough that it could be a clone of an Israeli pipe, anyway.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I was kinda hoping it was a fluke last time, but apparently it wasn't - Granger bites my tongue!


With all the weirdness they add to tobaccos to make them taste this way and that, it's probably a good bet that a smoker will be allergic to at least one of them. Is it just tongue bite or, like me with LTF, a general mouth irritation?

Having some early Latakia with the rain falling outside, Father Dempsey in the Country Gentleman. p


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> That's pretty unexpected, since Linkman/Grabow predates the existence of the state of Israel by quite a bit, you'd think it would be the other way around.
> 
> Just an ordinary bowl of PA in the 4Dot and some nice coffee. :cp Dreary morning.


True, but Grabow freehands came late to the game. There are some interesting lines connecting Sparta (Grabow/Mastercraft) with Israel.
http://drgrabows.myfreeforum.org/ftopic492-0.php
http://drgrabows.myfreeforum.org/archive/dr.-grabow-and-the-holy-land__o_t__t_778.html


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> With all the weirdness they add to tobaccos to make them taste this way and that, it's probably a good bet that a smoker will be allergic to at least one of them. Is it just tongue bite or, like me with LTF, a general mouth irritation?


Just the tongue. Though it burns great, it did seem a little moist in the pouch...so I'm hoping it's a moisture thing.


----------



## 36Bones

Loving all the DG info. Morning Thunder tea and some Windsor in the Diplomat. Make it a great day! :tu


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> True, but Grabow freehands came late to the game. There are some interesting lines connecting Sparta (Grabow/Mastercraft) with Israel.


Cool links, Kevin. Set me off on a quest to date my Alpha Litewate again. I still have no idea how old it is. All it says is "Alpha Litewate" on the shank. It has a nice acrylic stem, but no other logos or markings. And I just noticed the shank is cracked. sigh.

I'll smoke another bowl of worry free PA in the worry free 4Dot. out:


----------



## 36Bones

Good morning Pufferdom. Nice crisp morning here, 56* and no wind. Drinking Italian Roast, with some Windsor in the Diplomat. Make it a great one. :tu


----------



## gahdzila

'morning, gentlemen!

Breaking in the new DG Royalton pot with my usual breakfast blend, PA with a pinch of 5 Brothers.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Refilling a Blue Ridge 83 with Frog Morton
View attachment 71952


----------



## freestoke

Got the 4Dot puffin' PA again. Gone be warm but windy and probably the last day for golf for a few days. Wish the season was just starting! If I'd have had this claw grip earlier this year, I'd have shot my age for sure a couple of times. Had a 72 in July where I missed 5 putts inside 5 feet. out: If I can get it rolling early next season, I still have a chance to do it before I hit 70. (When you're my age, you like short term goals. :lol Coffee tastes really good this morning! :cp


----------



## karatekyle

Hi, I'm new here, I'd like to introduce myself...

Sorry I've been such a stranger. Finally have the pink slip for these wheels, been "freshening" the air inside with the remnants of an old jar of Christmas Cookie. Picked up a few ounces of 1-Q to replenish the dwindling supply of aromatic. Otherwise, hitting the EMP and London Mixt a lot. Finished up a tin of NC a while ago and haven't opened another yet. Had a hankerin' for RY lately but I'll pop one of those jars when we have a week _sans_ hurricane force winds.

Bought two cans of General original portioned. It's got the silver lines on it but it doesn't say mild anywhere. I can't find pictures of it so I think it's an America-specific design or a newer can. I don't know. I decided to try some that wasn't mini or dry, just to diversify. I like it. I think I'll get the full sized mint, Wintergreen or Nordic. Probably one of each and see which I like better. The straight is good but that initial flavor is something that psyches me out. The mint is a lot more palatable. But I sure have been enjoying these in the wee hours of the day when I've got a few more chapters to chip away at.

Hope all is well with you guys!


----------



## 36Bones

karatekyle said:


> Hi, I'm new here, I'd like to introduce myself...
> 
> Sorry I've been such a stranger. Finally have the pink slip for these wheels, been "freshening" the air inside with the remnants of an old jar of Christmas Cookie. Picked up a few ounces of 1-Q to replenish the dwindling supply of aromatic. Otherwise, hitting the EMP and London Mixt a lot. Finished up a tin of NC a while ago and haven't opened another yet. Had a hankerin' for RY lately but I'll pop one of those jars when we have a week _sans_ hurricane force winds.
> 
> Bought two cans of General original portioned. It's got the silver lines on it but it doesn't say mild anywhere. I can't find pictures of it so I think it's an America-specific design or a newer can. I don't know. I decided to try some that wasn't mini or dry, just to diversify. I like it. I think I'll get the full sized mint, Wintergreen or Nordic. Probably one of each and see which I like better. The straight is good but that initial flavor is something that psyches me out. The mint is a lot more palatable. But I sure have been enjoying these in the wee hours of the day when I've got a few more chapters to chip away at.
> 
> Hope all is well with you guys!


Well, well. Great to see you again, Kyle. It's good to have you back, brother! I hear you on having a hankerin'. For some weird reason, I'm having a cherry blend craving. I'm just not sure about the best way to scratch it. I've never smoke a cherry blend.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Time for the other half of that bowl of Anni Kake I didn't finish last night.



karatekyle said:


> Hi, I'm new here, I'd like to introduce myself...


Hey ol' chap, good to see you again! How's the sweater collection? :lol:
What kind of wheels did you pick up? I just came back about a week ago, so I must have missed it...


----------



## gahdzila

karatekyle said:


> Hi, I'm new here, I'd like to introduce myself...
> 
> Sorry I've been such a stranger. Finally have the pink slip for these wheels, been "freshening" the air inside with the remnants of an old jar of Christmas Cookie. Picked up a few ounces of 1-Q to replenish the dwindling supply of aromatic. Otherwise, hitting the EMP and London Mixt a lot. Finished up a tin of NC a while ago and haven't opened another yet. Had a hankerin' for RY lately but I'll pop one of those jars when we have a week _sans_ hurricane force winds.
> 
> Bought two cans of General original portioned. It's got the silver lines on it but it doesn't say mild anywhere. I can't find pictures of it so I think it's an America-specific design or a newer can. I don't know. I decided to try some that wasn't mini or dry, just to diversify. I like it. I think I'll get the full sized mint, Wintergreen or Nordic. Probably one of each and see which I like better. The straight is good but that initial flavor is something that psyches me out. The mint is a lot more palatable. But I sure have been enjoying these in the wee hours of the day when I've got a few more chapters to chip away at.
> 
> Hope all is well with you guys!


A word of warning - General Wintergreen snus tastes like pure ass to me. Göteborgs Rapé is pretty good for something different.

I finally got around to trying that Clove snuff you sent....enjoyable, but I like the O&G better. I'm still not really enamored with snuff in general...it's pleasurable, but I'd much rather smoke if given the option. And it still seems a bit messy to clean up afterwards (let's just leave it at that....I'll withhold the gory details).

Second cup of coffee, and some Granger in the blonde Big. I wasn't patient enough to set it out to dry, but I packed it loose and am smoking very slowly - the tongue bite is much less than before. There's hope yet or this blend!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I wasn't patient enough to set it out to dry, but I packed it loose and am smoking very slowly - the tongue bite is much less than before. There's hope yet or this blend!


There ought to be a chamber of horrors for tongue bite blends. The center room would be dedicated to Flying Dutchman. :flame: This Kendal's Kentucky does not bite, in case you'd like to try some sometime. oke: Actually, it's a firm plug of Kendal's Kentucky stuffed onto a thoroughly rubbed, gravity filled 4Dot of SWR.


----------



## gahdzila

I've had KK, Jim. My assessment - it's a moist Brit version of 5 Brothers . It's good, but I think I'd rather have 5 Brothers, given the option.

Actually, I rarely experience tongue bite, as many different blends as I've gone through. I got it quite a bit as a newbie, but I think that was more related to poor technique while I was learning than to the tobacco itself. I've been slightly sensitive to a couple of blends in the past...and had that sensitivity completely resolve itself by the time I finished the jar. :dunno: I seem to remember LNF doing that.

I hope I can get this worked out with Granger and that we can start getting along with each other by the time I finish this pouch, because I really like it otherwise.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Speaking of KK, more for me in a CG this morning. I just realized that every day for at least 2 weeks straight the only pipes I've smoked are my two Country Gentlemen (that plural is bugging me, since technically I have two "Country Gentleman"s - Jim?). Why do I not feel the need to fire up a briar? Maybe just a phase...

Happy Friday!


----------



## karatekyle

gahdzila said:


> I finally got around to trying that Clove snuff you sent....enjoyable, but I like the O&G better. I'm still not really enamored with snuff in general...it's pleasurable, but I'd much rather smoke if given the option. And it still seems a bit messy to clean up afterwards (let's just leave it at that....I'll withhold the gory details).


I hear ya, it's a bit of a chore unless you're up for it. I like the O&G better too, the scent is wonderful. When I take snuff, I find myself devoting a lot of attention to it. I'm not good enough at dosing to make it a on-the-go thing either. Puffing a pipe is still where I'd rather be.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> There ought to be a chamber of horrors for tongue bite blends. The center room would be dedicated to Flying Dutchman. :flame: This Kendal's Kentucky does not bite, in case you'd like to try some sometime. oke: Actually, it's a firm plug of Kendal's Kentucky stuffed onto a thoroughly rubbed, gravity filled 4Dot of SWR.


Worst tongue bite culprit for me was the Thanshers Aromatic - left spots of white on my tongue that lasted for a couple of days. The urinal cake of fine tobaccos. p


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Worst tongue bite culprit for me was the Thanshers Aromatic - left spots of white on my tongue that lasted for a couple of days. The urinal cake of fine tobaccos. p


I think my Thansher's is encapsulated in a jar along with half a dozen bags of similarly delicious smokables. It bothers me little that I have no idea where it might be. :spy: I have enough heart not to have passed it on, even as packing materials. Tip from the top: Never include urinal cake in your tobacco bombs.

A terrible taxonomic dilemma, Terry. :dunno: I'd go with "gentlemen". Another possibility is "Country Gentlemans", avoiding the confusion with the possessive case, as in, "You're smoking the Country Gentleman's *what*?" Like that.

Oh...just finishing a bowl of the SAP I fired up in the Szabo during a long walk. Should have gone for the Cannon Plug. :doh:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Jim, I'm sure I passed that Thanshers along to you to as a pipe newb in order to get an experienced opinion, thinking it might only have been me that would have such a reaction to this particular blend's unique "alkalinity". I'm much wiser now. :wacko:

Now that I think of it, I don't know if you ever did give me that second opinion - you might want to track that down and revisit it. :madgrin:


----------



## mcgreggor57

I've been on a real Latakia kick recently and decided to transition things a bit. The morning mini-mute (to short to be considered a proper commute) was made possible by Dunhill's Nightcap in my MM Pride. It's definitely a notch or 2 under Billy Budd or Sutliffe's Private Stock Blend No. 5.


----------



## 36Bones

Well, the front came through. 44* with a 20 mph north wind. THe chill factor is, well, _CHILLY_. I'm going out with some Twinings Breakfast Tea and SL in the Savinelli. If, I'm not back in a hour, send out the dogs.:wink: Make it a great Saturday, my friends.


----------



## freestoke

Front invasion! Got one blasting through here last night, too. Only 52 right now, but colder than it's been by a lot -- not quite as cold as Texas, but it's normally a lot warmer in New York than Texas, right? :lol:

Filled the 4Dot with Red Cake last night, but it was almost midnight and I never wound up lighting it, so that was first up this morning. p Might grind up some Columbian bean for the rest of the morning's coffee. :cp


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just had a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake in the Falcon out on the deck over the river at work.

I saw a BIG wtd buck run up the river, a mallard with two hens float down, and several rainbow trout that are laughing at me and ignoring my salmon eggs... I can't believe they pay me to do this job!

BTW: this Falcon pipe is turning into my favorite work pipe. I can smoke several bowls before the stem needs any swabbing, and it is so easy to unscrew the bowl and swab out the sink with a napkin/tissue anytime (even when the bowl is burning). I love it.


----------



## 36Bones

El wedo del milagro said:


> I just had a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake in the Falcon out on the deck over the river at work.
> 
> I saw a BIG wtd buck run up the river, a mallard with two hens float down, and several rainbow trout that are laughing at me and ignoring my salmon eggs... I can't believe they pay me to do this job!
> 
> BTW: this Falcon pipe is turning into my favorite work pipe. I can smoke several bowls before the stem needs any swabbing, and it is so easy to unscrew the bowl and swab out the sink with a napkin/tissue anytime (even when the bowl is burning). I love it.


THe chocolate flake is great. Got my eye on some Falcon/Viking pipes on Ebay.


----------



## freestoke

Haven't had any BCF is a long time. Another flake that's even chocolateyer is GH&Co Scotch Flake Aromatic. (You'd think with a name like that it would be a Lakeland bomb, but it's not.) 

I started to smoke this NoDot Canadian of PPP last night, but never lit it. The PPP had black stuff in there from Latakia and BXX scraps, so it should be an exciting morning. p


----------



## freestoke

So what's the problem this morning? Nobody wants to post to this thread until somebody opens it up with a bowl of PA? :dunno: So okay, I'll start over with a 4Dot of PA. p. 

Think we'll be chasin' the pellet this afternoon after all! :banana:


----------



## 36Bones

42* and 12 mph north wind. _BRRRRRR_ Hot coffee and FVF in the Kaywoodie. Make it a great day. PA....:ballchain:


----------



## Stonedog

The temp is near perfect today with very light cloud cover. Perfect opportunity to do some back yard cleanup with my son while the wife and daughter are out and about. I mixed the very last bits of FVF an UF for an amazing one-match bowl.


----------



## The Mad Professor

A post to make Jim jealous: I started today off with a bowl of SG 1792 sitting here at The Lodge on Torrey Pines Golf Course. I don't play, I'm here for other reasons, but it sure is NICE! Sitting at the rocking chairs in front of the fireplace outside the bar last night, I had to constantly fight the urge to light up in this very fine gentlemen's establishment - it would have been a wonderful place to enjoy a pipe, but it would have been the end of my stay here! :lol:


----------



## Dr. Plume

Looks like the sort of place that you would find some guy like mycroft hiding out from bombing campaigns in. You are not safe even in this thread mycroft!


----------



## Dr. Plume

St James in the shamrock! Woot!ppp


----------



## Dr. Plume

That was the best fifty minutes I have had in a long time. Just sitting on my porch watching rain baby napped wife in class. Just a peaceful morning.


----------



## Kevin Keith

I'm having trouble thinking of Kendal instead of Krumblewhen I see KK...personal problem, albeit First World as problems go.:boink: Frog Morton in the Viscount 81 and Maxwell House...now where did I put that "woohoo" guy...-------> :woohoo:


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> A post to make Jim jealous...


You have succeeded! :mrgreen: Very "California", with a circle of chairs around a fireplace. Used to be a bar in San Francisco that I went to that had arrangements like that, except with three sofas. (No, it wasn't one of those kinds of bars. :lol

I'm mourning the loss of the Serial Aromatics Pouch.  Couple of days ago, I filled the Legend in my lap driving out of the development, put tje pouch in the door pocket as usual, but I was wearing my London Fog. Must have not gotten fully into the door pocket for some reason and fallen out into the street when I got to where I was going. Didn't notice it missing until I was driving home, but in the meantime I'd gone somewhere else and gotten in the car in the dark -- black pouch, black pavement, wouldn't have noticed it probably, even if it was there by the car. sigh. Was hoping it would be "elsewhere", but it hasn't surfaced. Gone. out: Looks like I'll have to break out the GBD plastic pouch, which is at LEAST 30 years old, possibly 40!

Right now, it's the end of the Golden Age, in the 4Dot, with some fine Chock Full o' Nuts. :cp Excellent! Might even play golf again today! Every day is a bonus from here on out until next April.


----------



## 36Bones

Chilly morning. 34* and no wind. English breakfast tea and some Windsor in the Diplomat. Make it a great Monday, if that's possible. :wink:


----------



## DSturg369

Started the day with some 3P in a Dr Grabow Royal Duke and now on to some OGS in a MM Legend. Work soon so that'll probably be it until the drive home tonight.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> . . .I'm mourning the loss of the Serial Aromatics Pouch.


Pouch? Jim, at least you have (or had) one (or more) - you're the professional. I carry my 'baccy in the little box my Cuban Crafters cigar cutter came in, and my pipe sets in the side of the driver's door of my car, along with the box of matches and other necessaries. If I were really smart, I'd research which tobacco pouch/pipe bag is best, and step up and get it. Unfortunately, I just ain't that smart...

Two delicious bowls of Kendal Kentucky this morning. Out of the box. With the Country Gent stored in the door of the Volvo. Good morning!


----------



## The Mad Professor

freestoke said:


> You have succeeded! :mrgreen: Very "California", with a circle of chairs around a fireplace. Used to be a bar in San Francisco that I went to that had arrangements like that, except with three sofas. (No, it wasn't one of those kinds of bars. :lol


The sofas were actually behind me as I was taking the picture. Inside the bar is another fireplace with sofas around it like you described. :tu


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Pouch? Jim, at least you have (or had) one (or more) - you're the professional...
> Two delicious bowls of Kendal Kentucky this morning. Out of the box. With the Country Gent stored in the door of the Volvo. Good morning!


As I said, "Looks like I'll have to break out the GBD plastic pouch, which is at LEAST 30 years old, possibly 40!" Of COURSE I had spare! :sl Luckily, that wasn't necessary, because Audrey found it in the camera bag! The SAP normally sits in the car door pocket with the pipe, both moved into the top pocket on the golf bag for the course. I generally use a Calico (BIC type), switching to a Zippo for the course -- better in the wind.

Right now I'm back after getting completely beat up out there. The course was impossible, especially when I hit all my shots fat, but I think I'll have a lot better luck with a bowl of Father Dempsey and a can of Old Mil.


----------



## freestoke

Standard morning, 4Dot/PA, Chock Full o' Nuts. Gonna be B-U-tiffle out there today! Every golf day is a fall bonus! The clubs could be moving to winter storage any day now.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Watching for the mailman today. PA in a Grabow Starfire large billiard/Maxwell House.


----------



## 36Bones

Nice morning. Some hot spice tea and Anni Kake in the little Kaywoodie. Make it a great day!


----------



## The Mad Professor

Packed another bowl of KK/PA mix, just to see if it was as good as it was yesterday. Surprisingly, I could taste both blends distinctively, yet the PA added some sweetness to the KK, and the KK brought some strength to the PA.


----------



## ProbateGeek

The Mad Professor said:


> Packed another bowl of KK/PA mix, just to see if it was as good as it was yesterday. Surprisingly, I could taste both blends distinctively, yet the PA added some sweetness to the KK, and the KK brought some strength to the PA.


Nice, Joe - I'm now tempted to try this. In the meantime, a big bowl of Royal Yacht in the Savinelli billiard/lovat.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Frog Morton/Viscount 81/big ol' cup of coffee.


----------



## freestoke

Guten morgen! Father Dempsey in the Country Gentleman to start the day, with some CFoN coffee. :smile: A bleak, misty day. No golf with the wind forecast. :frown:


----------



## gahdzila

My poor cobs have been neglected lately, with all the fancy new briars pushing their way into the rotation. So I pulled out the MM Freehand this morning for the PA/5B duty.


----------



## 36Bones

56* with heavy drizzle. ARRGGHH. Twinings breakfast tea and some Windsor in the CG. Make it a great one!


----------



## freestoke

Hmmm...the KK is gonzo (still some in the cellar! :tu), and I suddenly find my open containers depleted of easy power. Black XX requires eye hand coordination in the morning, so that's out. JK[sic]P the same. :spy: Just some MM365, but that's Latakia. Ah, the new 5B that Terry sent me! The very thing. Haven't have any PA/5B since opening that jar of KK, so the 4Dot is in for a treat. p

The new 5B is definitely more moist than any of the old line I've opened. Looks pretty much the same, though. Maybe because the older, US-made stuff was very dry and somewhat broken up, generally, it might just look like this is a slightly larger caliber. Close call. Definitely not a lot of change, though, which is a good thing.


----------



## gahdzila

I agree with you about the new 5 Brothers, Jim. It's definitely more moist, but it's otherwise the same as the old stuff.

20 minutes on the paper plate and a looser pack has reduced the bite of this Granger, but it's still nipping me a bit. It still doesn't feel overly moist to me, but it's definitely not what I would call dry. I guess I should try leaving it out even longer. I'm still hoping to get it figured out before I finish this pouch because I really enjoy the flavor of this blend and could forsee a tub in my future...but only if I can smoke it without it biting me.


----------



## freestoke

Man, I burned through two 4Dots of PA/5B in about 45 minutes. Yep. Same ol' stuff! :lol: 

What the hell, I'm going for three. p


----------



## freestoke

Reporting more advances on the frontiers of pipe smoking: 5B and SWR smoke nicely together in the 4Dot. Bet y'all are really surprised, huh? Having a little coffee with that and looking at the amazing leaf display out the window. :cp I'm tellin' ya, Vermont's got NUTTIN'! All their puffin' and blowin' about their fall leaves up there is like the old saying, "An empty wagon makes the most noise." Bear in mind, I'm not even from NY, so I'm unbiased. :smile:


----------



## Stonedog

We've got a little while longer before out leaves are in full glory. Soon we'll take the short drive up to the north Georgia mountains for apples, pumpkins and leaves.

I'm battling some sort of ear and throat infection so I've been away from pipes for a few days. In fact, I almost loaded up an MM Patriot with PA (out of boredom) but set it down and went back to the cupboard for more Advil.


----------



## Kevin Keith

PA in a rescued Grabow Starfire bent bulldog. I see y'all like mixing with 5 Brothers...I've not smoked that one, Daunting description: "One of the more unusual tobaccos available, extremely full-bodied, ultra-high nicotine content. A must for those who like living on the dangerous side." Just a real stout burley? Hmmm


----------



## gahdzila

No surprise here, Jim! 

PA and 5 Brothers in the DG Big Pipe for me. I do have some SWR open....maybe I'll dig into that next.

I was doing pretty good on whittling down my number of open containers - I was under a dozen. Now I'm up to ~15 or so. And I find myself craving Nightcap lately...so that number might go up by one more before the end of the day.

Hope you feel better soon, Jon!


----------



## gahdzila

Kevin Keith said:


> PA in a rescued Grabow Starfire bent bulldog. I see y'all like mixing with 5 Brothers...I've not smoked that one, Daunting description: "One of the more unusual tobaccos available, extremely full-bodied, ultra-high nicotine content. A must for those who like living on the dangerous side." Just a real stout burley? Hmmm


Personally, I don't find it _that_ strong. Yeah, it's strong, but it's not got nearly the punch of the ropes.

It's shag cut, dry straight burley. It's not bad stuff by itself (makes a good quick smoke because it burns fast), but it's real value is as a mixer. I mix it with OTCs to give them a little more body and oomph. It also works great mixed with aromatics - adds body and nicotine, and improves the burn.

5 Brothers is the well vodka of pipe tobacco


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> 5 Brothers is the well vodka of pipe tobacco


I like it! I agree, it's not all that powerful, and you don't need to go to ropes to get more nicotine than 5B delivers. Royal Yacht kicks its butt, and BMF is way out of its league, at least for me.

Got something you can't keep lit? 5B is absolutely incendiary. Mix a little and watch her go! People who run 4th of July fireworks might want to look into it. A little potassium nitrate, a little copper sulfate, a little 5B...

Mixed some 5B with the PPP and stuffed it in the Diplomat. Things are going great this morning! p

I see the "rant" thread is gone, probably moved to some sub-forum, never to be seen or heard from again. (At least I couldn't find it.) But I have a quick rant: That archetypical readneck in the Prilosec commercial is REALLY annoying. Possibly the most unpleasant commercial series of the year.


----------



## 36Bones

_FOGGY!!_ here this morning. I lost my butt and I can't find it. :wink: Twinings breakfast tea and some Windsor in the CG. Make it a good Thursday.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning, folks. Popped a tin of RY yesterday after 10 mo. Looking forward to loading a bowl today after the big O Chem midterm!


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Frog Morton On the Town in a Caminetto Business 143, steaming mug of Sumatra. It's the first overcast morning in weeks here in the Pacific NW. Looks like the weather theme has finally changed. Great pipe smoking weather. Have a good 10.11.12!


----------



## freestoke

Ha! 10.11.12. :mrgreen: 

I'm in rut. I've gotten lazy. Even PA is too hard to smoke by itself. Have...to...have...F..ff..f.Five...Five...Five Brothers. Straight. In a cob. :help:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Frog Morton On the Town in a Caminetto Business 143, steaming mug of Sumatra. It's the first overcast morning in weeks here in the Pacific NW. Looks like the weather theme has finally changed. Great pipe smoking weather. Have a good 10.11.12!
> 
> View attachment 40916


I've lived in the Pacific Northwest for 17 years, and only recently heard about Sequim - I wanna be there. Enjoy your smoke, DJ.

Kendal Kentucky in my dad's Comoys bent bulldog.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA/5Bros in a MM General. A mug of black coffee, a sunny porch, and a gorgeous view of the aspens and cottonwoods turning colors.


----------



## freestoke

Guten Morgen! A couple of days ago, I opened with, "Guten morgen", but for some reason it didn't look right. German capitalizes all nouns, so "Morgen", being a noun, should have been capitalized. :doh: What else is wrong? I never became fluent in German, despite 6 semesters of German in college.  Talk about thick as a brick. sigh. And I can barely understand it all anymore, even in print. At least I used to read it okay, Hesse, Grass, Goethe, scientific and medical articles, newspapers...now I couldn't decipher the instruction manual for an electric toaster oven. 

The rain and the cold and the wind and grey sky are beating me down. I feel my golf game going into hibernation. :sl Get hold of yourself, man! 

Thanks, self. I needed that. Watcha think, some Five Brothers? Haven't hadn't any of that since last night! p And more coffee. I think I need at least two more cups to cut through the malaise. :cp


----------



## 36Bones

Good morning all. Enjoyed a big breakfast, thanks to my lovely bride. SL in my Dr. Grabow Regal #65. Man it's freeking humid this morning. Make it a great Friday, my friends. :tu


----------



## Kevin Keith

PA/but no 5 Brothers in a MM 5th Ave "lovat". I've been neglecting the cobs, but I think they understand. It's humid here too...but then it usually is. I've lived in the Fort Worth area for 30 years, but I miss my native West Texas weather...sand storms and all!


----------



## freestoke

Fort Worth. Got a little story about Fort Worth that I picked up while living in Dallas. Fort Worth was the victim of major political shenanigans back when they were building the railroads. There was a conspiracy among the legislators to buy property around White Rock Lake (for next to nothing), then pass a law to force the railroads to pass within 5 miles of it and use it as a watering stop for the steam locomotives. Fort Worth was the hub of the cattle business until then, but with the new law, the railroads had to set up shop near Dallas, so the cattle ranchers had to take their stock to Dallas to put the herds onto the railroad cars -- and the rest of the business went with it, leaving bustling Fort Worth high and dry. Of course, after the law passed, the railroads were forced to buy the rights-of-way from, TADA!, the legislators, at an exorbitant markup naturally. And that's how Dallas, a hick town down the road, became the Big Cheese in the DFW metroplex.

Pulled out the long idle Patriot for a bowl of 5B/PA, and just a crumb or two of Condor Plug left on the plate from yesterday got into the mix. Condor Plug is like homeopathic medicine: even vanishing small concentrations have profound effects.

(I DO NOT BUY INTO HOMEOPATHIC QUACKERY. That was a only JOKE, son! These things are going right over your head. Ah say, you got a hole in your glove.)










Anyhow, it tastes really good! :smile:


----------



## Stonedog

Well, even though it's a Friday and my employees are actually about to finish a project on time, I'm bummed. I'm still battling this ear/throat infection so I'm staying away from pipes. And if that's not enough, someone just bought the pipe I was about to order. I was literally on the smokingpipes site about to add it to my cart when I got the dreaded "_We apologize but this product is currently sold out._" message.

Something about this one just called to me. Apparently it called to someone else too.


----------



## huskers

Not a piper yet but waiting on my first pipe to arrive while I type.........


:wave:


----------



## Kevin Keith

Way to go Huskers! It'll be here befory ya know it. What's your first name?

Cleaning house now with PA/SB in a Blue Ridge bent bulldog, drinking a Diet Coke /lime. Good stuff, Maynard.
View attachment 72116


----------



## Kevin Keith

Stonedog said:


> Well, even though it's a Friday and my employees are actually about to finish a project on time, I'm bummed. I'm still battling this ear/throat infection so I'm staying away from pipes. And if that's not enough, someone just bought the pipe I was about to order. I was literally on the smokingpipes site about to add it to my cart when I got the dreaded "_We apologize but this product is currently sold out._" message.
> 
> Something about this one just called to me. Apparently it called to someone else too.


I hate it when that happens...getting sniped on ebag rates right up there. :crutch:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Our first rain in many weeks here in the NW.

Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend in a Pete Mark Twain.


----------



## huskers

Kevin Keith said:


> Way to go Huskers! It'll be here befory ya know it. *What's your first name?*
> 
> Cleaning house now with PA/SB in a Blue Ridge bent bulldog, drinking a Diet Coke /lime. Good stuff, Maynard.
> View attachment 72116


Josh.


----------



## ProbateGeek

We've got grey skies and a very weak drizzle down here in Portland - I think the rain will hold off as long as possible, just for spite. Look forward to seeing the new Blazers play Phoenix tonight - back to a very young team with, hopefully, lots of potential.

In the meantime, the usual Kendal Kentucky in the aging Country Gent.

And welcome, Josh. Good start, posting before you've even got the pipe. What's to be your first smoke?


----------



## huskers

ProbateGeek said:


> We've got grey skies and a very weak drizzle down here in Portland - I think the rain will hold off as long as possible, just for spite. Look forward to seeing the new Blazers play Phoenix tonight - back to a very young team with, hopefully, lots of potential.
> 
> In the meantime, the usual Kendal Kentucky in the aging Country Gent.
> 
> And welcome, Josh. Good start, posting before you've even got the pipe. *What's to be your first smoke*?


I was told to start simple so I ordered a bent cob pipe and some Borkum riff cherry cavendish. I was going to get some PA Cherry Vanilla but they were out.


----------



## freestoke

huskers said:


> I was told to start simple so I ordered a bent cob pipe and some Borkum riff cherry cavendish. I was going to get some PA Cherry Vanilla but they were out.


Get some regular PA or Sir Walter Raleigh. Drugstores and grocery stores usually have one or the other or both, and as far as I know, Nebraska isn't too bad with the taxes.


----------



## huskers

Thanks Jim, I will do that!


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> Get some regular PA or Sir Walter Raleigh. Drugstores and grocery stores usually have one or the other or both, and as far as I know, Nebraska isn't too bad with the taxes.


Yes! These two are a must, especially for a cob...they'll make that pipe sing a happy tune.


----------



## huskers

Well, Pipes&Cigars had my cob on back order.

I had them send me a diff cob pipe, cancel the Borkum and swap for regular PA.

I'm guessing it will be here Wednesday or so.....


----------



## freestoke

You won't regret the switch, Josh, honest! :tu


----------



## huskers

freestoke said:


> You won't regret the switch, Josh, honest! :tu


Ok.............as a noob, I'm trusting you.

If it sucks I'm gonna bomb you with a whole bunch of pipe tobacco!
:biggrin1:


----------



## Kevin Keith

...and a tub of Sugar Barrel Josh. That's another burly staple no self respecting man would be without. Seriously. I_ love_, and I use the word advisedly, Sugar Barrel.


----------



## freestoke

And so it begins. TAD. And he doesn't even have a pipe yet. :tsk:

I'm so glad I've been able to keep things under total control, with less than two years' supply stashed. My next pipe cleaner order might tack a few months onto that, though.


----------



## huskers

freestoke said:


> And so it begins. TAD. And he doesn't even have a pipe yet. :tsk:
> 
> I'm so glad I've been able to keep things under total control, with less than two years' supply stashed. My next pipe cleaner order might tack a few months onto that, though.


:biglaugh:


----------



## huskers

delete


----------



## mcgreggor57

I'm sure there will be a frost delay this morning giving me ample time to enjoy some Revelation in my Dr G Freehand. Need to make sure the flask is filled as well


----------



## Kevin Keith

Frost would be a treat. 74*F right now, headed for a high of 87*...muggy day. Frog Morton in a Dr. Grabow Starfire bent bully and some Maxwell house.


----------



## freestoke

Last I saw last night was 29, but I'm sure it went lower. Weatherbug was 27 at the base at 8. Sun's shining and the wind is calm this morning, frost on the punkin. . (And it's that time of year again, when I have to remind people that the English word for the large orange squash that are carved for Halloween decoration and used for the filling in Thanksgiving pies is "punkin". Pumpkin" is Dutch and we already have entirely too many funny spellings in English to be adding any extra ones from Holland.) PA in the 4Dot, my usual until I wake up. Pounding down the fresh ground Columbian. :cp


----------



## 36Bones

73* and_ WINDY_. Maybe a thunderstorm this afternoon. Irish breakfast tea and Windsor in the Diplomat. Make it a great Saturday, my friends.


----------



## freestoke

About a foot of rain last night. Supposed to end after lunch and the temps would allow golf, but it would be a LONG way around the course, so I might opt for a wheelchair. Pushing a three wheeler around can be tough these days when the ground is soft. On the other hand, I might just put three clubs in Audrey's bag and walk, because she doesn't like wheelchair golf either. Conditions will be pretty impossible I'd imagine, so it's just for the exercise today anyhow. Maybe some three club -- three wood, seven iron putter. One of the things we did on our high school team was play three ball practice rounds together -- and we played for money, too! :lol: Our coach, age 81 and a team member's grandfather, was once the Georgia state amateur champion, like in the '20s, and had us do all sorts of things like that to sharpen our play.

On to a second bowl, this time SWR (following the PA _de rigueur_) with a pinch of 5B kindling on top. And a third cup of coffee. :cp


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> Maybe some three club -- three wood, seven iron putter. One of the things we did on our high school team was play three ball practice rounds together -- and we played for money, too! :lol: Our coach, age 81 and a team member's grandfather, was once the Georgia state amateur champion, like in the '20s, and had us do all sorts of things like that to sharpen our play.
> 
> On to a second bowl, this time SWR (following the PA _de rigueur_) with a pinch of 5B kindling on top. And a third cup of coffee. :cp


I love that! Here in Texas, nowadays, the UIL would throw the book at him and make him Jerry Sandusky's roommate! Istanbul in a Dr. Grabow Starfire extra large billiard...a "69" in Grabowese...and get your mind outta the gutter.


----------



## 36Bones

55* and calm in my chunk of Texas. Humidity is high. Starting my day with some Irish Breakfast Tea and SL in the DG Regal #65. Make it a great Sunday, my friends. :tu


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> I love that! Here in Texas, nowadays, the UIL would throw the book at him and make him Jerry Sandusky's roommate! Istanbul in a Dr. Grabow Starfire extra large billiard...a "69" in Grabowese...and get your mind outta the gutter.


:biglaugh: Really! I meant "three CLUB" practice rounds! :lol:

Playing for money was to teach us to handle pressure. Back then, golf and gambling were virtually synonymous, with an image of the best golfers hustling the hackers for money, and that vision has not entirely vanished. You constantly hear of money changing hands in practice rounds on the tour -- even Ryder Cup practice rounds. Dynamite Goodloe, Walter Hagen, and Sam Snead (right up to the day he died!), all known for their taking money out of the pockets of people with more cash than brains. Back in the '50s, Golf Digest always seemed to have pictures inside the clubhouse, beer bottles all over the place, card games going on in the background. Arnold Palmer's big claim to fame, before the invention of the twist off cap, was to be able to pop open a bottle of beer with his thumbnail. :shock:


----------



## Dr. Plume

freestoke said:


> :biglaugh: Really! I meant "three CLUB" practice rounds! :lol:
> 
> Playing for money was to teach us to handle pressure. Back then, golf and gambling were virtually synonymous, with an image of the best golfers hustling the hackers for money, and that vision has not entirely vanished. You constantly hear of money changing hands in practice rounds on the tour -- even Ryder Cup practice rounds. Dynamite Goodlow, Walter Hagen, and Sam Snead (right up to the day he died!), all known for their taking money out of the pockets of people with more cash than brains. Back in the '50s, Golf Digest always seemed to have pictures inside the clubhouse, beer bottles all over the place, card games going on in the background. Arnold Palmer's big claim to fame, before the invention of the twist off cap, was to be able to pop open a bottle of beer with his thumbnail. :shock:


That's a long time ago


----------



## Kevin Keith

Dr. Plume said:


> That's a long time ago


BWAHAHAHA...there ya go Jim!!! :biglaugh:


----------



## 36Bones

Well, I wasn't going to say it. (out loud at least) :wink:


----------



## freestoke

Dr. Plume said:


> That's a long time ago


sigh. Seems like only yesterday I watched Dynamite Goodloe literally knock the cover off a ball in an exhibition at one of the golf tournaments in high school. Back then, it was a ballata ball that cut like butter if you mishit a shot. No surlyn anywhere. Dynamite would take a ball with a cut on the cover (you can't even DENT these pellets today! :shock, tee it up with the cut at the impact point and the cover would rip the rest of the way off, fluttering to the ground maybe thirty feet in front of him, while the center went flying off a little farther -- sideways. Very cool. Try as I might, I could never do it. While he was showing us how to hit a ball, he was giving us hustling tips, I kid you not. Maybe not sharing a cell with Sandusky, but that exhibition would have definitely got him into hot water these goodie-two-shoes days! :lol:

Another bowl of SWR. The morning's looking up! p


----------



## freestoke

And the rain just keeps comin'! Put some Union Square out for an airing about 8, so I'm gonna fire that up now. I think the Bari Dana is ready, after last night's reaming and cleaning. Took a Brebbia tool to it, scrubbed it out with some 161 proof vodka and it should be good to go.

I accidentally hit the home page and decided to check who's online and notice 362 "users" vs 62 of the registered people. Is that "hidden browsing" or do that many people actually suffer through the ads? :ask:


----------



## freestoke

Demonstrating some uncharacteristic foresight this morning, setting out some Louisiana Flake and Union Square to dry for later. 

The rain just never stops! We've been in a non-stop rain all night and this morning with a 30% probability. A few years back, we were getting ready to redo the driveway with a 0%, as in NO CHANCE, of rain. Had all the stuff out and there was a one hour CLOUDBURST, driving rain and lightning. :lol: I'm not a weather forecast basher though, not at all. They do a great job at the National Weather Service in general. 

Another PA start in the 4Dot workhorse. I smoke more bowls in this pipe than any two other pipes I own, I think. I think it's the hypercomfortable stem and light weight. p


----------



## Dr. Plume

freestoke said:


> Demonstrating some uncharacteristic foresight this morning, setting out some Louisiana Flake and Union Square to dry for later.
> 
> The rain just never stops! We've been in a non-stop rain all night and this morning with a 30% probability. A few years back, we were getting ready to redo the driveway with a 0%, as in NO CHANCE, of rain. Had all the stuff out and there was a one hour CLOUDBURST, driving rain and lightning. :lol: I'm not a weather forecast basher though, not at all. They do a great job at the National Weather Service in general.
> 
> Another PA start in the 4Dot workhorse. I smoke more bowls in this pipe than any two other pipes I own, I think. I think it's the hypercomfortable stem and light weight. p


I just assumed you had 10 4dots. Another frog this time in the shamrock.


----------



## Stonedog

Jim, we've got a bit of that rain all the way down here. Send more down if you can! The reservoir that supplies metro Atlanta (Lake Lanier) is about 9 feet below full pool...

I rubbed out some crispy dry SWR and loaded up the MM Egg. One or two bowls isn't enough to pass judgement, but this OTC has promise.


----------



## freestoke

Dr. Plume said:


> I just assumed you had 10 4dots. Another frog this time in the shamrock.


My 4Dot has the strength of 10.

Just heard the weirdest thing about the Obama-Romney debate tomorrow. The questions are picked by the Gallup Poll people, by -- get this -- finding people who are undecided yet likely to vote, then asking them to choose the questions *they* want answered. Anybody who can't figure out where they stand at this point is going to come up with a really dumb question, if you ask me. "What's all this talk about oil? What is it? I've heard oil somehow affects gasoline prices, and if so what can we do to stop it?" Obviously, the Gallup pollsters never watch Saturday Night Live.

Ya know, I just had to change "effects" to "affects" above. It occurs to me I've been misspelling this for quite a while now, not that I never knew which word to use here, it's just that I've fogged over. I used to be a spelling wizard, but 22 years on the web has taken its toll. When I worked for Measurement Concept Corporation, Dr. Moritz, the company president, would yell out of his office, "Hey Jim, how do you spell...," and I'd yell back the answer. Or he'd yell out a sentence and ask me for a better word or way of putting it. More complicated answers would require me to walk over to the door, lean in and give him a few options. (I tried very hard my whole life not to be an egghead, I kid you not, but I accidentally learned all this CRAP!  Now I'm screwed until senile dementia sets in.)

Okay, this Louisiana Flake looks like it's about ready. Think I'll be safe and add some 5B to it, assuring flammability.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Nice Monday morning and no rain in sight. Good thing, too. I'm tired of the dog tracking the mud in. PA in a MMCG...I think I posted that in another thread, but I don't care. God is in His Heaven and all is right in my world (for now).


----------



## karatekyle

Morning, guys. Gunna be a long week, I feel it already. Maybe I'll add a more fun deadline to my schedule, finishing off this tin of London Mixture!


----------



## Kevin Keith

karatekyle said:


> Morning, guys. Gunna be a long week, I feel it already. Maybe I'll add a more fun deadline to my schedule, finishing off this tin of London Mixture!


Good luck Kyle...make it a good one and get more LM!


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> Good luck Kyle...make it a good one and get more LM!


Not these, though!










This LF/5B is extra nice! p


----------



## huskers

My pipe and PA will be here today!

Do any of you know if Graco makes a decent pipe?


----------



## freestoke

huskers said:


> My pipe and PA will be here today!
> 
> Do any of you know if Graco makes a decent pipe?


Never heard of them until I went on pipesandcigars and checked them out. Confusing, "vintage" in the name makes it sound like an estate, but they're all new. They look pretty nice and the price is certainly not bad. From P&C, you can expect to be able to return if the drill is bad or something, so it isn't going to be all that risky to check one out -- and let us know!


----------



## huskers

freestoke said:


> Never heard of them until I went on pipesandcigars and checked them out. Confusing, "vintage" in the name makes it sound like an estate, but they're all new. They look pretty nice and the price is certainly not bad. From P&C, you can expect to be able to return if the drill is bad or something, so it isn't going to be all that risky to check one out -- and let us know!


I think I will after I get used to my Cob for a while Jim.

This is the one I am thinking of getting. Graco ARCADIAN Pipe - Apple

Jim, do you think a dark beer would go well with my PA tonight?


----------



## freestoke

huskers said:


> I think I will after I get used to my Cob for a while Jim.
> 
> This is the one I am thinking of getting. Graco ARCADIAN Pipe - Apple
> 
> Jim, do you think a dark beer would go well with my PA tonight?


Nice lookin' pipe!

PA goes with beer flavor, period. It's unbiased. p Most of my beer drinking's been with the Dart Mix or something else this summer, because I tend to smoke PA earlier in the day before I start hitting the bottle -- or, in my case, cans (or cases). :beerchug:

Lunchtime!


----------



## 36Bones

Late morning. Black coffee and some Strikeforce in the baby Kaywoodie. ARRGGHH!!!! It's Monday.


----------



## DSturg369

Stayed up late and slept in late today. Hot coffee with PA in a MM Legend starting my day... Both being exceptionally tasty this morning.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm heading out to the porch to sit in the sun with a mug of black coffee and Ham Beer in the Meer.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> . . . Just heard the weirdest thing about the Obama-Romney debate tomorrow. The questions are picked by the Gallup Poll people, by -- get this -- finding people who are undecided yet likely to vote, then asking them to choose the questions *they* want answered. Anybody who can't figure out where they stand at this point is going to come up with a really dumb question, if you ask me. "What's all this talk about oil? What is it? I've heard oil somehow affects gasoline prices, and if so what can we do to stop it?" Obviously, the Gallup pollsters never watch Saturday Night Live. . .


Jim - exactly!






The whole skit is here: *Saturday Night Live - Undecided Voter - Video - NBC.com*, but seems way too slow loading.

The ever-faithful KK in the MM Great Dane Egg.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> I'm heading out to the porch to sit in the sun with a mug of black coffee and Ham Beer in the Meer.


Hamm's? You buyin' your beer off ebay, Mark? :lol: I didn't think they even made that anymore.

Whatever, I'm heading out, possibly to the golf course. Got my SAP and the Legend in the door compartment, so I'm ready to roll!


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## Kevin Keith

It's been nearly 30 years since I've seen a Hamm's around here. Still have Pabst and Schlitz though. If it weren't for the gout, I'd be havin some of that 60s formula Schlits about now.


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## Kevin Keith

ProbateGeek said:


> Jim - exactly!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The whole skit is here: *Saturday Night Live - Undecided Voter - Video - NBC.com*, but seems way too slow loading.
> 
> The ever-faithful KK in the MM Great Dane Egg.


Can women vote? Because if not, I have a problem with that. bwahahahaha :lol:


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Jim - exactly!
> 
> The whole skit is here: *Saturday Night Live - Undecided Voter - Video - NBC.com*, but seems way too slow loading.
> 
> The ever-faithful KK in the MM Great Dane Egg.


Well, not exactly, but it was as close as I could remember it. Too funny. I almost fell apart watching that. :biglaugh: It was just so odd hearing the way they're pickin' the stupid (dare I say* STUPID*?) questions, right after seeing that. Talk about *prescient* and apropos humor! Just when you think things can't get any dumber...

I'm into the Dart Mix after a STELLAR nine holes of golf. Best I've hit wedges in, oh, twenty years. Positively thrilling to hit a few nice shots, one after another. I don't do that much any more. :banana: Even shot a newspaper 37 (the greens were so bad, we weren't counting 3-putts :smile. Oh...and my second Old Mil. :beerchug:


----------



## huskers

SO.....................Pipe never showed up today like promised, a bit bummed.

Guess theres always tomorrow.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Accountants may be boring "brown shoes" but not Accountant's Mixture. I'm sure if my Pop smoked a pipe, being a CPA he woulda smoked this. This one's for you Pop! Accountant's Mixture in a Savinelli Standing Canadian (804) and a strong brew of Folgers. Happy Tuesday everyone!


----------



## Dr. Plume

Happy Tuesday and now that I have a bit of money from my job I am going to pick up some old Dublin and smoke it in the shamrock. Drying some Fvf to try for the first time later in the the Aran. Hope the generals arrive soon cause I am looking forward to a longer smoke. p


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## freestoke

Wow, everybody seems to be heading into new territory this morning. :smile: At least different territory, as I puff my way into a bowl of Louisiana Flake and Five Brothers for my opening gambit. Gotta put out more LF for drying, for sure, since it's even better than I remember it -- might be the year of jar time. p


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## Dr. Plume

Old Dublin burned really well this afternoon in the shamrock. Over all not my favorite but I will finish the tin for sure. Smoked it in the Tuileries gardens here is a pic.
View attachment 72174

View attachment 72175


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Frog Morton Across the Pond in a Castello Le Catene 55.

The wind has been howling since just before midnight last night. Gusts up to 50 MPH. An animated atmosphere.


----------



## 36Bones

A lot cooler now than it was when I first ventured outside this morning. Windy and looks rainy, even though it's not in the forecast. Enjoying some Irish Breakfast Tea and with Sutliff #5 in the baby Kaywoodie. Hey, at least it's not Monday. :tu


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## Kevin Keith

It's cool here too. I'm thinking of getting out the cobs for some PA or Sugar Barrel.


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## freestoke

Only 48* so far and not supposed to do much better, but super nice weather starts tomorrow! Mid-60s! :banana: I played SO good yesterday, I can't wait to get back out there tomorrow and have the Golf God smash me onto the ground and kick me in the face and spritz me with Rub of the Green.

I'll have my first bowl of PA today now.


----------



## ProbateGeek

The only thing new for me this morning is this cup of Irish Breakfast tea (strongest I could find). Otherwise, 1792 Flake in the Country Gent. Cool, wet/clean, and beautiful golden sunshine - perfect pipe weather.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Diet Coke with lime and PA in the ol' MMCG


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## Kevin Keith

Looks like a warm, windy Wednesday for us in North Texas. Accountant's Mixture in a Savinelli 804 with a pot of Folgers...the best part of waking up!


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## freestoke

Kevin, it was only 5:12 when you posted that. Go back to bed and get some SLEEP, man! Large, hungry animals with better eyesight than humans are lurking in the shadows to grab you and make breakfast! People are not engineered to be up before the sun, PERIOD! 

Back to normal with some PA in the 4Dot. Columbian fresh ground coffee this morning! :cp


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## Latakius Vituscan

GKCPC Rich Oriental Ltd. Ed. 2011 in a Caminetto Business 143.


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> Kevin, it was only 5:12 when you posted that. Go back to bed and get some SLEEP, man! Large, hungry animals with better eyesight than humans are lurking in the shadows to grab you and make breakfast! :cp


I ain't skeered! haha


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## 36Bones

Terry, I love my Irish Breakfast tea. And having now been inspired by you, I'm enjoying some Irish Breakfast tea and FMC in the DG Regal #65. Make it a great Wednesday. Oh and btw, whoever ordered the 40 mph wind, I have it at my house. You can claim it at any time and I'll send it to you.


----------



## Stonedog

Tomorrow we take a road trip up to Indiana for a family wedding. I'm going to have my 15 year old do some of the driving assuming the traffic is pretty light. He's doing pretty well on the local roads so it's time to step up to interstate driving.

Consummate Gentleman in my Edward's bent bulldog.


----------



## gahdzila

I went to the dentist this morning, got the choppers all polished up, and now I'm staining them back up with some coffee and Granger in a cob.

I noticed something today that got me thinking. Have you ever seen an old dental hygienist? Every one I've ever encountered has been young and perky and good looking. Not that I'm complaining! But I don't think I've ever been serviced by a dental hygienist over the age of 40...possibly even 35. The last one that cleaned my teeth was....maybe 32? She wasn't there this morning (I didn't ask....but I'm guessing she doesn't work there anymore), and I had a new one who couldn't possibly be a day over 25...actually, I'd wager that she was 22 or so. 

Why is that, I wonder? One wouldn't think it was a high stress job. It's decent money, I'm sure. Do they all just throw their hands in the air when they get 35 and seek other careers? "There's no way I'm putting my hands in that damned pipe smoking coffee drinking Clifford's mouth again! I QUIT!!!" :lol: The career requires some level of education, so they do have significant time and energy and resources invested in learning the skill. I've never encountered a male dental hygienist either...so one could assume that the responsibilities of motherhood have at least something to do with it. Still - there are old wrinkled up battle-axe woman nurses and teachers and everything else. But only young cute perky dental hygienists. :ask:


----------



## huskers

gahdzila said:


> I went to the dentist this morning, got the choppers all polished up, and now I'm staining them back up with some coffee and Granger in a cob.
> 
> I noticed something today that got me thinking. Have you ever seen an old dental hygienist? Every one I've ever encountered has been young and perky and good looking. Not that I'm complaining! But I don't think I've ever been serviced by a dental hygienist over the age of 40...possibly even 35. The last one that cleaned my teeth was....maybe 32? She wasn't there this morning (I didn't ask....but I'm guessing she doesn't work there anymore), and I had a new one who couldn't possibly be a day over 25...actually, I'd wager that she was 22 or so.
> 
> Why is that, I wonder? One wouldn't think it was a high stress job. It's decent money, I'm sure. Do they all just throw their hands in the air when they get 35 and seek other careers? "There's no way I'm putting my hands in that damned pipe smoking coffee drinking Clifford's mouth again! I QUIT!!!" :lol: The career requires some level of education, so they do have significant time and energy and resources invested in learning the skill. I've never encountered a male dental hygienist either...so one could assume that the responsibilities of motherhood have at least something to do with it. Still - there are old wrinkled up battle-axe woman nurses and teachers and everything else. But only young cute perky dental hygienists. :ask:


Not in my small town. When I was grownig up, the dentist was an old man and his assistant was a woman in her 40's at the time. About 60 something or older now.
You do have a point though, you don't see to many older women doing that kind of work.


----------



## 36Bones

gahdzila said:


> I went to the dentist this morning, got the choppers all polished up, and now I'm staining them back up with some coffee and Granger in a cob.
> 
> I noticed something today that got me thinking. Have you ever seen an old dental hygienist? Every one I've ever encountered has been young and perky and good looking. Not that I'm complaining! But I don't think I've ever been serviced by a dental hygienist over the age of 40...possibly even 35. The last one that cleaned my teeth was....maybe 32? She wasn't there this morning (I didn't ask....but I'm guessing she doesn't work there anymore), and I had a new one who couldn't possibly be a day over 25...actually, I'd wager that she was 22 or so.
> 
> Why is that, I wonder? One wouldn't think it was a high stress job. It's decent money, I'm sure. Do they all just throw their hands in the air when they get 35 and seek other careers? "There's no way I'm putting my hands in that damned pipe smoking coffee drinking Clifford's mouth again! I QUIT!!!" :lol: The career requires some level of education, so they do have significant time and energy and resources invested in learning the skill. I've never encountered a male dental hygienist either...so one could assume that the responsibilities of motherhood have at least something to do with it. Still - there are old wrinkled up battle-axe woman nurses and teachers and everything else. But only young cute perky dental hygienists. :ask:


Our dentist is a husband and wife team. He's the dentist and she's the hygienist. I know they're in their mid 60's. His receptionist is his niece and she's her late 20's, maybe.


----------



## karatekyle

Good morning, pipers. Going on my 30th hour of consciousness, had a Virology midterm this morning that kept me up all night studying. Puffed through a bit of RY in the Windsor grp 2, such a dandy little thing.


----------



## gahdzila

Stonedog said:


> Tomorrow we take a road trip up to Indiana for a family wedding. I'm going to have my 15 year old do some of the driving assuming the traffic is pretty light. He's doing pretty well on the local roads so it's time to step up to interstate driving.
> 
> Consummate Gentleman in my Edward's bent bulldog.


That sounds like quite an adventure! You're near Atlanta, right? Everyone says traffic in Atlanta is horrendous...I must've gotten extremely lucky when I drove through there a few years back. I spend a good bit of time in New Orleans...New Orleans traffic is bad, much worse than what I saw in Atlanta; but everyone in New Orleans drives "friendly" from my experience, which makes things a little easier. Regardless, a freeway with light traffic should be a good opportunity for him. I am *not* looking forward to teaching my 9 year old to drive! Good luck!


----------



## Stonedog

gahdzila said:


> That sounds like quite an adventure! You're near Atlanta, right? Everyone says traffic in Atlanta is horrendous...I must've gotten extremely lucky when I drove through there a few years back. I spend a good bit of time in New Orleans...New Orleans traffic is bad, much worse than what I saw in Atlanta; but everyone in New Orleans drives "friendly" from my experience, which makes things a little easier. Regardless, a freeway with light traffic should be a good opportunity for him. I am *not* looking forward to teaching my 9 year old to drive! Good luck!


Yes, Atlanta traffic can be horrible especially during rush hour. The only places that beat it are Orlando (specifically I4) during peak tourist season and LA during rush hour.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Scotch Flake Aromatic this late morning, still in the trusty Country Gentleman. Very good, but makes me wish for some KK.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Good morning. I've been up for a while, but just now laoded up some PA in a Royalton billiard so the day has officially started. A cool front has blown in, very nice here today. Let's make it a good Thursday!


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Scotch Flake Aromatic this late morning, still in the trusty Country Gentleman. Very good, but makes me wish for some KK.


Unless I miss my guess, it was 12:15 local time when you posted this, but we'll let it slide this time, because of the intoxicating effects of SFA. One of my favorites, and I must say, I like it better than KK -- which is saying rather a lot. :smile: Right now I'm smoking some PA and composing Terry's reprimand. p

Definitely golf today! :banana: I'm thinking of talking Audrey into playing somewhere decent, 18 holes with a cart. We have reciprocals all over the place, but you have to take a stinking a cart. (Not that that's horrible, since I can't comfortably play 18 holes afoot anymore, especially on hill courses. I could, but it would be unpleasant and I'd be bagged.) Any day could be the last real golf day.


----------



## freestoke

Kevin Keith said:


> Good morning. I've been up for a while...


Again, taking your life in your own hands. :sl Primates should NOT get up until the sun has chased away the dark areas, Kevin. It's in the DNA, millions of years of selective breeding. (I have to get up before dawn to let the *CATS* out into the twilight, where their top-shelf night vision provides them with big advantage over the little beasties they like to eat, but *I* go back to bed, keeping in proper concert with my primordial past.)

I'm still smoking this first bowl of PA. p


----------



## Dr. Plume

When I get some time tonight maybe yet again ill be able to finally try some Fvf. In one of the wartime generals. Which I am dubbing General Paton.


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## freestoke

With perfect biorhythm, I'm firing up a second bowl, some LF with a 5B starter pack on the top. Soon, the cats will be asleep and it will be safe to venture into the daylight, where my superior daytime vision, common to all apes, comes into full play.


----------



## 36Bones

Chilly for my taste. 48* but no wind, which is good. Sitting in the sun with some espresso and Windsor in the Diplomat. Make it a great Thursday! :tu


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> Again, taking your life in your own hands. :sl Primates should NOT get up until the sun has chased away the dark areas, Kevin. It's in the DNA, millions of years of selective breeding. (I have to get up before dawn to let the *CATS* out into the twilight, where their top-shelf night vision provides them with big advantage over the little beasties they like to eat, but *I* go back to bed, keeping in proper concert with my primordial past.)
> 
> I'm still smoking this first bowl of PA. p


I continue to evolve Jim...my pupils are vertical now! And I need a shave...
View attachment 72276


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Again, taking your life in your own hands. :sl Primates should NOT get up until the sun has chased away the dark areas, Kevin. It's in the DNA, millions of years of selective breeding. (I have to get up before dawn to let the *CATS* out into the twilight, where their top-shelf night vision provides them with big advantage over the little beasties they like to eat, but *I* go back to bed, keeping in proper concert with my primordial past.)
> 
> I'm still smoking this first bowl of PA. p


AGREED. But try telling that to my boss. "Sir, I'm an hour late because the sot weed bohemian told me that primates shouldn't get out of bed before daylight." :scared:

Except for the cat thing. I *HATE* cats. It's actually probably a good thing to keep a cat (particularly a thin hungry cat) around the house, to help keep the critters at bay. But I believe my wife has Cat Aquisition Disorder. And they're all fat and lazy (our cats, that is...not us :lol: )

Enjoying a quiet morning home alone on my day off. I'm gonna have to get busy on the honey-dos soon...but not before I polish off this second cup of black coffee and second bowl of PA in the DG blondie Big Pipe.


----------



## MiamiMikePA

Grousemooring the hell out of my 2 egg L'Anatra!!! The ghost of Christmas past...I mean ghost of Ennerdale is slowly fading from the briar! Loving that I finally found an aromatic I'm crazy about as well. Glow ball golf tourney today...last tourney of the year. 8 holes, 5 clubs, and 2 glow balls...should be fun.


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## huskers

Wind speeds(57mph) are higher then the temps where I live. Not just gusts of wind either, sustained wind speeds. 

When I look outside, It's so dusty that it looks like it's raining.


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## karatekyle

It's nasty out. Windy and rainy. Got job interview number three today, hoping to keep up my streak of good impressions!


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## Kevin Keith

karatekyle said:


> It's nasty out. Windy and rainy. Got job interview number three today, hoping to keep up my streak of good impressions!


Good luck Kyle!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I love cats. 

I love dogs too, but my female Boston Terrier passed away two Springs ago. I'm just getting over her now. I'm gonna wait till Spring to get a puppy... winter could hit any day here, and she'd have an easier time with the snow if she was older.

My cat, Queen Victoria, and Kat's dog ( a beagle named Maverick) keep me company now. Maverick tries, but has a hard time... he's about as smart as a box of rocks. When Queen Victoria purrs for me I think of the quote: God created cat that man might caress the tiger.

I'm off to the porch now to sit in the sun with a bowl of Bobs Chocolate Flake in the Falcon.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Back to KK, in the Sav Venezia. Still awaiting Jim's reprimand, but sine SFA tends to bite me a little, it fairs worse for me compared to the KK.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I ended up having Sunday Picnic instead of Bob's Chocolate Flake.

I just folded and stuffed the flake in my small Hilson bent bulldog. Only puffed for thirty minutes... left the rest on the porch for later as the sun wasn't high enough to shade my face. It's gonna be a nice day though... in the last 90 minutes it warmed from 22 to 55 degrees!


----------



## Kevin Keith

El wedo del milagro said:


> I ended up having Sunday Picnic instead of Bob's Chocolate Flake.
> 
> I just folded and stuffed the flake in my small Hilson bent bulldog. Only puffed for thirty minutes... left the rest on the porch for later as the sun wasn't high enough to shade my face. It's gonna be a nice day though... in the last 90 minutes it warmed from 22 to 55 degrees!


Nice! I love the mountains!


----------



## karatekyle

Kevin Keith said:


> Good luck Kyle!


Thanks Kevin, it must have helped!

I've been flattered with a lot of attention from some different research teams on campus, hence the recent abundance of interviews. Many of you that are familiar with some of the really toxigenic _E. coli_ strains have heard of serotype O157 H7. I ended up taking an offer from a researcher doing primary research on a potential mass vaccination for O157 H7 in beef cattle. The genotyping and theory we develop (along with other private research groups) will build the foundation of theory for potential future widespread vaccination for O157 H7, hopefully reducing its potential epidemiological risk as a food-borne illness. I'll be able to work with RT-PCR and other high tech genotyping technology. But the best part? I'll get to go out in herds too. It should be a heck of a lot of fun throwing on boots, flannels, and Levi's as an undergrad research scientist!


----------



## Kevin Keith

Friday, huh? Bring it on...PA in a MM Pride and Folgers. I'm ready!
View attachment 72302


----------



## The Mad Professor

Yup yup, Friday's here! Looking forward to the herf this weekend!

I woke up WAY too early this morning (4:30am), so I bought some ziplocks from a 24 hr pharmacy and starting getting my samples together for a trade. With that done now, it's time to have some more EMP and go out for breakfast before work. :cp

Enjoy your Friday, everyone!



karatekyle;3705981Many of you that are familiar with some of the really toxigenic [I said:


> E. coli[/I] strains have heard of serotype O157 H7. I ended up taking an offer from a researcher doing primary research on a potential mass vaccination for O157 H7 in beef cattle.


I'm guessing you take your steak well done? :lol:


----------



## 36Bones

Good morning, my friends. 44* chilly degrees with no wind in my tiny part of Texas. Bundled up and enjoying espresso with SL in the DG Regal #65. Make it a great Friday.


----------



## 36Bones

karatekyle said:


> Thanks Kevin, it must have helped!
> 
> I've been flattered with a lot of attention from some different research teams on campus, hence the recent abundance of interviews. Many of you that are familiar with some of the really toxigenic _E. coli_ strains have heard of serotype O157 H7. I ended up taking an offer from a researcher doing primary research on a potential mass vaccination for O157 H7 in beef cattle. The genotyping and theory we develop (along with other private research groups) will build the foundation of theory for potential future widespread vaccination for O157 H7, hopefully reducing its potential epidemiological risk as a food-borne illness. I'll be able to work with RT-PCR and other high tech genotyping technology. But the best part? I'll get to go out in herds too. It should be a heck of a lot of fun throwing on boots, flannels, and Levi's as an undergrad research scientist!


This is awesome, Kyle. Well deserved. :tu


----------



## Nachman

I smoked some Royal Yacht in my Lakelands pipe, and guess what, It tastes like lakeland tobacco in that pipe. Not just a little, but full bore. What a ghost!


----------



## 36Bones

Nachman said:


> I smoked some Royal Yacht in my Lakelands pipe, and guess what, It tastes like lakeland tobacco in that pipe. Not just a little, but full bore. What a ghost!


No kidding, Nick.


----------



## freestoke

Having some Louisiana Flake in the Country Gentleman, with my third cup of fresh ground Columbiano. Been drying on the plate since yesterday, so it's quasi-crunchy for the rub-out. :tu Raining like crazy out there, so no golf today.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht for me, too, this morning. In the MM Great Dane Egg. Don't know why, but the RY never tasted so - can't wait for the drive home to have another bowl or two. 
And Jim, I prefer most of my tobacco on the crunchy side, quasi- or no. You get more fiber that way, don't ya know. p Was Euell Gibbons a piper?


----------



## huskers

Wish I had something good to try now that I'm learning...................it won't be to long. I got in on the NST so I should have some stuff soon.


----------



## DanR

huskers said:


> Wish I had something good to try now that I'm learning...................it won't be to long. I got in on the NST so I should have some stuff soon.


Yep, I'll be pulling it together this weekend. You'll be in the "happy puffer" ranks next week...

I am enjoying some MacBaren Plumcake. I haven't had this one in a while, but I still like it. The best of all the MacBaren tobaccos in my opinion!


----------



## gahdzila

Everyone must be sleeping in if I'm the early bird today!

Cool and crisp outside this morning. Low 50's, I'm guessing. 

SWR/5Bs in a MM Pride.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Well afternoon for me but I'll post here I am going to do some squadron leader in mm general Paton later! p


----------



## DanR

gahdzila said:


> Everyone must be sleeping in if I'm the early bird today!
> 
> Cool and crisp outside this morning. Low 50's, I'm guessing.
> 
> SWR/5Bs in a MM Pride.


I'm about to join you Clifford. I'm just comtemplating my morning treat. Like you, it's a little chilly here this morning (for us southerners, anyway), so I'm leaning towards my Rattray Accountants Mixture.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

PA in a MM Great Dane Egg and hot 8 o'clock to jump-start the day here. It's a peaceful morning here... Wife, Spanky, & Bear are still asleep in bed... The latter two are the cat & dog btw.... And after a very busy week at work, it's times like this that truly define "down-time". With the predicted low 70's for highs and low 40's for lows, I'm making a big pot of Chicken & Dumplings for supper tonight.... A good day ahead, for certain.

Wishing everyone a great Saturday!


----------



## Dr. Plume

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> PA in a MM Great Dane Egg and hot 8 o'clock to jump-start the day here. It's a peaceful morning here... Wife, Spanky, & Bear are still asleep in bed... The latter two are the cat & dog btw.... And after a very busy week at work, it's times like this that truly define "down-time". With the predicted low 70's for highs and low 40's for lows, I'm making a big pot of Chicken & Dumplings for supper tonight.... A good day ahead, for certain.
> 
> Wishing everyone a great Saturday!


Really glad you specified they were not human.... Lol happy Saturday!


----------



## 36Bones

63* and headed to 87* today. English Breakfast tea and FMOTT in the Squat Kaywoodie. Make it a great Saturday.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

GL Pease _Abingdon_ in a Castello Le Catene 55.

[URL=http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8105394606/] Castello LeCatene 55_10.12.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr[/URL]


----------



## freestoke

Got a bowl of LF burning in the Country Gentleman. Gonna be a very nice day in October for these climes. (Wow. Spell checker knows how to spell "climes"! Sometimes I make little bets with myself before hitting the space bar, whether a spellcheck will know the word or not. :lol: Just last night I ran across "particularly" in yahoo mail's checker, for instance, a particularly surprising miss. This one didn't recognize "burley" before I added it. :tsk: The frequent "Virginias" also met the spellchecker's disapproval, not countenancing the plural, although you can locate it in a history book, for sure, as West Virginia and Virginia are collectively the Virginias. One can also speak of the Carolinas, for instance, which it still can't spell -- or even "Carolina's", which should meet with anyone's approval, as in "North Carolina's wonderful golf courses".)

Coffee's going down easy! :cp


----------



## Dr. Plume

Lol ahh the little games we play with ourselves when nobody else can pry into our minds.


----------



## The Mad Professor

I'd certainly noticed the issue with "Burley" in my spell checker (Chrome), but leave it to Jim to find all the other words they missed! :lol:

Some EMP in the churchwarden today. Debating between coffee or tea... it's been awhile since I've had some Earl Grey.


----------



## MiamiMikePA

Stonehaven in my Puff 2012 pipe. I only have 4 pipes and this is the only one I've never smoked English/latakia or aromatic blends out of. I used to smoke mainly English/lat blends, but that isn't the case anymore. Look like Mr. Tinsky will be getting an order from me in the near future! Thinking about a straight paneled dublin in sandblast dress!!!


----------



## MiamiMikePA

Just got done with the bowl of Stonehaven and I just have to add this stuff really is amazing. A lot of times, ESP with tobacco, the hype outweighs the reality. In the case of Stonehaven that just isn't the case. It truly is worthy of the hype and effort needed to acquire it. If I could only smoke 1 tobacco for the rest of my life this would be the stuff!!!


----------



## karatekyle

I missed my morning post today! Had good coffee and a bit of London Mixture in that dandy little Windsor group 2. LMixt was a bit loud to start the morning with but I've been trying to polish off the tin by next Monday. I only have about two bowls and change left, should have that gone by dinner!

I had a really great week, hope everyone else did too.


----------



## ProbateGeek

This morning was my second attempt at PA/5B mix. Didn't do anything for me - I think I prefer straight 5B. 
Got home around 2 pm and immediately put out some KK to enjoy later this afternoon.


----------



## houncer

Just popped open my 2011 Christmas Cheer. I wanted to wait until November to pop this tin but what's ten days? Happy Holidays!


----------



## Kevin Keith

houncer said:


> Just popped open my 2011 Christmas Cheer. I wanted to wait until November to pop this tin but what's ten days? Happy Holidays!


It's a week and 3 days...until pay day! Come on November!


----------



## gahdzila

So.....this sounds like something Jim would do.

I found a half smoked cob sitting on my dining room table this morning. I remember smoking it yesterday, but I have no clue what was in it. So I filled it the rest of the way with SWR and had at it. Burley, no perique, maybe a tiny pinch of Latakia? Probably Big n Burley. Whatever...it's good! :thumb:


----------



## 36Bones

72* already. Irish Breakfast tea and some Windsor in the Diplomat. I hope that yesterday's freak-of-nature fly show is over. I looked everywhere. I couldn't find anything dead, or any other type of fly drawing stuff. Just weird. Make it a great "fly-less" Sunday.


----------



## Kevin Keith

gahdzila said:


> So.....this sounds like something Jim would do.
> 
> I found a half smoked cob sitting on my dining room table this morning. I remember smoking it yesterday, but I have no clue what was in it. So I filled it the rest of the way with SWR and had at it. Burley, no perique, maybe a tiny pinch of Latakia? Probably Big n Burley. Whatever...it's good! :thumb:


Clifford, it's time to take the "in training" off your profile. You _are_ a codger!


----------



## gahdzila

Kevin Keith said:


> Clifford, it's time to take the "in training" off your profile. You _are_ a codger!


Nope, no way. At only 37 years old, a true codger would still consider me a "young whipper-snapper." :biglaugh: I see the signs, though. I've been known to sit on my porch with a pipe and scowl at passers-by, and occasionally yell at a neighbor's kid to "GET OFF MY LAWN!"

A little sweet and a little kick - SWR Aro and 5 Brothers mix is hitting the spot.


----------



## 36Bones

37!? :dizzy: You're a puppy. I *love* your porch sitting attitude. You'll be one of us soon enough, my friend. :clock:


----------



## Tony78

Morning all. PA in a cob this AM.


----------



## freestoke

Grabbed some crunchy LF off the plate and mounded it off with PA. Definitely a nice start! p Pretty nice day ahead, but I'm wondering if I can put up with the wind out on the course. :ask: It'll be rough, but it'd be a WONDERFUL day to play in March -- it'd feel like a heat wave! :lol: I'm going for it. I have a medical excuse, so I might go against my principles and take a cart. (If I were 10 years younger, it'd be morally wrong, but it's tough pushing a cart through the muck and thick wet grass these days. :faint: sigh.)


----------



## Kevin Keith

Well, Hilman and I are codgers...and I know one when I see one! I wiil say that the older I get the younger old guys seem. "What? Phil passed away? Geez, he was only 76..." :shock:

Vintage Syrian in a Starfire bent bulldog.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Frog Morton Across the Pond in a Worobiec 500-4.


worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Nachman

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Frog Morton Across the Pond in a Worobiec 500-4.
> 
> 
> worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


Lovely piece of briar.


----------



## mjohnsoniii

Had my first ever bowl. PA in a cob.


----------



## freestoke

mjohnsoniii said:


> Had my first ever bowl. PA in a cob.


It might feel like the bunny slope at first, but that's a pretty good push-start. :smile:


----------



## huskers

I want to light my pipe up but I am going to resist until I get some other tobaccos. That PA just makes me not want to smoke my pipe.

IN OTHER NEWS...........

My wife has called me old because I smoke cigars and a pipe. She told me that Im an old man now..................will be 27 on the 31st!

I laughed at her and told her that I just had a lot of class.


----------



## mjohnsoniii

I read that you should only smoke a pipe once a day. How true is this?


----------



## johncorosz

It's 4 pm here in Denver, CO - I started the day with "Morning Pipe" mixed with some "Jack Knife" and "Kajun Kake".  - I smoke all day and I am under 40. So all you new guys...THERE ARE NO RULES. Keep your pipe dry. If it gurgles you need another pipe. Keep napkins handy! I put them in my pipe and leave them in my pipe until they are ready for smoking again (helps dry them better). I own a handful of pipes according to some and many compared to new guys. I have around 10 I smoke daily and 3 others I save for flake tobacco and very serious twist tobaccos. You will discover (in time) that your tastes are different then others. You may like it sweet or bitter or powerfully full of nicotine or very mild in nicotine. You may like the kakes or flakes or just fine shreds! - Sorry, I am rambling. I have left the pipesmokingmagazine forum and better for it. I will start a thread about it soon.

So, 4pm...I am smoking a Nording "F" series with a Churchwarden stem. Put "CUBE, Nutty Cut, Chocolate & Honey and Milan tobaccos Sangria" all mixed.


----------



## Dr. Plume

huskers said:


> I want to light my pipe up but I am going to resist until I get some other tobaccos. That PA just makes me not want to smoke my pipe.
> 
> IN OTHER NEWS...........
> 
> My wife has called me old because I smoke cigars and a pipe. She told me that Im an old man now..................will be 27 on the 31st!
> 
> I laughed at her and told her that I just had a lot of class.


Yeah I was at a bar and was packing my pipe the tender how old I was because I was smoking a pipe and I said 80. He just laughed and laughed at that one I am a geezer on the inside.


----------



## Dr. Plume

mjohnsoniii said:


> Had my first ever bowl. PA in a cob.


Well done and... How was it?


----------



## Dr. Plume

And yes if any wonder all conversations I have with bar tenders and other people are of course in French not english but are just as funny!


----------



## mjohnsoniii

Dr. Plume said:


> Well done and... How was it?


It was quite tasty. I know PA isn't really super premium baccy but from where I sit right now, it was damn good. I so look forward to trying better blends. I'm about to light another as a matter of fact. Think I'll be ok smoking in the same pipe on the same day? I gotta admit, I do believe I'm in it for the long haul. Damn you pipers!!! p


----------



## Dr. Plume

What kinda of pipe? Cobs smoke as many as you want same with meer briar you can do multiples in day just give it time to cool in between smokes should prob do that with every pipe. If briar after multiple pipe day let it rest for a few days is good practice. I say all this but there is much debate about it. We baby out pipes today back in the day people would smoke multiple bowls out of same pipe everyday. They had a pipe or two rotation unlike us nor would they let it cool just light up anther bowl. But how would I know I wasn't alive back then. You need ask a geezer on the site they can confirm or deny my opinion. In short should be fine let it cool between smokes. p


----------



## mjohnsoniii

Sounds good, Dave. Thanks. On another note, is this condensation normal? Its smoking just fine. Just wondering. My second bowl and haven't re-lit yet. Hellz yea!


----------



## Dr. Plume

Yes normal when you have heat (fire in bowl) and moister (air, mouth, tobacco....ect) run a pipe cleaner through everyonce Ina while when smoking I do one middle and end of smoke or when necessary.


----------



## freestoke

Okay, Milton, fold half of a pipe cleaner in half and put it in the stem where the filter would fit if you want a cheap quasi-filter to soak up gunk before it hits your mouth. I usually smoke that sort of stem with neither the filter nor the pipe cleaner trick, running a pipe cleaner through the stem seeming to suffice to wick away enough to keep it out of my mouth. 

As to the morning duties, they are this: I will finish the contents of the paper plate and GET A CLEAN ONE!! :sl (Thanks, I needed that.)


----------



## 36Bones

Raining this morning. Black Italian roast and SL in the DG Regal #65. Oh, and it's Monday.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Captain Earle's Stimulus Package in a Castello Sea Rock 33, KKKK.


Castello SeaRock 33_10.01.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Couch_Incident

I'm about ready to smoke SG Chocolate Flake. Love this stuff.

Couch


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Just had a bowl of PA, straight, in a meer.


----------



## huskers

Can someone tell me what this Pipe santa thing is about?


----------



## El wedo del milagro

huskers said:


> Can someone tell me what this Pipe santa thing is about?


Look here: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/316467-youd-better-watch-out.html


----------



## huskers

El wedo del milagro said:


> Look here: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/316467-youd-better-watch-out.html


Ok............


----------



## ProbateGeek

Rattray Red Rapparee in the Country Gent. Too bland for me - missing the Royal Yacht. And the Kendal Kentucky. And the 1792 Flake. Anything with smack-you-around flavor!

p


----------



## houncer

I've been sticking with the Christmas Cheer lately, this morning its in my cob with a cup of Lady Grey tea.


----------



## freestoke

Started with PA load top and bottom, and a center charge of Black XX. Kicky! Good fresh ground Columbian this morning. :cp


----------



## 36Bones

It's going to be a beautiful day. Espresso with some Chocolate Flake in the Diplomat. I'm felling okay today. I might try to drive into town and play 9 holes of disc golf. It's been awhile.


----------



## Dr. Plume

36Bones said:


> It's going to be a beautiful day. Espresso with some Chocolate Flake in the Diplomat. I'm felling okay today. I might try to drive into town and play 9 holes of disc golf. It's been awhile.


Besides ultimate frisbee disc golf is my favorite sport! I love it oh so much. Free golf what could be better!


----------



## freestoke

The PPP seems slightly smaller. I suffered a big growth spurt with the addition of an inch of Black XX cut into coins, and all muscle. All pretty dry and crunchy and smoking real nice, to tell the truth. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

Virginia flakes, bran flakes - all good dry and crunchy! Back to Kendal Kentucky (dry and semi-crunchy) in the Great Dane Egg. There's the flavor...:dance:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had Carter Hall in my BIG Savinelli bulldog for my morning smoke.

This was the first time I tasted a bit of cocoa in CH. I'm still trying to figure out what the other flavor I taste in it is. It is sweetish and good, but I can't identify it.


----------



## gahdzila

Kevin and Jim must be sleeping in today 

PA/5Bs in the DG Freedom 1812. And lotsa coffee :cp


----------



## freestoke

I'm on my second bowl, Clifford. p Just refilled the PA jar from the tub, so it's nice an fresh this morning, the second bowl (in the same 4Dot) filled with a musketballed Black XX sandwich filling. Drinking coffee from my favorite cup, an American Postal Workers Union/AFL-CIO pipe from a letter carriers' scramble 12 years ago. A friend (and his girlfriend) asked me and Audrey to come in as ringers and we trounced the field. :evil:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

The mug of hot, steaming Sumatra is really hitting the spot this morning! Cool and rainy here, perfect smoking weather for McClelland's Grand Orientals Yenidje Highlander in a CAO Meerschaum.


CAO Meerschaum_05.20.2012_e by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Kevin Keith

Field Master with McClelland Blending Latakia mixed in. I didn't sleep in...just a little late at the keyboard. I'm fixing to get the mower going. I'm ready for our first frost. Maybe January!


----------



## 36Bones

Cold front on the way. Really nice this morning but humid. Double strength Irish Breakfast tea and Proper English in the DG Regal #65. My disc golf adventure lasted 3 holes before the pain kicked in. Oh well, I gave it a shot and it was fun while it lasted.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Carter Hall in a Hilson Dublin, and a mug of English Breakfast Tea.

It's amazingly warm and sunny here for so late in October. All the aspens and cottonwoods have turned beautiful colors. It is about 60 degrees outside! Toasty. Kat has never been to Greenie Peak, so we will see if we can get to the top today.


----------



## ProbateGeek

My first bowl of Brown Irish Twist, in the faithful Country Gent, with a side of Irish Breakfast tea. Thanks, Jim!
Yes, I am WIDE awake now. :dizzy:


----------



## huskers

Hoping that my NST with Dan will get here today like USPS says it will. Can't wait to try some new tobacco!


----------



## Dr. Plume

Going for Fvf packed z style in the Aran this morning


----------



## freestoke

Dr. Plume said:


> Going for Fvf *packed z style i*n the Aran this morning


:spy: What's "z style"? I'm working on a light semi-Frank with PA in the 4Dot, and a side of coffee.


----------



## Dr. Plume

freestoke said:


> :spy: What's "z style"? I'm working on a light semi-Frank with PA in the 4Dot, and a side of coffee.


Z style is taking a full flake folding it into thirds against the grain one third one way and the other third the other way so it makes a z. Then you take the z and roll it with the grain into the shape of a plug and stuff brushing the top helps to get it lit. Works quite well. Here is a video for ya. Dealing with Flake Tobaccos - "Z" method - YouTube nice alternative to just folding and stuffing.


----------



## 36Bones

The weather is going to hit the fan tomorrow. Rain and fog with cold temps, so they say. This morning some double strength Irish breakfast tea and Sutliff #5 in the DG Viking. Make it a great Thursday my friends.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

C&D Star of the East in a Worobiec Worobiec.


Worobiec Gdanska_10.25.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

Equal parts Trout Stream and Brown Irish Twist again, in a second Country Gent - nowhere near as tasty as it was last night. 

Thanks for the z-pack video, Dave.

And DJ - you sir, have an awesome variety of pipes. Although the one above appears to be a bit radiated. Thanks for the pics.


----------



## Nachman

I have a cold and can't taste anything so I dug out some aromatics out of the bottom of the closet. I might as well smoke them while I can't taste them. Boswell's Best in a new Legend.


----------



## 36Bones

Nachman said:


> I have a cold and can't taste anything so I dug out some aromatics out of the bottom of the closet. I might as well smoke them while I can't taste them. Boswell's Best in a new Legend.


I hope you get to feeling better real soon, Nick.


----------



## Dr. Plume

ProbateGeek said:


> Equal parts Trout Stream and Brown Irish Twist again, in a second Country Gent - nowhere near as tasty as it was last night.
> 
> Thanks for the z-pack video, Dave.
> 
> And DJ - you sir, have an awesome variety of pipes. Although the one above appears to be a bit radiated. Thanks for the pics.


Np! Glad to share it. It works super well with my medium bowled briars.


----------



## 36Bones

Cold front came through last night. Atm, 42* with 18-22 mph North wind. Brrrrr.  The weather is not helping my MS a bit. I dug out the Thermos, filled it with some hot English breakfast tea and I'm heading out to attempt a full bowl of SL in the squat Kaywoodie. Stay warm my friends. It's Friday. :tu


----------



## freestoke

Gonna be 73 today, mostly sunny. Looks like it's probably the last "nice" day to play until about May 23, 2013. out:

Starting the day with a PA/5B/PA sandwich and a cup of fresh ground Columbian.


----------



## Kevin Keith

It's pretty cool here too @ 47. I bought some Dunkin; Donuts ground coffee...it's OK but not better than Folger's. SWR in a Grabow bent bulldog.


----------



## freestoke

SWR for my second bowl, in the TwoDot apple. I wonder sometimes if this isn't actually my "best pipe". Absolutely love the stem and it smokes like a dream.


----------



## 36Bones

You inside smokers are the luckiest guys in the world. :heh:


----------



## Tony78

EMP In an Orlik Jubilee with some Duncan Dark Roast brewed from a K-cup.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

ProbateGeek said:


> Equal parts Trout Stream and Brown Irish Twist again, in a second Country Gent - nowhere near as tasty as it was last night.
> 
> Thanks for the z-pack video, Dave.
> 
> And DJ - you sir, have an awesome variety of pipes. Although the one above appears to be a bit radiated. Thanks for the pics.


Thanks, Terry!

Perhaps the glow on the Worobiec is from that pinch of Syrian Latakia from Chernobyl that I added to the Star of the East?

GL Pease Abingdon in a Pete Mark Twain.


Peterson Mark Twain_10.12.12 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## 36Bones

I keep wanting to try some Star of the East. I forget to order some when I go all TAD.


----------



## ProbateGeek

36Bones said:


> You inside smokers are the luckiest guys in the world. :heh:


This. I envy you guys - the front porch is starting to get chilly, and the Volvo is starting to get ghosted.


----------



## freestoke

It's a PA morning with the 4Dot and some fresh ground Columbian. Pretty nice out today, so maybe golf before Hurricane Sandy arrives and destroys civilization as we know it. With some variations, like not shooting people who are trying to find food and water for themselves and their families in the flooded grocery stores, this could be the East Coast Katrina.


----------



## 36Bones

We are praying that Sandy doesn't wreak havoc on our east coast SOTL/BOTLs. Batten down and prepare. They are talking like this one is going to be a massive weather event. Sending you guys some serious Mojo, Jim. _Cold_ this morning 31* but no wind. I'm bundled up and heading out with a thermos full of Eight O'Clock Dark Italian roast. This is a Stonehaven morning, but alas the till is empty, so it's some FVF mixed 50/50 with some Proper English. I'm down to one bowl apiece, so I figured I'd just mix them together and put them into the Diplomat. Make it a great Saturday.

Please be safe my east coast friends! ray:


----------



## freestoke

36Bones said:


> We are praying that Sandy doesn't wreak havoc on our east coast SOTL/BOTLs. Batten down and prepare. They are talking like this one is going to be a massive weather event.


Pretty much a certainty that it's going to be a whopper. If it hits New Jersey, the north side surge could totally flood the New York subways, along with other dire events. I'm 200+ miles inland and it could still be a big flooding problem, with as much as ten inches of rain during the days following landfall.  A little farther north and Boston/Providence takes the hit. Looks like they're listening to the warnings this time, which hopefully will allow the coast to handle it with as little distress for everybody as possible. It's gonna be a lot of distress no matter what they do, unfortunately.

Putting some 5100 to the match in the Mayfair. It's an all-Sasieni morning so far, having finished a FourDot apple-Louisiana Flake outing a while ago. More coffee! :cp


----------



## Wiseguy1982

EMP in a no name blasted Italian briar. No beverage, just enjoying the rare cool morning, it's cloudy and windy. Also, anticipating the arrival of my Peterson Samhain #440 and some Night Cap.


----------



## 36Bones

Wiseguy1982 said:


> EMP in a no name blasted Italian briar. No beverage, just enjoying the rare cool morning, it's cloudy and windy. Also, anticipating the arrival of my Peterson Samhain #440 and some Night Cap.


Man, I haven't had any Nightcap, in forever. Russ, Hope ya'll are safe from Sandy down Florida way.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

36Bones said:


> Man, I haven't had any Nightcap, in forever. Russ, Hope ya'll are safe from Sandy down Florida way.


I am excited about it. I definitely want to have it before bed tonight. Also, yeah, we're fine with Sandy, like I said, just cloudy and windy, but thanks for thinking about us!


----------



## 36Bones

Wiseguy1982 said:


> I am excited about it. I definitely want to have it before bed tonight. Also, yeah, we're fine with Sandy, like I said, just cloudy and windy, but thanks for thinking about us!


You'll love it. P&C sells a "match" version of Nightcap in bulk that's good, too.

Hey, that's what we're here for.


----------



## freestoke

Weird. I was just at the reservation yesterday and noticed a pouch of Galleria "Night Cap" from Altadis. If it were actually Nightcap, or anything like it, it would almost be worth it at $5.50 a pouch. Not up for trying it, though. I'm sitting on a surfeit of Latakia at the moment.

Interrupted by an early lunch, NOW I'm firing up the 5100 in the Mayfair.


----------



## Dr. Plume

freestoke said:


> Weird. I was just at the reservation yesterday and noticed a pouch of Galleria "Night Cap" from Altadis. If it were actually Nightcap, or anything like it, it would almost be worth it at $5.50 a pouch. Not up for trying it, though. I'm sitting on a surfeit of Latakia at the moment.
> 
> Interrupted by an early lunch, NOW I'm firing up the 5100 in the Mayfair.


Not the same for sure. But I think it is good on its own if you don't compare it is an aromatic if I remember but thread nightcap of course is not.


----------



## Hannibal

Just killed a bowl of LTF in one of my stanwells..... Very good smoke on a boring day at work.


----------



## tar heel

Had some inappropriately-timed Evening Rise in a country gentalman before football started. Smoked it with three cups of Pike's Place before football. 55 degrees and the rain barely holding off.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Buenos dias amigos...estoy fumando Virginia Flake in una MMCG con cafe.
View attachment 72509


----------



## 36Bones

Kevin Keith said:


> Buenos dias amigos...estoy fumando Virginia Flake in una MMCG con cafe.
> View attachment 72509


Es demasiado temprano en la mañana para hablar español. :chk

29* and a 12 mph north wind. I broke out a 2 year old tin of Union Square. I'm going to let it sit a bit, then load up the DG Regal #65 and brew up some espresso to go with it. I love smoking my pipes but not 29* outside, love. ound:


----------



## freestoke

¿Qué has hecho con Kevin? :spy:

Selbst, bin ich ein Pfeife von PA geniessen. (Probably totally bogus German.  )


----------



## Dr. Plume

Je n'ai pas mes pipes avec moi cette week-end mais je vais fumât demain pour sûre! Aussi j'ai commandez quelques tabac à smoking pipes! Je n'attend pas pour cette paquet à arrivée à chez moi! I dont speak Spanish.......


----------



## 36Bones

The magic and power of Google Translator. :bowdown:


----------



## Dr. Plume

Hmm I just put it into google translate and it didn't translate quite right. Oh well!


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> ¿Qué has hecho con Kevin? :spy:
> 
> Selbst, bin ich ein Pfeife von PA geniessen. (Probably totally bogus German.  )


El esta dormindo todavia...soy su cuate malo...shhhh


----------



## Kevin Keith

I have moral prohibitions on speaking French...:eyebrows:


----------



## Goatmilk

Getting ready for football and getting ready to smoke a Dale


----------



## freestoke

The PPP monster will not die. The coins of Black XX, dust from the Serial Aromatics Pouch "reservoir", escaped strands of Louisiana Flake, PA spillage...I have to keep smoking it or it could take over. p


----------



## Dr. Plume

Kevin Keith said:


> I have moral prohibitions on speaking French...:eyebrows:


I must inquire more! Pourquoi?


----------



## The Mad Professor

Pancakes and eggs this morning with some Irish Flake con café on the side. The little guy had pancakes for the first time this morning - shaped like the Millennium Falcon, of course. Mine were X-wing shaped! :lol:


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Haddo's in my MM Washington


----------



## freestoke

Today, I'm planning on serving each pipe I smoke a dose of Devil's Springs 160 proof vodka as I put them away. Things have gotten totally out of control in the pipe cleaning world. Just finished a thorough scour of the 4Dot and moving on to the FourDot pot, right after I finish burning through this bowl of 5100, of which I need to open more, this being the end of the jar.

Looks like a couple days of hurricane on tap. Looks like NYC might have escaped, with Sandy hitting just far enough south to spare the subways.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Stay dry, Jim - we rest in the knowledge that you are at least very well stocked in the tobacco department. p


----------



## Tony78

EMP in a cob for me today.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning folks! Have a good Monday.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Stay dry, Jim - we rest in the knowledge that you are at least very well stocked in the tobacco department. p


As long as I hold it down to a few pounds a day, I should weather the storm, which, incidentally, might not spare the NYC subway system after all. That'll get expensive in a hurry if the subway tunnels flood.

The FourDot pot is put away clean (although I noticed it could use a little reaming) and I'm on to smoking the Sasieni NoDot rusticated Canadian full of PA, followed by giving it an alcohol scrub.


----------



## freestoke

The subways flooded. Hard to believe this thing has strong winds all the way from Georgia to the Canadian Maritimes. Amazing. The damage along the seaboard is sobering, to say the least. 

Thought I'd have a bowl of the Paper Plate Amalgam. Hard to call this a potpourri with all that Black XX in there. Tastes pretty good, though.


----------



## Goatmilk

PA in the MM Legend while making a TAD purchase because who wants to pay shipping for pipe cleaners?


----------



## ProbateGeek

Grousemoor in a Country Gent. This one bites me, so much so that I did not finish the bowl - that's a first. But I've got a sizable package "out for delivery" this morning, so will have either Royal Yacht or 1792 Flake for the evening commute. :cheer2:

And plenty of pipe cleaners... :biggrin:


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Decided to have the inaugural smoke with my new Peterson Samhain 440 with a nice bowl of EMP. 

Of course I waited for Halloween.


----------



## gahdzila

I've got the 'zila morning mix going - Prince Albert and 5 Brothers, in the DG Royalton bent bulldog. On my second cup of Mello Joy dark roast, and it's gooooood.


----------



## Stonedog

Sadly I've enjoyed no pipes for almost two weeks now. I'm still battling some sort of throat infection so I'm living vicariously through you guys.


----------



## freestoke

I'm doin' a Dale with coffee.


----------



## 36Bones

Apologies for being out of pocket the last few days. I've been in excruciating pain and walking has been difficult. I feel a little better this morning and ventured out to the patio for some breakfast tea and half a bowl of Proper English in the DG Viking.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht this morning in a freshly waxed Savinelli Venezia billiard/lovat. The Paragon wax is certainly easy to use (wax on/wax off), and gives the pipe a very fresh look. Far from a glossy shine, but who cares - I've got more Royal Yacht! p


----------



## karatekyle

gahdzila said:


> I've got the 'zila morning mix going - Prince Albert and 5 Brothers, in the DG Royalton bent bulldog. On my second cup of Mello Joy dark roast, and it's gooooood.


Did coffee with a bit of General Wintergreen. These things put the ouch in pouch! Man, they bite hard. But I think this will be the one I stick with. I didn't mind Cope Wintergreen back in the "18 year old trying every tobacco he can get his hands on" days. I like General Straight for a treat when I've got some dark coffee to gut it with. But Wintergreen is one I can tuck all day.

Thanks for the new hobby, Cliff :thumb:


----------



## The Mad Professor

I'm a conformist: EMP this morning on the way to work. Tried it out in my Wally Frank bent (which is picky about the blends I smoke in it) and it smoked quite well. Erinmore on deck...

<---- BTW I'm wearing this to my class tonight! That'll scare 'em! Mwuhahaha! :mischief:


----------



## Goatmilk

Another Dale this morning. PA in the mm legend.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Hope you feel better!


----------



## Kevin Keith

karatekyle said:


> Did coffee with a bit of General Wintergreen. These things put the ouch in pouch! Man, they bite hard. But I think this will be the one I stick with. I didn't mind Cope Wintergreen back in the "18 year old trying every tobacco he can get his hands on" days. I like General Straight for a treat when I've got some dark coffee to gut it with. But Wintergreen is one I can tuck all day.
> 
> Thanks for the new hobby, Cliff :thumb:


I can't believe all the different snuff choices these days. Back in the day there were three choices...Skoal, Copenhagen and Happy Days...four, if you count Happy Days as two with raspberry and mint flavors. Cardboard paraffin lined cans and metal lids. I think Copenhagen may be the only one left with this packaging. 50 cents a can. PA/Virginia Flake in a Dr. Grabow 07 Freehand/coffee. Fixin' to make biscuits/gravy...all low fat, so don't think I got it made here in North Texas :banana:


----------



## Kevin Keith

36Bones said:


> Apologies for being out of pocket the last few days. I've been in excruciating pain and walking has been difficult. I feel a little better this morning and ventured out to the patio for some breakfast tea and half a bowl of Proper English in the DG Viking.


I hope you're even better today Hilman :wave:


----------



## 36Bones

Kevin Keith said:


> I hope you're even better today Hilman :wave:


Thank you for the wishes. I actually got some sleep last night. MS sucks. The wife made me a very nice breakfast this morning, french toast and a scrambled egg with sausage. Off to the patio to enjoy the very last of my Anni Kake in the '36 Kaywoodie and some espresso. It's going to be a beautiful today. I hope today is a little brighter for all our BOTL/SOTL's who are dealing with the aftermath of Sandy. We are praying for all of you and your families. One day closer to Friday. :tu


----------



## The Mad Professor

Kevin Keith said:


> Fixin' to make biscuits/gravy...all low fat


:ask: Is that even possible?

Your wife must be punishing you, huh? :tease:



36Bones said:


> One day closer to Friday. :tu


Got that right! Glad you are having a better day, Hilman!

All this darn breakfast talk has got me starving!... And no appetite suppressant for me today - I caught some bug so no puffing. :sad:


----------



## gahdzila

Hope you feel better, Hilman!



karatekyle said:


> Did coffee with a bit of General Wintergreen. These things put the ouch in pouch! Man, they bite hard. But I think this will be the one I stick with. I didn't mind Cope Wintergreen back in the "18 year old trying every tobacco he can get his hands on" days. I like General Straight for a treat when I've got some dark coffee to gut it with. But Wintergreen is one I can tuck all day.
> 
> Thanks for the new hobby, Cliff :thumb:


Ha! You're welcome! Man, I can't handle that wintergreen stuff, it just tastes horrible to me. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

New-to-me estate Peterson Tankard is doing the PA/5Bs thing today. Gorgeous pipe, good smoker....but I'm not a p-lip fan. Maybe I'll send it off to walker briar works and have a new fishtail stem made for it.


----------



## freestoke

More coffee and a Diplomat full of PA&5B. p

Looks like the clubs will come out of the trunk for a week at least. out: But it's dart season! :banana:


----------



## freestoke

The PA in the 4Dot, with some good coffee to mitigate a bleak November day. I'll take bleak over white anytime, especially with standing water instead of patches of ice.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had some PA in a Hilson bent Bulldog on the drive to work.

It's almost 7am... I better get the lobby open.

You gents have a good day!


----------



## gahdzila

Leftovers in the Pete Tank. PA with a smattering of Granger, if my taste buds aren't deceiving me.


----------



## freestoke

The Legend is complaining of non-motion sickness. Ordinarily, it resides in the car, but I brought it in for a bristle clean to clear the shank a bit; it's more accustomed to being behind the wheel. I think it's the PPP that's getting to it, fully loaded with 5B, BXX, and various other scraps of stout tabak. (I've been misspelling this for years. )


----------



## karatekyle

Big Genetics test today. Have a good Friday, all!


----------



## gahdzila

PA/5Bs in the smooth Kilimanjaro. I have run probably half a liter of Everclear through this damned thing. It's much better, but it still tastes funny. I find it hard to fathom that this is ghosting or souring at this point. I wonder if the pipe isn't actually briar, but some other wood, and if that might be imparting some of what I'm tasting. Regardless, I'm very close to giving up on this thing.


----------



## freestoke

Doesn't look like briar. Olive wood? Maybe you need some cake on it at this point, but on the other hand, is it really worth it? 

More PPP in the Legend. Couple more bowls and it will be gone! :banana:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Clifford, that looks like mahogany to me, but surely not. :shock:

Penzance this morning on the commute, and now my office seems to have been incensed with it. Quite nice. 
Happy Friday, gentlemen.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Doesn't look like briar. Olive wood?





ProbateGeek said:


> Clifford, that looks like mahogany to me, but surely not. :shock:


No idea. I don't know woods at all. All I can say is that it doesn't look quite like any of my briar pipes. That pic makes it look a bit more reddish than it actually is.



freestoke said:


> Maybe you need some cake on it at this point


Oddly enough, the bowl is meer lined. It has no cake in it. It has a unique stem mount - the shank itself has a heavy metal "tenon" and the stem just has a big hole that accepts the metal tenon. Opposite of every other pipe I've encountered, where the tenon is attached to the stem. Anyway - the metal tenon has a smallish diameter...big enough that the draw is ok (a little on the snug side, but not too bad), big enough for a fluffy pipe cleaner, but small enough that I can't see down in there or fit anything larger than a pipe cleaner in there. I'm thinking there is some major nastiness inside the shank, between the metal tenon part and the bowl. I have no idea how the metal tenon is attached, but it's stuck on there good. I haven't made any real effort to remove it for fear of breaking something.



freestoke said:


> on the other hand, is it really worth it?


and now we're to the real gist of it. Is it worth it? I got two of them in a lot of 5 pipes for $60. (of note - the other one is the exact same pipe, only rusticated and stained a different color....not as pretty, and TASTES EVEN WORSE! mg: ). The other three pipes in the lot are definitely worth quite a bit more than $12 each....but let's just say for the sake of argument $10 each for these Kilimanjaros. Twenty bucks. NOT WORTH THE EFFORT. They're neat looking, and they are quite old...so I'd like to be able to smoke them. But I've grown really tired of fooling around with them. Oh well. They'll look nice on a shelf somewhere 

I just cracked open that tin of Merde de Cheval. Can't wait to try it!


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> I just cracked open that tin of Merde de Cheval. Can't wait to try it!


Horsepucky. I have finished the PPP! Well...there's a coin of BXX sitting there, but I've scraped up everything else including the dust and burnt it. I might even spring for a clean plate. The Legend performed admirably for 5 straight bowls, although short -- dry tobacco, small pipe.


----------



## houncer

Been a while since I've had the chance to wake up before work and smoke a pipe but I did today and I am still on my Christmas Cheer kick. Maybe I will smoke that & nothing else through the Christmas season. This time the CC is in my Savinelli & a cup of Lady Grey on the desk. Enjoy your Saturday gents!


----------



## freestoke

An early bowl of PA in the TwoDot Canadian. The 4Dot is in the living room and I'm too crippled to go fetch it. Yesterday, reaching to pull a fresh towel out of the closet for my shower, I sneezed. This is my standard method of throwing my back out, and continued on with the drop to the floor while screaming and swearing, following by a few minutes of top shelf writhing. After wallowing around, bowing to Mecca the long way around the globe (I was facing west), I was able to crawl into the bathroom, drag myself up to the edge of the sink and use the soap dispenser to knock the cyclobenziprine and ibuprofin out of the medicine cabinet shelf into the sink. There will be no darts this weekend for sure. :lol: I try to do this minimally once every 5 years or so, just to keep my hand in. I learned the trick my first year in college, when a basketball got spiked in my face on a jump shot and I landed stiff legged onto my heels. My spine has never been the same since.

Got my morning Flexiril and ibuprofen going here, so I should be able to do a shuffle walk shortly.


----------



## houncer

That sucks Jim. I've had flexiril before - it is good stuff.


----------



## freestoke

houncer said:


> That sucks Jim. I've had flexiril before - it is good stuff.


Yeah, without flexiril, I'm pretty much cripple the first day or two. The thing that saves me is yoga, a few of the asanas being pretty much what they do to you in physical therapy. (I've never been, but I've seen the handouts and talked to people with the same "lower back syndrome".) I think the reason I screwed it up yesterday was because I haven't been doing my yoga much lately and was a little stiff from some heavy lifting the past week.

Gotta up the Vitamin N, so I'm adding some 5B to the PA for my second smoke. Audrey is on coffee detail. :smile:


----------



## gahdzila

I've got lower back issues myself, Jim. Hope you heal up soon.

The Kaywoodie 500 is feeding me my morning PA/5Bs today. The city school board is bickering in the morning paper AGAIN (which prompted me to toss the paper in disgust and come say hi to the Puff crew), reminding me again that i'm glad I don't live in the city.


----------



## 36Bones

freestoke said:


> An early bowl of PA in the TwoDot Canadian. The 4Dot is in the living room and I'm too crippled to go fetch it. Yesterday, reaching to pull a fresh towel out of the closet for my shower, I sneezed. This is my standard method of throwing my back out, and continued on with the drop to the floor while screaming and swearing, following by a few minutes of top shelf writhing. After wallowing around, bowing to Mecca the long way around the globe (I was facing west), I was able to crawl into the bathroom, drag myself up to the edge of the sink and use the soap dispenser to knock the cyclobenziprine and ibuprofin out of the medicine cabinet shelf into the sink. There will be no darts this weekend for sure. :lol: I try to do this minimally once every 5 years or so, just to keep my hand in. I learned the trick my first year in college, when a basketball got spiked in my face on a jump shot and I landed stiff legged onto my heels. My spine has never been the same since.
> 
> Got my morning Flexiril and ibuprofen going here, so I should be able to do a shuffle walk shortly.


I hope your back gets better real soon, Jim, I hate it when people are in pain. Heat and cold packs are no substitute for quality pharmaceuticals. :wink: Just polished off some biscuits and gravy, complements of my beautiful bride, for breakfast. I broke open a tin of C&D Pirate Kake (_great stuff, but you better be a Latakia lover)_ and I filled up the Savinelli. I need to get on the tractor and mow, but I'm still having a hard time getting around. I think I'll just read all day and worry about the back forty tomorrow. Have a great Saturday, my friends. :tu


----------



## Dr. Plume

Saddest thing I have ever heard Jim. Feel better!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm so sorry to hear that ya hurt yerself, Jim.

Yer words made me cringe, as sneezing, or being startled, whilst reaching for something is how I always toss my back out. I understand the pain.

I hope yer back stiches itself up quickly!

I'm having a bit of Ham Beer in my meer on the porch. It's cloudy but warm today (42 F).


----------



## freestoke

Thanks for sympathy, guys! Doing halfway decent at the moment, having actually gotten my back to go barely backwards on the yoga mat. Took about 5 minutes to ease up to it, but I eventually got there. Gotta work up to "The Cobra". Once I get there, I can do "The Moving Cat" and it'll fix itself up in a hurry. 
Gravity 5B fill, followed by a Sail Green capper. Great smoke going on in the 4Dot. p


----------



## DanR

Back issues here too. I bought myself one of these after a recommendation from my uncle (TheMiniMasseuseStore.com). It uses electric pulses to relax the muscles. It actually works pretty good!

This morning I'm trying out some 2012 McClelland Christmas Spirit. Not bad, but a little light on the vitamin N.


----------



## Hannibal

This morning brake was very eventful!!! Pulled out one of my stanwell's and filled it with some GH Sweet Rum Twist that Clifford was SO gracious to gift me with. 

This being my first time trying a rope tobacco I really didn't know what to expect. I took the piece of rope out of the baggie and preceded to cut off little coins with my pocket knife. After getting through about half of what Clifford sent me I looked at my knife and was amazed at the sticky goodness that was stuck to the blade. Wow was this stuff sticky!! So after I thought I had what I thought was a pipe full I started braking the tobacco up and letting it dry on the plate. After about 45 minutes or so it felt like it might be dry enough to pack and smoke so I gave it a shot. 

Now with the words "sweet rum" in the title I was expecting a little sweetness to come through, not really the case. What I experienced was just good raw tobacco goodness. And yes I would add that the nic level was VERY, very, nice. For me it wasn't too strong actually I would say it was just perfect. I'm really interested in trying the other two samples he sent me. I've got GH Black Cherry Twist and GH Sliced Brown twist yet to try.

Clifford, thanks a million for allowing me the opportunity to give these fine ropes a try. So far I think these will be something I keep in my regular rotation!!


----------



## Fraze

EMP.

I take flexiril as well for shoulder/neck issues, but I normally only take it before bed.
Does it mess with you at all taking it during the day?


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Back issues here too. I bought myself one of these after a recommendation from my uncle (TheMiniMasseuseStore.com). It uses electric pulses to relax the muscles. It actually works pretty good!


Looks pretty cool, Dan! I'm going to get one think! :tu

Having a big bowl of straight 20-year old Sail Green that Scotch sent me, in the FourDot pot.

I did a moving cat! Sorta spastic, but I did it. Third time on the mat today, so it's starting to loosen up a tiny bit.


----------



## Kevin Keith

PA/Virginia Flake/Dr. Grabow 83


----------



## ProbateGeek

Jim. 

Try bourbon - it may not help your back all that much, but after enough of it you may not care so much. 

Just stepping out to the front porch for some Kendal Kenutucky in my dad's big-bowled Fellini.


----------



## gahdzila

I thought the coughing/sneezing thing was just me. For me, coughing/sneezing is painful in my lower back, but worse than the pain is that my back muscles spasm so drastically that I sometimes very nearly fall to my knees. Quite embarrassing if I'm in public and suddenly sneeze and don't have a table or countertop to grab to balance myself.



Hannibal said:


> Clifford, thanks a million for allowing me the opportunity to give these fine ropes a try. So far I think these will be something I keep in my regular rotation!!


Glad you liked it, Jeff! :thumb:

You're absolutely right about the gooeyness. The intact rope looks hard and dry until you start cutting it, and then it practically starts oozing tobacco oils. I'm surprised you didn't taste much sweetness in the sweet rum - it's practically an aromatic to my taste buds...that sample was from a new batch that I haven't smoked yet, so maybe this batch is a little lighter on flavor. But I bet you'll be able to taste the difference after you try the Sliced Brown. I wish I would've had some black rope open to send you, too. Put that on your wish list for next time you order - either Black Irish X or Sliced Black Twist. Black is strong too, but not quite as strong as brown, and the flavor is completely different.


----------



## The Mad Professor

ProbateGeek said:


> Try bourbon - it may not help your back all that much, but after enough of it you may not care so much.


:biglaugh: I'd prefer this to yoga any day!

I blew my back out in high school track (high jumper and triple jumper) so I feel for you Jim!

Being a conformist again today - EMP with breakfast halfway through. Chorizo Eggs Benedict, the specialty from a local place here. It's fan-freakin-tastic!


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Jim.
> 
> Try bourbon - it may not help your back all that much, but after enough of it you may not care so much.


Firing up some Louisiana Flake to go with my flexiril and ibuprofen, washed down with Old Milwaukee. This is like Shelley Berman's advice for baby sitting: Mix half scotch and milk in a baby bottle, then drink it yourself and you won't give a damn.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Back issues here too. I bought myself one of these after a recommendation from my uncle (TheMiniMasseuseStore.com). It uses electric pulses to relax the muscles. It actually works pretty good!
> 
> This morning I'm trying out some 2012 McClelland Christmas Spirit. Not bad, but a little light on the vitamin N.


Rats! Looks like they're out of business at their website, and Amazon only has the $130 model. For $70, I would have sprung for it, but apparently it's a company on its way to being defunct and the cheaper model looks seems to no longer exist anywhere. Might want to order more pads, Dan, while you can.


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

Looking to be a great Sunday ahead. Have the crock pot started for Chicken & Dumplings, daughter and her boyfriend are coming over for lunch, and I have no where to be and all day to get there... A fine day.

Hope y'all have a great day!


----------



## freestoke

Some LF left over from yesterday, plus a few scraps of crisp Union Square. The 4Dot tells me it's about time I gave it something besides PA. p Coffee! More coffee!

Back's MUCH better this morning and will no doubt improve as I move around.


----------



## houncer

I tried some Balkan Sasieni for the first time this morning while cleaning up the garage. It was awesome. Cigars International opened a new store about 15 mins from me and had these tins for $6.75. I will have to stock up during my next visit.


----------



## freestoke

Got a Diplomat-ic Dale going right now -- and more coffee. :cp


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a Dale on my drive up the mountain to work. (This will be the first time I brought a Cob to work.) Even with the truck's heater it was nippy. I'm gonna have to start with the gloves and hat soon... it finally cooled off here and it's a seasonal 18 deg F this morning.

I'm so glad to hear yer back is doing better today Jim! Huzzah!


----------



## 36Bones

Happy Sunday all. Polished off some breakfast and heading out to the patio with Twinings tea in hand. On it's way to 71*, the so-called experts say. Starting today with some Anni Kake in the squat Kaywoodie. It's time to order some more. I'm down to my last Anni Kake tin. I wonder if I should order bulk this time? There's a few others on my to-try list, maybe I'll get a couple of those as well. Make it a great day! :tu


Glad your feeling better, Jim. Take it easy, rest a spell.


----------



## freestoke

Thanks, Mark! The Dale was rather short-lived, so I'm trying another one in the Country Gentleman. Just saw a big flock of geese heading southeast. Impressive. There are obviously a LOT of geese around here.

I see you voted for Anni Kake for December, Hilman. So did I! :smile:


----------



## 36Bones

freestoke said:


> Thanks, Mark! The Dale was rather short-lived, so I'm trying another one in the Country Gentleman. Just saw a big flock of geese heading southeast. Impressive. There are obviously a LOT of geese around here.
> 
> I see you voted for Anni Kake for December, Hilman. So did I! :smile:


It is my absolute #1. I've smoke a lot of Anni Kake for sure, but actually I voted for Triple Play. I was going for something different this time around.


----------



## gahdzila

Sounds, good, Dale - save me a bowl! 

Glad you're feeling better, Jim!

Interesting article in the local paper this morning about an environmental problem - farmers in Iowa and other states over-fertilizing crops causing fish to die in the Gulf of Mexico. Worth a read. http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/.../DEAD-ZONE?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

2nd cup of coffee, PA/5Bs in the walnut DG Big Pipe.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> ...farmers in Iowa and other states over-fertilizing crops causing fish to die in the Gulf of Mexico.


It's truly an insane situation all around. The land has been destroyed by the fertilizers and pure soil loss as well and would take up to ten years to recover the fertility on the remaining cropland. Our crops are grown hydroponically, for all intents and purpose, and also messes up the ground water, not to speak of depleting the aquifers. And for what? We grow entirely too much grain, which is subsidized by the government, for some pitiful return on whatever we export. Those exports bring down the price at which people in poorer countries can sell their crop, which in turn creates poverty. We export something like $100 billion dollars worth of agricultural products, the profit on which is very much negative for the country, as places like the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes pay a huge cost. Raising corn to burn in our SUVs is suicidal. I offer you my bumper sticker: Better out of oil than out of soil.


----------



## Dr. Plume

FVF in until now unsmoked diplomat in honor or Markc s continued recovery!


----------



## 36Bones

Monday. Okay, enough on that subject. Inspired by Dave, FVF in the DG Viking and Italian roast coffee, black.


----------



## freestoke

The PPP is exceptional right now, mostly US and LF, with a smattering of 5B and PA and a trace of Billy Budd. On my fourth cup of coffee and my second PPP in the Country Gentleman.


----------



## laloin

smoking a bowl of H&H Marble Kake. in my no named bulldog. Yummy citrus notes. Marble Kake I'm looking forward to trying with some age on it. well worth stocking up on some.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm heading outside to the porch to enjoy a bowl of Stogie in my BIG Savinelli paneled billard.

I hope yall have a good day!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht in a Country Gent - good start to a dreary Monday.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning, folks! Coffee and General today, been a windy few days.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Trying to smoke up my open LNF so I can crack an aged jar of the stuff to try. Hopefully I'll finish the last flakes in the open jar this week and lay into the good stuff this weekend!

Supposed to be 93* today here... where the heck is fall?!


----------



## laloin

you forgot that here in SoCal we get a extra 3 months of summer caz of the bloody Santa ana winds. I hate it


----------



## Chris0673

Left my pipe in the tent. :frusty:

No puffs for me this morning!

At least I won't have to pack a new bowl tonight!


----------



## Kevin Keith

sick...no smoke. blech


----------



## ProbateGeek

In this election week a growing number of us pipe nuts are planning on reaching out to our brothers across the aisle - the cigar/pipe aisle, that is - this Saturday 11/10/12. We will do this primarily by posting our usual morning/afternoon/tonight piping details over on a very much frequented cigar thread "*http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-cigar-discussion/257422-what-you-smoking-right-now-iii-406.html*", currently at post # 20,259 (sheez! That's a lot of cigars!). We are hoping both to rib our cigar buddies a little and to invite a few others to try our slope for a while, if they be so interested.

For best effects, we intend to include lots of juicy photos/pics of pipes and, especially, pipe tobacco in all its glorious forms. The photos can be our own or "borrowed" from elsewhere on the interwebs. I know it was eventually the photos of some gorgeous flakes that got me finally heading out to my local tobacconist to pick up my first cobs and beginner tobaccos. We are planting seeds only - their insatiable love of the cigar leaf will certainly lead a few of them into our inner sanctums (_sancta?_), and once here - they are goners. 
p

So far, those participating are:

1. ProbateGeek
2. The Mad Professor
3. Dr. Plume
4. El wedo del milagro
5. 36Bones
6. DanR
7. gahdzila

Feel free to add your name to the list. Should be at the very least interesting to see the reactions ("What the hell are these guys doing over here?!?"), and could be quite fun.

Additional ideas/recommendations welcome. Here's a link to a fresh thread about this: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/318683-what-we-smoking.html#post3722500


----------



## Stonedog

Kevin Keith said:


> sick...no smoke. blech


Sympathy Kevin. I'm in my fourth week of some sort of lower throat infection. My pipes are all but retired now.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Thanks Jon...get better yourself...miserable.


----------



## MarkC

You guys are making me feel guilty about this bowl of Prince Albert I'm enjoying...


----------



## freestoke

I don't know, Terry, those cigar guys outweigh us by an average of 3000 RG. If we piss them off, the entire pipe side could be reduced to negative voltage. eep:

I'm having a regular 4Dot/PA while I ponder the dangers of Operation Cigarside.


----------



## mcgreggor57

PS Pistachio on the way to and from the polls this morning.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> I don't know, Terry, those cigar guys outweigh us by an average of 3000 RG. If we piss them off, the entire pipe side could be reduced to negative voltage. eep:
> 
> I'm having a regular 4Dot/PA while I ponder the dangers of Operation Cigarside.


I hear ya, JIm. But keep in mind - we have on our side the "E" bomb. Should we have to unleash the Ennerdale Flake, those boys will surely turn tail and run.

But really, I grew up over there - we'll be fine. Provided the mods don't move our posts back over here. . . :shock:


----------



## Kevin Keith

freestoke said:


> I don't know, Terry, those cigar guys outweigh us by an average of 3000 RG. If we piss them off, the entire pipe side could be reduced to negative voltage. eep:
> 
> I'm having a regular 4Dot/PA while I ponder the dangers of Operation Cigarside.


Or have a lot of the v-herf style chatter...that would be a negative for me. I'm a segregationist. Voluntary converts are welcome, but I like it quiet and smaller.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

ProbateGeek said:


> Provided the mods don't move our posts back over here. . . :shock:


If that were to happen, we could just switch to plan "B": Start a new thread on the cigar side called something like "Operation Share the Love" (or whatnot), and post pics of our pipes, tobacco, and us smoking our pipes and being driven to ecstacy.

I'm sure a few folks would be intrigued, then we BOMB 'em with a cob and a selection of fine baccys! Muhahahahhahahaah(cough, cough)hahahahah!!!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Kevin Keith said:


> Or have a lot of the v-herf style chatter...that would be a negative for me. I'm a segregationist. *Voluntary converts are welcome, but I like it quiet and smaller.*


This is true, and an important point, but I was envisioning that only those truly called to the briar would hear and heed the call. I spent a very long time on the cigar bomb threads - it can get silly there, so I know what you mean.


----------



## Tony78

What about enticing them with GL Pease Robusto, Billy Bud or other blends with cigar leaf?


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just had Anni Cake in a MM Diplomat.

I tried it about two months ago, and didn't like it so I put it away way in the back of the bottom cabinet. I decided on a whim to try it again this morning, and loved it!

Maybe two months changed it? Maybe my tastes changed? I dunno...


----------



## szyzk

Sweet Virginia (an Altadis blend) in my Sasieni 4 Dot. It's a quite lovely untouched ready-rub that has become my "every day" due to it being so cheap, tasty and plentiful.


----------



## DanR

Tony78 said:


> What about enticing them with GL Pease Robusto, Billy Bud or other blends with cigar leaf?


I vow that one of my smokes this Saturday will be a cigar, which I will post on the cigar side. Only thing is, I'm gonna cut it up and shove it down into my pipe! :biggrin:

My morning smoke was Briar Fox. A perfect "wake me up" when paired with black coffee.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Tony78 said:


> What about enticing them with GL Pease Robusto, Billy Bud or other blends with cigar leaf?


I do have some Robusto in stock, but probably will focus on flakes solely for their visual appeal.



DanR said:


> I vow that one of my smokes this Saturday will be a cigar, which I will post on the cigar side. Only thing is, I'm gonna cut it up and shove it down into my pipe! :biggrin:


I might join you in this, Dan. Which cigar are you intending to elevate in this way? My humidor is looking VERY depleted these day, but there are still a few worthy sticks in there for me to consider.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

The earlier bowl of Anni Cake was so good I'm having another on my Hilson bent bulldog.


----------



## 36Bones

I smoked my last bowl for a few days. Pirate Kake in the '36 Kaywoodie. My Doctor has decided my latest bout of MS trouble has earned me a stay in the hospital. I'm going in this afternoon. I'll be reading posts as I'm able. I'm hoping just a couple of days like the last time. Be safe my friends and smoke a bowl for me. :tu


----------



## Stonedog

36Bones said:


> I smoked my last bowl for a few days. Pirate Kake in the '36 Kaywoodie. My Doctor has decided my latest bout of MS trouble has earned me a stay in the hospital. I'm going in this afternoon. I'll be reading posts as I'm able. I'm hoping just a couple of days like the last time. Be safe my friends and smoke a bowl for me. :tu


We'll be thinking about you Hilman, take it easy in there.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Kat and I will pray for you and yours, Hilman.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Hurry back, Hilman - we'll be missing you here. And don't give the nurses too hard a time. . . :hug:


----------



## freestoke

Hope it's not for long, Hilman! We'll miss you!


----------



## Tony78

Our thoughts are with you Hilman... see you soon.


----------



## DanR

Hilman - Get well soon bud! We'll be thinking of you.

Terry - I think I might "elevate" the Illusione 88 Maduro that I picked up last weekend.


----------



## gahdzila

36Bones said:


> I smoked my last bowl for a few days. Pirate Kake in the '36 Kaywoodie. My Doctor has decided my latest bout of MS trouble has earned me a stay in the hospital. I'm going in this afternoon. I'll be reading posts as I'm able. I'm hoping just a couple of days like the last time. Be safe my friends and smoke a bowl for me. :tu


Good luck and get well soon, Hilman. Keep in touch.


----------



## MarkC

36Bones said:


> I smoked my last bowl for a few days. Pirate Kake in the '36 Kaywoodie. My Doctor has decided my latest bout of MS trouble has earned me a stay in the hospital. I'm going in this afternoon. I'll be reading posts as I'm able. I'm hoping just a couple of days like the last time. Be safe my friends and smoke a bowl for me. :tu


Good luck and hurry back out of there!


----------



## Dr. Plume

Praying for you hilman!


----------



## Steel Talon

36Bones said:


> I smoked my last bowl for a few days. Pirate Kake in the '36 Kaywoodie. My Doctor has decided my latest bout of MS trouble has earned me a stay in the hospital. I'm going in this afternoon. I'll be reading posts as I'm able. I'm hoping just a couple of days like the last time. Be safe my friends and smoke a bowl for me. :tu


I'll be with you in spirit brother.

Sending you Good Karma..
Tal~


----------



## Chris0673

Plum Kake and Dunkin Donuts Cinnamon Spice coffee. Out here it's the little things that makes a difference!


----------



## gahdzila

Good morning, gentlemen! 

Did my duty last night! :lever: My nine year old son went to the polls with me, and he got a lesson on the electoral college while we munched Fritos and watched the returns on CNN last night. Here in Louisiana, we also voted on term limits for school board members (which was passing unanimously last time I checked), and 9 state constitutional amendments - nothing unusual for us. Do other states amend their constitution as much as us? I've often wondered.

PA in the unnamed squashed tomato.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning, everyone!


----------



## Dr. Plume

Morning all just finished a bowl of grousemoor going to write some thoughts on this in the review section in a few I think.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Another cold and damp autumn morning here in the Bluegrass. I decided to root around the baccy cabinet and grab something to smoke before leaving the house rather than fill from the pouch of PA in the car. Butternut Burly fit the bill on the way in. Today should be interesting given the election results. One of our stations is a conservative news talk and I imagine our Senator will be making an appearance today. Lot's of men with suits and ear pieces will be wandering the halls


----------



## freestoke

That emoticon makes me nostalgic, Clifford. :lever: NY took those magnificent old mechanical lever machines, that closed the curtain on the booth as you voted and opened it as it registered the ballot, and replaced them with scanners. :tsk: Twisting the little levers was a pleasure, especially since you could vote a straight Rep/Dem ticket with a single twist and be done with it. Now you have to fill in the little boxes with a felt tip pen and feed it into the machine. "Your ballot has been counted." One can only hope. It's like the difference between pinball and a video game.

Having a bowl of SWR topped with almost everything remaining on the paper plate. This Falcon is a really big pipe.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> those magnificent old mechanical lever machines, that simultaneously opened and closed the curtain on the booth [snip] It's like the difference between pinball and a video game.


HA! We had those, too! Same exact machines, I bet. I'm trying to remember exactly when we got the new machines...6 or 8 years ago? Our new ones have what looks like a paper ballot in front of you, with a sheet of plastic over it. Underneath are push buttons that light up to show you where to press to cast your vote, and the lights change after you've pressed them so you know what you've voted, then you press a big button at the bottom right to cast the whole shebang. And you have to close the curtain by hand :tsk: They're fine, I suppose...but I definitely miss the 'snick!' of flipping those levers and the 'kaaa-CHUNK!' as you slid the big lever across to cast your vote and open the curtain 

More coffee and more PA ipe:

What big Falcon do you have? Mine is on the small side, and I assumed they all were smallish. Mine is quite old, though, so maybe they got bigger in later years.


----------



## freestoke

One of these:









I have another Falcon which is considerably smaller. This is a Falcon International with a removable/replaceable stem and it takes a filter, but I just coil an inch of pipe cleaner into the socket. Not a bad pipe, actually.


----------



## gahdzila

Yep, that's definitely a taller bowl than mine.

Mixed some PA into the crunchy dry PPP...a little Stonehaven I think, definitely some GH Black Cherry Twist in there, I think I detect Latakia though I don't recall adding any to the pile. Anyway - not the best the paper plate has ever offered up, but definitely not bad.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Yep, that's definitely a taller bowl than mine.


The screw in base is fractionally larger than my regular Falcon, too, so it's bigger all over.

Gotta get some decent tabak opened this afternoon. I'm bored with my rotation. :frown: I've to think about this...but right now, some Louisiana Flake in the Country Gentleman. p


----------



## The Mad Professor

Had some aged OJK in my Falcon this morning (guess I got the memo). I didn't like this blend a year ago, and I still don't after a year of age. Oh well...


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> One of these:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have another Falcon which is considerably smaller. This is a Falcon International with a removable/replaceable stem and it takes a filter, but I just coil an inch of pipe cleaner into the socket. Not a bad pipe, actually.


Very capable pipes indeed. They were once quite ubiquitous in the UK. I bet every English smoker (above the age of 40, at least) has had at least one. Are you sure it's an International? I remember those as the ones with an enclosed stem rather than with the coiled tube exposed. If memory serves me right, this is a Hyperbole bowl and they were large. I really do have a fondness for these pipes. My first pipe was an Alco - from the same maker - which I still have and occasionally use.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Very capable pipes indeed. They were once quite ubiquitous in the UK. I bet every English smoker (above the age of 40, at least) has had at least one. Are you sure it's an International? I remember those as the ones with an enclosed stem rather than with the coiled tube exposed. If memory serves me right, this is a Hyperbole bowl and they were large. I really do have a fondness for these pipes. My first pipe was an Alco - from the same maker - which I still have and occasionally use.


It has the visible coiled tube and a removable stem. You nailed the bowl, Roberto!

*Falcon Classic Pipe Bowl Hyperbole New C02 | eBay*

I think I paid like $30 for this pipe...maybe $20. It was like new, very lightly smoked when I got it. The coiled tube has a copper color and the outer part a deep bronze. (I'll take some pictures eventually. ) And you're right again, it is not an International.


----------



## gahdzila

Just an FYI for those interested in Falcons. 'Back From The Ashes' by K. A. Worth is a great book, written by the granddaughter of G. L. Hunt, the first exclusive distributor (and, later, manufacturer) of Falcon pipes.

https://www.iwanries.com/back-from-the-ashes-P7316C49.cfm

According to the book, mine is actually a very early American made pipe (stamped only 'Falcon' and '2'. No 'made in...' stamp at all). Pretty cool for a $10 eBay estate


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> It has the visible coiled tube and a removable stem. You nailed the bowl, Roberto!
> 
> *Falcon Classic Pipe Bowl Hyperbole New C02 | eBay*
> 
> I think I paid like $30 for this pipe...maybe $20. It was like new, very lightly smoked when I got it. The coiled tube has a copper color and the outer part a deep bronze. (I'll take some pictures eventually. ) And you're right again, it is not an International.


I need to thank you for reminding me that I still have my Alco (and a couple of other Alcos plus a black bodied standard Falcon with a meerschaum bowl - very smart - but rarely used, Must change that...). This was my very first pipe bought new over thirty years ago and was my constant companion for many years. I smoked it again just now for the first time in ages. Still as good as new and will outlive me, I'm sure. I can't remember what I paid for it; must have been £5 or so at most (with spare bowl) or I couldn't have afforded it. These pipes (both Alco and Falcon) simply work. The bowl is a rustic Dublin and is quite small - smaller than Falcon bowls and not interchangeable with them; only lasted about half an hour. One light straight to the bottom.

So (as it passed midnight before the end of the bowl so counts as a morning pipe)...

Kendal Flake in my treasured Alco Standard Rustic Dublin. Huzzah!


----------



## MarkC

Never open threads around here unless you have to. 

Now I want a Falcon...


----------



## ProbateGeek

MarkC said:


> Never open threads around here unless you have to.
> 
> Now I want a Falcon...


Me, too. My dad had one, but it went to my older brother. Does anyone know if the Dr. Grabow Vikings offer as decent a smoke?


----------



## gahdzila

ProbateGeek said:


> Me, too. My dad had one, but it went to my older brother. Does anyone know if the Dr. Grabow Vikings offer as decent a smoke?


Having never owned a Viking, I couldn't say for sure. I do know, however, that the original Viking was similar enough to the Falcon that Falcon sued Dr. Grabow for patent infringement and won the case, if that tells you anything. Falcons are still being made, Vikings aren't. Both are easily found on ebay for cheap if you're interested in cleaning up an estate.


----------



## steinr1

MarkC said:


> Never open threads around here unless you have to.
> 
> Now I want a Falcon...


Be honest. You want both a standard and bend Falcon stem plus a rack of the interchangeable bowls for different tobaccos and occasions.

In the UK, they were the equivalent of an MM Cob in the US. Everyone had at least one and they were the entry point for a huge number of smokers. They share the same qualities - relatively cheap (although not at the disposable level of a cob), good smokers all, able to cope with a variety of different tobaccos without ghosting (by having more than one bowl) and being a bit "different". Also, like a cob, able to cope with moisture really well and take repeated smoking without much rest. They cope in a different way. Quickly unscrew the bowl and shake out any water from the humidome and replace. Gets a bit too wet? Pop on another bowl.


----------



## MarkC

steinr1 said:


> Be honest. You want both a standard and bend Falcon stem plus a rack of the interchangeable bowls for different tobaccos and occasions.


Well of course, a minimum of four bowls to start ought to do it!


----------



## Kevin Keith

gahdzila said:


> Having never owned a Viking, I couldn't say for sure. I do know, however, that the original Viking was similar enough to the Falcon that Falcon sued Dr. Grabow for patent infringement and won the case, if that tells you anything. Falcons are still being made, Vikings aren't. Both are easily found on ebay for cheap if you're interested in cleaning up an estate.


They offer a fantastic smoke as do Falcons. I have both and wouldn't be without. The Grabow factory still has Pacers(bent Vikings) available. Call them at the contact info off the website. dr grabow smoking pipes, tobacco pipe cleaner sparta nc


----------



## Chris0673

Well it was a great morning smoke for me! After I got in to the terminal and checked my flights I stepped outside for a bowl of Angler's and a cuppa. Guess I packed the pipe perfectly because I got a great char and smoked half the bowl with only one short relight. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it as I can't really stay outside for an hour to smoke the whole thing. But...it was nice. Bowl got a little on the warm side but otherwise it was a great experience.

I can't wait to get home so I can enjoy a whole bowl in one sitting!


----------



## steinr1

MarkC said:


> Well of course, a minimum of four bowls to start ought to do it!


I'm very tempted by this myself. I have a number of Alco pipes which are very similar to Falcons and made by the same manufacturer.

Boxed set of Vintage Alco Pipe with 4 briar bowls and brown anodised stem. | eBay

A very unusual find. SOMEONE should snap this up. Please don't make it be me...

For interest/comparison, here is yet another twist on the theme:

Ropp Relax (TOP) Interchangeable Cherrywood bowls in a nylon stem. Different threads again to Falcon, Alco and Viking.
Alco Standard (MIDDLE) Interchangeable briar and meerschaum lined bowls.
Falcon Standard (BOTTOM) Interchangeable briar, meerschaum lines and block meerschaum bowls.

View attachment 72845


The Alco is about to be filled with Kendal Flake for a lunchtime smoke.


----------



## steinr1

Looks like the picture upload didn't work. Try again...

Ropp Relax (TOP) Interchangeable Cherrywood bowls in a nylon stem. Different threads again to Falcon, Alco and Viking.
Alco Standard (MIDDLE) Interchangeable briar and meerschaum lined bowls.
Falcon Standard (BOTTOM) Interchangeable briar, meerschaum lines and block meerschaum bowls.

View attachment 72846


----------



## Chris0673

I'd bid on it but I'm already bidding on this Vintage Long Ropp Deluxe C19 Tobacco Pipe 10 1/2 Inch Cherry Wood France | eBay

Besides, 25 british pounds is just a little out of my range at the moment.


----------



## szyzk

Morning, gentlemen. I found my Sasieni sitting on my desk at work, filled with a tobacco that I don't remember picking out and what appears to be the beginnings of a char. I must have set out to smoke yesterday and then dropped it for some reason or another. Whatever the tobacco is, it's good - slightly spicy, slight acidic vinegar, alternating dark and bright tobacco flavors. It's playing very nicely with this cup of coffee.


----------



## Hambone1

Escudo Navy Deluxe in my Peterson Fishtail Bulldog spigot (red), tasty.


----------



## gahdzila

I honestly don't smoke my Falcon all that often, but after all this talk, I'm definitely going to be getting it out later today.

For now, just some PA and PPP in a cob.


----------



## steinr1

Chris0673 said:


> I'd bid on it but I'm already bidding on this Vintage Long Ropp Deluxe C19 Tobacco Pipe 10 1/2 Inch Cherry Wood France | eBay
> 
> Besides, 25 british pounds is just a little out of my range at the moment.


Good move on the Ropp Churchwarden! Hope you get it.

As mentioned, so not 19th Century. This one, however, is. So long it is virtually impossible to light with a match. You need a taper or a manservant. You then need about three hours to smoke it!

View attachment 72848


(Hope the image appears - I seem to be having little luck with this. Maybe I'm being too impatient. *Any advice?*)


----------



## gahdzila

Holy crap, that's a huge freaking pipe! mg:


----------



## steinr1

gahdzila said:


> Holy crap, that's a huge freaking pipe! mg:


:lol: It's actually longer than it appears in this shot. I had to angle it away from the lens to get it all in frame. When people talk about "all day tobaccos", they should, perhaps also talk about "all day pipes". This one covers that. With one fill.

I've only smoked it a few times. Smokes well, but tends to bankrupt you.


----------



## Tony78

steinr1 said:


> :lol: It's actually longer than it appears in this shot. I had to angle it away from the lens to get it all in frame.


:nono::nono::nono:


----------



## mcgreggor57

Believe it or not I'm still working through some samplers from early this Spring. This morning I grabbed my GBD and filled it with SG 1792 Flake. I must say it's a lot better than when I first tried it, but then again most everything tasted the same when I first started. It was also the first time I've grabbed a briar in about 3 weeks.


----------



## Chris0673

steinr1 said:


> Good move on the Ropp Churchwarden! Hope you get it.
> 
> As mentioned, so not 19th Century. This one, however, is. So long it is virtually impossible to light with a match. You need a taper or a manservant. You then need about three hours to smoke it!
> 
> View attachment 72848
> 
> 
> (Hope the image appears - I seem to be having little luck with this. Maybe I'm being too impatient. *Any advice?*)


Not really worried about the age of it. I like how it looks. Actually thinking about doing something along this line for the carving contest, just a tad smaller.

But, [email protected] that is a HUGE pipe!


----------



## DanR

steinr1 said:


> Good move on the Ropp Churchwarden! Hope you get it.
> 
> As mentioned, so not 19th Century. This one, however, is. So long it is virtually impossible to light with a match. You need a taper or a manservant. You then need about three hours to smoke it!
> 
> View attachment 72848
> 
> 
> (Hope the image appears - I seem to be having little luck with this. Maybe I'm being too impatient. *Any advice?*)


That's just awesome! I have one too (a Ropp Churchwarden), but it's not nearly that big!


----------



## Baron_Null

steinr1 said:


> View attachment 72848


I would be heartily impressed by anyone would would be able to smoke a bowl-full of rope tobacco in that- and live to tell the tale.


----------



## steinr1

Baron_Null said:


> I would be heartily impressed by anyone would would be able to smoke a bowl-full of rope tobacco in that- and live to tell the tale.


Not me! I had a thimble sized bowl of Black Bogie yesterday and it knocked my socks off. Don't think I could afford it in any case.


----------



## The Mad Professor

RY in the MM Legend this morning, after a hearty breakfast of bratwurst and eggs! Ready for a nap now...


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 in the CG for the morning commute. Though wide awake now, I too am ready for a nap - but I always am.


----------



## Andrewdk

S beautiful Saturday morning in south oz with SWR In a cob. Just delicious.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

The bird bath is iced over this morning, the birds are flocking to the seed spread over the ground, the fall color is waning, the coffee is hot and steaming and the sun is just peaking over the trees. GL Pease Sextant in a Pete Mark Twain. These are the good old days!


DJ_Pete_Mark Twain_11.10.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## steinr1

Latakius Vituscan said:


> The bird bath is iced over this morning, *the birds are flocking to the seed spread over the ground*, the fall color is waning, the coffee is hot and steaming and the sun is just peaking over the trees. GL Pease Sextant in a Pete Mark Twain. These are the good old days!


Dorothy Parker had a parrot called Onan - so named because he spilled his seed upon the ground.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Latakius Vituscan said:


> The bird bath is iced over this morning, the birds are flocking to the seed spread over the ground, the fall color is waning, the coffee is hot and steaming and the sun is just peaking over the trees. GL Pease Sextant in a Pete Mark Twain. These are the good old days!
> 
> 
> DJ_Pete_Mark Twain_11.10.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


That pipes a beaut!


----------



## freestoke

We're back home after our day long hike to the Cigarside. You know, I didn't have a single plain PA/4Dot all day! :shock: Was going to have one before bed, but just crashed instead, so I'm smoking it now. Tastes really good this morning and I need a lot of coffee to get ready for some GOLF today! :banana: Gonna be beautiful out there the next couple of days, although there's supposed to be a mighty wind tomorrow.


----------



## DanR

That was certainly fun yesterday. I think we were successful at keeping the cigar posters away (not many posts, so I think we scared them), but I'm not too sure about converts?

Anyway, back to normal. I saw your post, Jim, and started to wonder where I put my 4dot. So I went digging, and found it. I might need to leave it in regular rotation for a while - its really a lovely smoker. This morning I'm filling it with some Esoterica Tilbury. The weather is a nice, calm 70ish degrees, so no ice on the birdbaths here!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

DanR said:


> The weather is a nice, calm 70ish degrees, so no ice on the birdbaths here!


I have a heated birdbath. The birds love it even when there are feet of snow on the ground.

PA in a Hilson bent bulldog. Smoked half of it on the drive up the mountain to work... I'll finish it after I'm done cooking breakfast for all the hotel guests.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Thanks for your comment on the Pete Mark Twain, Evil Dr. Plume!

El Wedo del Milagro...Indeed, a good idea. I'm going to pick up a bird bath hot tub conversion unit today! Cuidado con el gato!

This morning it's a hot, steaming mug of Sumatra coffee complimenting the Greater Kansas City Pipe Club's Rich Oriental, Ltd. Ed. 2011 in a Castello Le Catene 55.


Castello_55_9154 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## The Mad Professor

Yesterday was fun - great idea Terry. We also have our first official convert, Salty (might want to welcome him in the New Pipe Fish thread :tu)! Mission accomplished! Yay!

Had some RY on the way to the store and back. Now it's pancake time! Yay!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Thank you all for participating - it was pretty fun. We may not realize the fruits of our labor right away, but I think we planted the seeds. 

Nothing like the sharp, pungent taste of Kendal Kentucky with lots of black coffee to wake one up on a cool Sunday morn.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> We may not realize the fruits of our labor right away, but I think we planted the seeds.


Hell, I got a fully refurbished, like new 4Dot out of it! :tu

I was starting to feel self-conscious toward the end. I mean -- I just don't think there are any cigars, at any price, that are as pretty as Luxury Twist Flake or a nice Sasieni or a meerschaum. It was an unfair fight. :tsk:

I'm gonna have some Dart Mix after a dandy day at the course -- PERFECT day to play. And ANOTHER Old Mil! Hit it pretty decent, despite the back. Really glad we didn't have this good weather 3 days ago! :lol:


----------



## szyzk

Sinuses aren't back to normal, my desire for Ennerdale hasn't been shaken, the weather is absolutely GORGEOUS outside, but I just don't think I can bring myself to smoke... I'm going through withdrawal, though. 

I just need my fix. Just need my fix.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

steinr1 said:


> Dorothy Parker had a parrot called Onan - so named because he spilled his seed upon the ground.


Jeez...checked the birdseed bag...it was something like: "levirate blend". What could it mean?

Robert, you need to come to the Olympic Peninsula and smoke a bowl or two!

DJ


----------



## freestoke

That's the bird seed that's the brother of the previous bag that died, now marrying your old bird feeder.

Everybody suffering battle fatigue from yesterday's invasion? I started with a normal 4Dot full of PA and followed up finishing (yes FINISHING!) the PPP in the Alpha Litewate. The fresh ground Columbian is laying a good base for the round today. I might even push the bag around today instead riding in the beastly cart, since my back held up really well yesterday! :banana: (I was a little worried that I would arrive at the 3rd tee and find myself crawling off the course. ) The wind will be insane out there today, but it's from the "good" direction, south, with the long holes downwind. The same 15mph wind would add 5 shots from the prevailing northwest.

Full sun and 70+ today! :smile: Then winter sets in. :frown:


----------



## szyzk

Morning fellow pipers!

I came into work early and downed a half-bowl of Ennerdale (finally!) in my Hackert cob (thanks Moo!). It was lovely and well worth the wait. I then had a cup of coffee, then a second cup, and I am now finishing off the last bowl of Vintage Syrian from Jim in my oversided McCarter Egg. Jim, I thought I had smoked the entirety of the sample you sent me but I had apparently reserved the final pinch or two, and this is really hitting the spot right now. It's a bit creamier than I remember and the latakia is nice and subdued, but it's gloriously tasty. Thank you! 

My brain is worrisome sometimes. Dr. Plume recently started a thread about Grousemoor and from his description it sounded like a tobacco that I would really like to try - so I ordered a tin which has not yet arrived. After stumbling upon the remaining HHVS that Jim sent me, I also found 4oz of Grousemoor Plug that I stuffed in a jar earlier this year. I don't remember the purchase but here it sits in all its glory. At some point today I'm going to hit it with a knife and then salute my horrible memory with a bowl of it.


----------



## Dr. Plume

I am not fatigued by a little battle with the other side! However tonight not sure what to smoke but it will be in a general that I can tell you.


----------



## freestoke

Dr. Plume said:


> I am not fatigued by a little battle with the other side! However tonight not sure what to smoke but it will be in a general that I can tell you.


Like the berserkers of Valhalla, right Dave? :tu

I think some SWR/5B is in order. Since we aren't on display, a bit of ugly tobacco. And more Columbian fresh ground. :cp


----------



## Dr. Plume

Righto! p


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake in the Country Gent - delicious. Back to my usual groove. 
And good morning, friends.
p


----------



## szyzk

Grousemoor Plug. What a tasty tobacco.


----------



## 36Bones

Good morning, my friends. I got home from the hospital this morning about 9am. I was the lucky recipient of a 5 day steroid infusion. I'm totally wiped out after being loaded for bear yesterday. I do feel great, _right now_. I was so pleased to read the "takeover" went well and I'm so sorry I missed it. I love seeing the added converts to our rolls. :tu I'm not smoking today, but I laid out some FVF for tomorrow mornings smoke albeit, it's going to be freeking cold. It's 44 right now. I might have to wait till tomorrow afternoon. We'll see. I hope all is well in your individual worlds. It's good to be home. Make it a great Monday, if that's possible. :wink:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Carefully filled the bird feeders this morning. Did NOT spill even one seed on the ground. Redemption!

Right now, a bowl of GL Pease Lagonda in a Comoy Tradition 133.


Comoy's Tradition 133_Pipe_10.26.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

DJ, I will say it again. You've got some beautious pipes. Need to work on coloring that CAO meer, though. :biggrin:


----------



## The Mad Professor

Some FMC in the MM Legend today on the way in to work. Got some KK loaded in the MMCG for it's inaugural bowl later today.


----------



## Hambone1

Stonehaven in my Peterson Fishtail Bulldog spigot (red), tasty.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a cob with a disc of Sweet Rum Twist hidden about 40% of the way down in the bowl.

It's a BEAUTIFUL day out there. Crystal clear and the blueist sky! It's only 33 deg F though... it will have to be a fast smoke.


----------



## DanR

A little more of this McCranie's Red Ribbon that I opened on Saturday. I'm sitting in the sun trying to warm my bones. It got cold here in San Antonio all of a sudden. Highs in the mid-60s, lows in the 40s this week.


----------



## steinr1

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Jeez...checked the birdseed bag...it was something like: "levirate blend". What could it mean?
> 
> Robert, you need to come to the Olympic Peninsula and smoke a bowl or two!
> 
> DJ


Levirate blend - really? :lol: :lol: :lol:

I've got to assume it's a pun of the same sort by you. But please tell me that it is in fact the manufacturer who did this - I can't imagine that many regular folk would get it, which clearly would be the point.


----------



## mikebjrtx

steinr1 said:


> Levirate blend - really? :lol: :lol: :lol:
> 
> I've got to assume it's a pun of the same sort by you. But please tell me that it is in fact the manufacturer who did this - I can't imagine that many regular folk would get it, which clearly would be the point.


Er you guys crack me up.


----------



## Nachman

Wow, Jim. Fifteen MPH is a light breeze in Oklahoma. Twenty to thirty is normal, and have seen people play with wind in the forties here. Oklahoma City has a higher average wind speed than Chicago, "The windy city".


----------



## mcgreggor57

In my ongoing effort to branch out from my OTC/Cob rut, I grabbed the Union Square and filled the Ehrilch for my morning mini-mute and consequent lunch escape. Truth be told, I'm missing the old standby of PA and MM and look to return to it tomorrow. It seems our 2013 budget I prepared passed muster so I rewarded myself by telling the boss I was taking the rest of the afternoon off.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Wow, Jim. Fifteen MPH is a light breeze in Oklahoma. Twenty to thirty is normal, and have seen people play with wind in the forties here. Oklahoma City has a higher average wind speed than Chicago, "The windy city".


I lived in Wichita, so I know what you mean. However, the wind comes from one direction,, at one speed and stays there and the fairways roll. Here, it's always gusting from different directions, so it's impossible, and this time of year there is ZERO roll. You get what you can fly in the air and that's all. We're also closer to sea level, and the air is wet and "heavy". (Yeah, the air is actually lighter when the humidity is high, but somehow the ball doesn't seem to fly as far. :dunno I HAMMERED a three wood today at five and it went like 190 into that wind. :faint: Played great though! Might be the last round of the year. We'll see. Good round to finish the season, in any case.

Having a bowl of PA with a 5B bonus in the Country Gentleman. And an Old Mil! :beerchug:


----------



## mikebjrtx

mikebjrtx said:


> Er you guys crack me up.


Dang autocorrect that should have been

Er you guys. Crack me up.

I would gone off track with two r's if I wanted to interruptus.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> And an Old Mil! :beerchug:


Jim, Jim, Jim... We need to do something about your choice of sudsy beverages.


----------



## Kevin Keith

SWR/Berwyck 85


----------



## mcgreggor57

PA in a Country Gentleman. Nice shirt Kevin, looks like one I just received LOL


----------



## AStateJB

Morning gents. I packed some Stonehaven in the Grabow for the drive to work today.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Morning gents I have been up for hours. It's three here. Here's an action shot to motivate you to light up today.
Christmas cheer mmmhmmmm Virginia's got to love them. 
Put it to the flame


----------



## freestoke

Glad to see a pipe nail, Josh. I've always been partial to pipe nails and the lighter is just like mine -- I use the lighter on the golf course, mainly, for the course cob and SAP. And Dave shows up with a golf tee, my other favorite pipe tool! :tu Speaking of which, I seem to have lost the Legend the other day on the course. :frown: Better than losing the Mayfair, eh? :smile:

Couldn't let this perfect moisture level Louisiana Flake go begging this morning, so I grabbed the Szabo and we're starting off with that. Goes very nice indeed with my second cup of coffee. Such a rain last night! Looks like golf is gone for at least a week, but there's always hope-- we actually played on the 7th of January a few years back.


----------



## Dr. Plume

freestoke said:


> Glad to see a pipe nail, Josh. I've always been partial to pipe nails and the lighter is just like mine -- I use the lighter on the golf course, mainly, for the course cob and SAP. And Dave shows up with a golf tee, my other favorite pipe tool! :tu Speaking of which, I seem to have lost the Legend the other day on the course. :frown: Better than losing the Mayfair, eh? :smile:
> 
> Couldn't let this perfect moisture level Louisiana Flake go begging this morning, so I grabbed the Szabo and we're starting off with that. Goes very nice indeed with my second cup of coffee. Such a rain last night! Looks like golf is gone for at least a week, but there's always hope-- we actually played on the 7th of January a few years back.


Still working my way through this general left some of the cake in chucks going to be here a while. Great idea with the coffee Jim going to brew some now . I am also partial to pipe nails, I don't own any fancy tools and I never will because I lose them. It's a wonder I don't lose my pipes.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Also toying with the idea of ordering an mm freehand....... Oh case of the pad.


----------



## 36Bones

33* chilly degrees. Sitting in the sun like a old dog and enjoying some hot black coffee and a bowl of Proper English in the '36 Kaywoodie.


----------



## 36Bones

AStateJB said:


> Morning gents. I packed some Stonehaven in the Grabow for the drive to work today.


Stonehaven envy.........


----------



## jobes2007

Today a buddy of mine and I will be heading to Cigars Internationals new retail location. It's about 40, 50 minutes from me but is apparently twice the size of their other store (which is huge) and has a "pipe bar". Same as a normal bar, except instead of bottles there's tins of pipe baccy and a wall of pipes. I'll try to get pictures, and report in with what I smoked (I'm bringing some of my Nov '11 Plumcake with in case I don't see anything I want to smoke right out of the tin).


----------



## AStateJB

36Bones said:


> Stonehaven envy.........


4noggins has 2oz. packages of Stonehaven in stock...


----------



## MarkC

Having a bowl of Wessex Brown Virginia Flake when I should be in bed. It's my Saturday night/Sunday morning, so what the heck.


----------



## szyzk

Smoking my remaining few shards of Krumble Kake. Is it a perfect tobacco? Right now it is.


----------



## Chris0673

Broke in my new MM Cherrywood pipe with some Angler's and Dunkin D's Cinnamon Spice coffee....then watched an RPG go screaming overhead while I dove for the dirt. eep: Gotta love this place!


----------



## 36Bones

AStateJB said:


> 4noggins has 2oz. packages of Stonehaven in stock...


Thanks for the heads-up, Josh. Edit: just went and looked, I'm either blind or their sold out already. I don't see any sign of Stonehaven there. :hmm: That's my luck.


----------



## AStateJB

36Bones said:


> Thanks for the heads-up, Josh. Edit: just went and looked, I'm either blind or their sold out already. I don't see any sign of Stonehaven there. :hmm: That's my luck.


Weird. One page shows "now available" but when i click "buy online" it's not listed...


----------



## 36Bones

AStateJB said:


> Weird. One page shows "now available" but when i click "buy online" it's not listed...


Oh well, I was _this _close. ound: I'm sure that means it's gone already. There's always next time. :tu


----------



## AStateJB

36Bones said:


> Oh well, I was _this _close. ound: I'm sure that means it's gone already. There's always next time. :tu


Apparently google directed me to an old page. I called to make sure and no luck.  Sorry for the false alarm. :frusty:


----------



## 36Bones

AStateJB said:


> Apparently google directed me to an old page. I called to make sure and no luck.  Sorry for the false alarm. :frusty:


No worries, Josh and while I'm sad, my wife and CC are very happy. :wink:


----------



## jobes2007

New store was a success. They have a pipe bar! Smoked a bowl of McClelland's Dominican Glory Maduro that I bought there, 2009 tin.


----------



## Stonedog

Finally I can post in this thread again. The doc determined that my 5+ week sore throat is caused by reflux, not an infection or worse. With a change in diet and a regimen of Ranitidine things are improving. So, for the first time in what feels like forever I was able to enjoy a pipe during the morning commute.

Wessex Brown Virginia Flake in my Belgique-sized Grabow Grand Duke. ...It's good to be back.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Wessex Brown Virginia Flake in my Belgique-sized Grabow Grand Duke. ...It's good to be back.


Glad you got to the bottom of it, Jon! :tu I've never tried a Wessex blend.

I'm just cranking up my regular 4Dot/PA morning pipe. I made pinto beans yesterday and had a "Texas" dinner, pinto beans, mashed potatoes and cornbread, raw onions and cornbread in the beans, but we added a little northern ambiance with a nice, big, Yankee salad. The meal grew larger as the evening progressed and I didn't really get to sleep until 4 this morning. :faint: Can't eat like I used to. sigh.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning folks! Had a nice bowl of 1792 yesterday. Was a bit stiffer than expected. The 1792 I have has been jarred for a while, the tonquin was barely noticeable. That or I'm off my game.

Looking forward to a bit of EMP after today's Virology lecture.


----------



## gahdzila

Glad to have you back, Jon! 

Damn. It's cold. Have I told you guys before how much I hate the cold? Surely I have; surely I whined and moaned all winter long last year. And last winter was quite mild, even by our standards. 

I'm having SWR and some PPP in the General this morning. Not bad, but not rocking my world, either. I shoulda opened the PA.


----------



## freestoke

Monday, I saw a large humidor full of baggies that hasn't been opened in forever, and pulled out some Altadis Black Cavendish (#20 I think) and plunked a pile of it on the plate at the same time I put larger piles of LF and US on there. There's a bit of US left, bone dry, and I just now stuffed the rest of the LF in the Country Gentleman (also crinkly) with a pinch of the Altadis, which was still fresh. (Talk about PG. :tsk Makes for a nice little aromatic, it really does. I couldn't smoke this Altadis straight, but as a condiment it isn't all that bad.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Monday, I saw a large humidor full of baggies that hasn't been opened in forever, and pulled out some Altadis Black Cavendish (#20 I think) and plunked a pile of it on the plate at the same time I put larger piles of LF and US on there. There's a bit of US left, bone dry, and I just now stuffed the rest of the LF in the Country Gentleman (also crinkly) with a pinch of the Altadis, which was still fresh. (Talk about PG. :tsk Makes for a nice little aromatic, it really does. I couldn't smoke this Altadis straight, but as a condiment it isn't all that bad.


Isn't that concept behind LBF? Virginia and Black Cavendish?


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Isn't that concept behind LBF? Virginia and Black Cavendish?


The center in LBF isn't as aromatic as this stuff -- almost VCF level vanilla flavoring -- but I guess the principle's the same. I have enough of this stuff in the pouch to outlast the rest of my cellar at the rate I use it. Just a pinch mixed in is tons.


----------



## 36Bones

34* balmy degrees. Hot black coffee and Blackpool in the Diplomat and bundled up to the max. Days like today make me wish I had room in the tool shed to put in a heated smoking section. Make it a great Wed!!


----------



## freestoke

When I lived in Dallas, 34* would have skirted disaster. :lol: One day when I was there, they got 3" of snow and half the vehicles in town were off the highway into the ditches. Dallasites do not grok slippery surfaces at all. (And Dallas has some MEAN ditchwork! ) Been meaning to say welcome back, Hilman!  Glad you're feeling better! :smile:


----------



## Dr. Plume

Good to have you back stone dog.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Tired this morning - 1792 Flake in the Savinelli Venezia helping, as usual.


----------



## Baron_Null

CBW in my MM Ozark Mini for my morning commute.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Having the last bowl of RY on hand... must... get...more...:faint:


----------



## Dr. Plume

The Mad Professor said:


> Having the last bowl of RY on hand... must... get...more...:faint:


I thought you had a I.V. For ry. What happened?


----------



## 36Bones

freestoke said:


> When I lived in Dallas, 34* would have skirted disaster. :lol: One day when I was there, they got 3" of snow and half the vehicles in town were off the highway into the ditches. Dallasites do not grok slippery surfaces at all. (And Dallas has some MEAN ditchwork! ) Been meaning to say welcome back, Hilman!  Glad you're feeling better! :smile:


Thank you for the welcome back. I'm feeling better than I have in quite awhile. :tu


----------



## freestoke

We're headed for a nice day here, possibly even nice enough to hit a few later, but maybe just the par 3 down the street (we have reciprocals). 

My second bowl was the last of the Father Dempsey that Mike sent me. (Thanks, Mike! :yo Feeling a little weak from lack of nicotine, so with my third cup of coffee and the Diplomat, I'm heading for the last of the dried Union Square with some BXX coins to up the ante. p


----------



## AStateJB

Waiting for the temp to come up so we can start working so I'm having a little PA in the Drimaster.


----------



## 36Bones

Heading into the Dr.'s office for a followup. Going to be a pleasant afternoon. Enjoyed a bowl of Proper English in the Savinelli and Twinings tea. Make it a great Thursday. :tu:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Home blend in a Caminetto Business 143.


Caminetto Business 143 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## gahdzila

As usual, PA/5Bs with my morning coffee.

I've been enjoying Walnut quite a bit lately, my only complaint with it being a lack of vitamin N. Well, I decided to kick it up a notch - I mixed some Walnut with a few pinches of 5 Brothers - WOW! Very very good! Besides bringing the nicotine level up to par, it brings the burley flavor to the front and lets it shine, without overpowering the other component tobaccos. I'm probably only half an ounce into my 2 ounce sample of Walnut, but I'm already planning to buy a tub with my next order.

Is it just me, or does a few pinches of 5 Brothers make everything better?


----------



## The Mad Professor

I'm a rebel! :smokin: Starting the morning with some Nightcap! Dunhill can't tell ME what to do! I might even finish the day with a bowl of EMP, before midnight even! Yeah! :rockon:


----------



## ProbateGeek

↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑ *D E V I A N T * ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑

p


----------



## The Mad Professor

ProbateGeek said:


> ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑ *D E V I A N T * ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑
> 
> p


Ya damn right!   I'm like James Dean with a pipe!...and a beard...and a silly hat...



Dr. Plume said:


> I thought you had a I.V. For ry. What happened?


Dave, I think you are confusing me with Terry! I just smoke it frequently, but I think he freebases it! :lol:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Oh, I almost forgot - Royal Yacht in a Country Gent this morning. :biggrin:


----------



## mcgreggor57

The coldest morning of the year paired will with some Billy Budd in the MM Pride.


----------



## karatekyle

The Mad Professor said:


> I'm a rebel! :smokin: Starting the morning with some Nightcap! Dunhill can't tell ME what to do! I might even finish the day with a bowl of EMP, before midnight even! Yeah! :rockon:


EMP tonight, deviants unite!


----------



## AStateJB

Starting the morning by finishing last night's Carter Hall.

BTW does anyone know any good 4noggins coupon codes?


----------



## freestoke

I didn't know they even had coupon codes at 4noggins.  All the stuff I've ordered from them and they've never slipped me a single coupon? :frown: Now I'm just angry. :rant: And I was in SUCH a good mood this morning, too. 

I'll feel better when I finish this bowl of PA in the 4Dot and get through my first cup of coffee, though. :cp A little warmer than yesterday, 28* out there already.


----------



## Stonedog

Peterson's Nutty Cut helped with the commute this morning. Fingers crossed #20 comes up in the Super Lottery. Is it bad that I'm already making a list of the tins I'd like?


----------



## Longer ash

smoking on some c&d first responder everyone have a great day!!!


----------



## freestoke

You have a 1 in 99 chance of winning a Super Lottery? (Assuming two digits.) Bon chance indeed! :tu

I'm boring today. Another bowl of PA in the Country Gent.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> You have a 1 in 99 chance of winning a Super Lottery? (Assuming two digits.) Bon chance indeed! :tu
> 
> I'm boring today. Another bowl of PA in the Country Gent.


I think it's 1 in 35 actually, but I never win these things. I should stick to buying $1 lotto tickets - it's cheaper!


----------



## gahdzila

Sitting outside in the cold almost makes me reconsider my choice of hobbies. It was 36 this morning, but it's warming up a tad already, and I'm bundled up and have my little space heater going...so it's becoming somewhat tolerable now.

I've got the DG Royalton pot going this morning with the PA/5Bs mix.

Stay warm, gents!


----------



## 36Bones

gahdzila said:


> Sitting outside in the cold almost makes me reconsider my choice of hobbies. It was 36 this morning, but it's warming up a tad already, and I'm bundled up and have my little space heater going...so it's becoming somewhat tolerable now.
> 
> I've got the DG Royalton pot going this morning with the PA/5Bs mix.
> 
> Stay warm, gents!


I hear you, Clifford. The thermometer says 44* but it sure doesn't feel like it. No wind though, which makes it better. I have a tool shed, but there are so many flammables in there, I'd be insane to try to put a propane heater in there and use that for a smoking area. :flame: My 1792 and EMP and Anni Kake is supposed to be here today. I don't know if any of you have ever tried Esoterica Blackpool, but it's beginning to grow on me. I wouldn't really call it an aromatic, as the licorice is almost non-existent for me, but that's just my opinion. I'm enjoying some now in the DG Viking, with some black dark roast coffee. Make it a great Friday, my friends. :tu


----------



## karatekyle

gahdzila said:


> Sitting outside in the cold almost makes me reconsider my choice of hobbies. It was 36 this morning, but it's warming up a tad already, and I'm bundled up and have my little space heater going...so it's becoming somewhat tolerable now.
> 
> I've got the DG Royalton pot going this morning with the PA/5Bs mix.
> 
> Stay warm, gents!


18* here. When it's less than 20*, I don't feel too bad grabbing my coat to walk to class in the morning. Maybe I'll leave it at home when the sun comes out. High of 43* :wink:


----------



## Dr. Plume

Anni kake in the natural washinton


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> 18* here. When it's less than 20*, I don't feel too bad grabbing my coat to walk to class in the morning. Maybe I'll leave it at home when the sun comes out. High of 43* :wink:


Up to 34* already here. You hardy plainsmen and the locals around here...man! I see 'em out there on the golf course, temps in the low 50s, 15 mile per hour wind, no sun, damp, I'm wearing long johns and some of them are out there in SHORTS and short sleeves! :shock: (Of course, it helps a lot if you're 5' 10"" tall and weigh 250, and I must say I haven't seen many scantily clad skinny people out there lately.) I spent most of my younger years in warmer climes and have never fully adapted to this crappy weather.

More PA, but this time I'm spiking it with some 5B. (I'm slow this morning -- thanks for reminding me, Clifford. I knew something was missing. :tu)


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Up to 34* already here. You hardy plainsmen and the locals around here...man! I see 'em out there on the golf course, temps in the low 50s, 15 mile per hour wind, no sun, damp, I'm wearing long johns and some of them are out there in SHORTS and short sleeves! :shock: (Of course, it helps a lot if you're 5' 10"" tall and weigh 250, and I must say I haven't seen many scantily clad skinny people out there lately.) I spent most of my younger years in warmer climes and have never fully adapted to this crappy weather.
> 
> More PA this time but I'm spiking it with some 5B. (I'm slow this morning -- thanks for reminding me, Clifford. I knew something was missing. :tu)


I should say... I'm a long johns guy by mid October. Flannels and thick jeans, wool socks and boots.


----------



## freestoke

This and one more bowl of 5B finishes the pouch. I think my real problem this morning was a critically low nicotine blood content, so I'm going to remedy that. Searching for my lost Reiner LGF, I happily discovered a boatload of KK! :banana: Think I'll be breaking a jar of that out today, since it's been out of the rotation for weeks.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

C&D Star of the East in a Worobiec 500-4.


worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

Lands End flannel-lined chinos are my winter smoking pants. Not there yet.

Trying SG Bracken Flake for the first time this morning. I hate to say it, but I'm very disappointed that it doesn't offer more flavor. It's not bad, but kind of blah - I was expecting something more akin to our beloved 1792 Flake. Didn't notice any strength to it, either. I'll give it another go on the way home tonight.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Keeping up my deviant nature today, I smoked some Irish Flake in an American cob, and later some English PZ in a Dublin pipe! Then I'll have some oriental leaf out of a Falcon! Ha! _No_ one tells ME what to do! :smokin:

And what are "longjohns"? I've never heard of such things... and "snow"?! What are you guys talking about? BTW 70* here and partly sunny! :tease:


----------



## szyzk

Latakius Vituscan said:


> C&D Star of the East in a Worobiec 500-4.
> 
> 
> worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


Being a Pole myself, I've been eyeing the Worobiecs. I think your photo just gave me the ammunition to start putting some funds aside so I can eventually purchase one.


----------



## AStateJB

The Mad Professor said:


> BTW 70* here and partly sunny! :tease:


:kicknuts:


----------



## karatekyle

ProbateGeek said:


> Lands End flannel-lined chinos are my winter smoking pants. Not there yet.


I don't know how much LE you buy but God bless anything they make with flannel or chambray. Their selection of "working man's" shirting is like a candy store for me.

"I'll take one of these... and one of these... and THREE OF THESE!"


----------



## houncer

Finally had the chance to wake up early and smoke before work. Sticking with 2011 Christmas Cheer for a while. I dried & loaded a bowl last night but the winter air dried it too much over night. I then stuffed the Savinelli full of fresh-out-the-jar stock and I am in business. I have my trusty Lady Grey by my side & I only have a half-day at work today. Life is good, happy weekend.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Started day with fmotb


----------



## Desertlifter

Damn DJ - that's a purty pipe! Have to look at those.

For my part I'm going upscale. PA in a cob. Smoking a bit of the sweetness out of it before the OTC reviews start.

There's still time for sign-ups if anyone else is interested! http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/319056-modest-proposal.html ipe:


----------



## MarkC

I popped a tin of McClelland's Virginia No. 27 from 2006. This is one of those tobaccos I tried early on; I guess I liked it as I bought three tins for the cellar. I'm not sure why; it seems pretty bland. A serviceable Virginia for distracted smokes, but that's about it.


----------



## 36Bones

Up early today. Why? I don't know. I laid out some 1792 to smoke after breakfast. This could possibly be my last post. ound:


----------



## szyzk

Kendal Flake. Have some SG Medium Virginia Flake drying out for my next bowl.


----------



## 36Bones

I only packed a half a bowl of 1792 into the CG. I'm glad I ate a big breakfast. It has some kick, but man is it tasty. It's official, I'm a vitamin N lightweight. I know what my after Thanksgiving dinner smoke is going to be. Thanks for the arm twisting, Terry. I really like this stuff, in moderation, of course. :wink:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had PA in my Hilson Dublin driving up the mountain to work this morning.

This Dublin is the prettiest pipe I own, but I can't find anything that smokes properly, or tastes right in it.


----------



## AStateJB

Up too late for a pipe this morning.  Gotta get ready and go do stuff. I'll make up for it with something stout later.


----------



## ProbateGeek

36Bones said:


> I only packed a half a bowl of 1792 into the CG. I'm glad I ate a big breakfast. It has some kick, but man is it tasty. It's official, I'm a vitamin N lightweight. I know what my after Thanksgiving dinner smoke is going to be. Thanks for the arm twisting, Terry. I really like this stuff, in moderation, of course. :wink:


Moderation, smoderation... I'm intent on beating my 1792 eight-bowls-in-a-day record one of these days. Too bad that I just had to crack open my last jar...

Good stuff, huh? :thumb:


----------



## Dr. Plume

Just finished up a bowl of anni kake yum. Tonight I am having a pipe hang out with a friend. Thinking about doing something crazy with nightcap.


----------



## freestoke

I was so sick of this jar of English Luxury sitting here, that I finally lost patience and dumped the last 5-6 bowls onto the paper plate. Done. Now I HAVE to smoke it. So I'm smoking it, mixed in with a host of other tobacco -- or should I say a ghost of other tobacco? I detect Condor Plug. p And Altadis Black Cavendish. A little dry now, but that means I'll get rid of it that much faster. Burning it up in the Diplomat.


----------



## 36Bones

ProbateGeek said:


> Moderation, smoderation... I'm intent on beating my 1792 eight-bowls-in-a-day record one of these days.


:faint:


----------



## MarkC

Tried a second bowl of No. 27. This time I musketballed and the results were much better.


----------



## AStateJB

Had to wait on the wife to finish getting ready so I had time after all.  Erinmore Flake was a little dry already so it won out. Threw a pinch of Tambo on top to spice it up and get some precious vitamin N. :tu


----------



## freestoke

More of this strange PPP in the Sasieni Canadian to take the heat off it. I might not rid myself of this today. An ounce of English Luxury is forever. :faint:


----------



## SilverStreak

Still getting use to pipes but the rainy weather is making it easier and easier. Enjoying a bowl of CH with coffee courtesy of Houncer


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

szyzk said:


> Being a Pole myself, I've been eyeing the Worobiecs. I think your photo just gave me the ammunition to start putting some funds aside so I can eventually purchase one.


Henryk Worobiec makes a fine pipe and the prices are very reasonable, so your fundraising effort won't take long. My loving wife, a native of Gdansk, called and spoke with his son about Henryk's pipes. She ordered the 500-4 at that time. She travels to Poland every year to visit family and brings one back for her Latakia-smoking husband.



Desertlifter said:


> Damn DJ - that's a purty pipe! Have to look at those.


Thanks, Brian!

This morning I'm smoking Robert McConnell Latakia Flake in a Pete Deluxe 205.


Peterson Deluxe 205 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## szyzk

Latakius Vituscan said:


> She travels to Poland every year to visit family


That sounds lovely. It's been a goal of mine to visit Poland and the towns my family lived in. One of these days...

OK, so the SG MVF was so good I'm working on my second bowl (both out of my Danish LaHerb). Veermaster is currently drying & will be stuffed into my new Johs Tulip when the MVF is finished.


----------



## szyzk

szyzk said:


> Veermaster is currently drying & will be stuffed into my new Johs Tulip when the MVF is finished.


The HV is lit and it is indeed my favorite tobacco. If I could smoke only this, I would.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Coming down the mountain from work (half day) I smoked Bob's Chocolate Flake in the same Hilson Dublin i complained about this morning.

It was a wonderful smoke. It burned right and tasted great. I finally found something that burns well in this Dublin. I think I'm gonna dedicate this pipe to this blend. My first dedicated pipe, and it's my prettiest pipe, and my favorite blend.

I love it when everything works out.


----------



## 36Bones

El wedo del milagro said:


> Coming down the mountain from work (half day) I smoked Bob's Chocolate Flake in the same Hilson Dublin i complained about this morning.
> 
> It was a wonderful smoke. It burned right and tasted great. I finally found something that burns well in this Dublin. I think I'm gonna dedicate this pipe to this blend. My first dedicated pipe, and it's my prettiest pipe, and my favorite blend.
> 
> I love it when everything works out.


Wiser words were never spoken.


----------



## Tony78

Penzance for the very first time in a Savenelli university pipe sitting in the garage listening to the pounding as they put a new roof on my house. I see why Penzance is sold out everywhere...this is very tasty.


----------



## gahdzila

szyzk said:


> The HV is lit and it is indeed my favorite tobacco. If I could smoke only this, I would.


HA! Good luck with _that_! Doesn't it suck eggs to discover that your absolute favorite blend is HTF?

signed,

A Stonehaven lover


----------



## szyzk

gahdzila said:


> HA! Good luck with _that_! Doesn't it suck eggs to discover that your absolute favorite blend is HTF?
> 
> signed,
> 
> A Stonehaven lover


I knew it was my favorite a long time ago, but every time I light it up my feelings are reaffirmed. And while I have a lot - between 3 and 4 lbs, I smoke it slowly and infrequently because I never want to not have it available.

Between this, Penzance and Ennerdale, my tobacco needs would be met.


----------



## freestoke

Ennerdale smokers are the outcasts of the pipe world. out: Needing to open some for the xmas season makes me wonder if Kris Kringle would be nearly as popular if he smoked Ennerdale. (I'm betting he smokes Flying Dutchman -- what else?)

After an opening 4Dot/PA, I'm filling my third cup of coffee and reaching for the TwoDot apple and...:spy:...I've HAD IT with this crap on my desk! I'm opening some Royal Yacht! :frown: Yeah!


----------



## laloin

smoking up a bowl of LTF in my no named bulldog. enjoying it with a cup of mocha


----------



## freestoke

Do I dare try a second bowl of Royal Yacht on my fourth cup of coffee on an empty stomach? I need to play golf later...oh hell yes. :sl


----------



## gahdzila

:lol: Santa _definitely_ smokes Flying Dutchman.

For me, PA, followed by Walnut in a cob. Great stuff.


----------



## 36Bones

Windy here. Smoking some FVF in the MP and some hot Tazo Awake tea.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend in a Castello Le Catene 55.


Castello Le Catene 55 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## BigSarge

Not really morning anymore. But I'm enjoying some H&H Cerberus in a MM Cob.
Got some Escudo on deck for later.


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake for me - breakfast of champions. Provided there is ample black coffee on hand.

There is.

Morning, gents.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Ennerdale smokers are the outcasts of the pipe world.


There seem to be more afficianados of this much reviled tobacco than I would have expected. It seems to be a guilty pleasure for many.

I like Ennerdale (although not smoked much and for long). There. I'm out and proud.

Ennerdale Flake in its dedicated meerschaum!

(in the cold night locally)


----------



## ProbateGeek

That settles it - Ennerdale out to dry for later today.


----------



## szyzk

steinr1 said:


> It seems to be a guilty pleasure for many.


You imply that I feel guilty for liking it, when in fact I most certainly don't! I have unabashed enthusiasm for that odorous weed, and I think the world would be a better place if more men could retreat to their quarters to bask and bathe in its scent.


----------



## AStateJB

szyzk said:


> You imply that I feel guilty for liking it, when in fact I most certainly don't! I have unabashed enthusiasm for that odorous weed, and I think the world would be a better place if more men could retreat to their quarters to bask and bathe in its scent.


And better still if we weren't forced to retreat to anywhere to enjoy it.


----------



## szyzk

AStateJB said:


> And better still if we weren't forced to retreat to anywhere to enjoy it.


Yes, my post should have read "retreat (under no protest) to their quarters". It would be just as wonderful to subject others to Ennerdale without earning a sideways glance!


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> There seem to be more afficianados of this much reviled tobacco than I would have expected.


Maybe not so much a surprise as one would think. I think this is on the inside label, because it isn't on the outside of the can: "Our best selling flake by a wide margin." That's from the "Tin Description" on tobaccoreviews. I'm down to two cans and none open. :shock: Gotta have that on the next invoice!


----------



## Longer ash

Good Morning pipers got me another bowl of Christmas cheer 2012 out and drying while I nub out this cigar and coffee. 
Today is going to be a good day


----------



## Dr. Plume

Sounds like it.


----------



## freestoke

Up for drive to Utica this morning. A veritable heat wave at 28 and another chilly round on the links ahead this afternoon. Played super yesterday, but let me give you an idea of what it's like playing with a frozen golf ball that was left in the trunk overnight. (Today, I'm going to have the foresight to at least take the golf balls out and warm them up.) During the summer, with no wind I hit an eight or nine iron into the first green, maybe a seven or six if I miss the tee shot a little bit. Yesterday I crunched a tee shot down the middle and LABELED a three wood -- 30 yards short. :lol: It was a LONG way around that golf course let me tell you.

Guzzling coffee on The Royal Yacht. I've smoked nothing but since I opened the can yesterday. p


----------



## Dr. Plume

Anni kake on a walk to the post. Gearing up for the review!


----------



## AStateJB

ProbateGeek said:


> 1792 Flake for me - breakfast of champions. Provided there is ample black coffee on hand.
> 
> There is.
> 
> Morning, gents.


Terry, since you like 1792 so much I have to ask, have you tried Cob Plug?


----------



## szyzk

Morning pipers! I'm about to light up some Medium Virginia Flake (in between cups of coffee) and I have some Royal Yacht - my first taste of it, actually - on deck. I didn't need to open another tin, but whattaya gonna do?


----------



## tylernim

I wish I could have a bowl in the mornings.


----------



## 36Bones

Tazo "Awake" tea and smoking a bowl of Anni Kake in the CG. Make it a great Monday. :tu


----------



## Stonedog

SWR this morning. I think this is my second bowl of this stuff and so far so good. A little more interesting than PA with no bite and a pleasant taste.


----------



## AStateJB

The farmer who lives next to our jobsite has a burn pile going this morning and apparently there is some sweetgum in it. It smells like latakia and black cavendish! I don't usually smoke cavendish, but I'm craving some now... :lol:


----------



## Longer ash

36Bones said:


> Tazo "Awake" tea and smoking a bowl of Anni Kake in the CG. Make it a great Monday. :tu


sounds like a good start


----------



## karatekyle

Today is my first day of another 365 day journey around the sun. Celebrating it with a cigar and a Budweiser. Cigar TBA!


----------



## freestoke

Back from the big city after two bowls of SAP in the Pride. That SAP delivers some decent vitamin N since I dropped a little Black XX-laced Metropolitain in it. Has a nice car note. :smile:

Gonna have a little ordinary PA to restore homeostasis.


----------



## The Mad Professor

Happy Birthday Kyle! Hope you have a great day! Enjoy that cigar and beer!

Rebel again - starting the day of with coffee and Nightcap in the Falcon. 

I'll throw my lot in with you other "pipe outcasts", and proudly affirm that I have a bowl of Ennerdale on deck. I really like this stuff, but find myself reaching for other blends more often for various reasons... nicotine mostly! :lol: (although I don't find much of a nic hit with Nightcap, contrary to TobaccoReviews...just me I guess :dunno


----------



## szyzk

karatekyle said:


> Today is my first day of another 365 day journey around the sun. Celebrating it with a cigar and a Budweiser. Cigar TBA!


Well, then...


----------



## ProbateGeek

AStateJB said:


> Terry, since you like 1792 so much I have to ask, have you tried Cob Plug?


Not yet - I was intent on including some in my last order, but it was out of stock. It's on my "to do" list though. And you?

Happy birthday, Kyle - enjoy your (gulp...) Budweiser.

I had a mix on the way in this morning - equal parts Ennerdale Flake and Kendal Kentucky in a Country Gent. I call it Kendal Kenntuckerdale.

Yes, the name needs work...


----------



## szyzk

Going for bowl #2 of Royal Yacht. Where has this stuff been all my life? :lol:

I'll need to study it further, but it's scratching the same itch that Irish Oak does.


----------



## AStateJB

ProbateGeek said:


> Not yet - I was intent on including some in my last order, but it was out of stock. It's on my "to do" list though. And you?


I have not, but I'll be looking for it to come back in stock.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Andrew, it seems we've got lots of Royal Yacht open at the moment. I put 5 tins in my last order. The stuff is just too good. Dammit! Now you've got me wanting to try the Irish Oak - it's been in a few threads in the last week or so. Must quit reading these threads...


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Up for drive to Utica this morning. A veritable heat wave at 28 and another chilly round on the links ahead this afternoon. Played super yesterday, but *let me give you an idea of what it's like playing with a frozen golf ball that was left in the trunk overnight*. (Today, I'm going to have the foresight to *at least take the golf balls out and warm them up*.)


Jim, I think I can safely speak for the entire puff.com piper community when I say, with all sincerity, a heart-felt sense of brotherly comradery, and in the spirit of the coming season, please, throughout this winter, do whatever it takes to keep your damn balls warm.

:cowboyic9:


----------



## The Mad Professor

ProbateGeek said:


> ...please, throughout this winter, do whatever it takes to keep your damn balls warm.


Just please, don't post pictures! :lol:


----------



## 36Bones

Going to be a nice Day. Put some 1792 on top of a half bowl of Anni Kake left over from last night, not bad.


----------



## freestoke

Got a second straight bowl of PA in the 4Dot going and a third coupe duh cafe. Heading out for the penultimate 9 of the year, my past two ventures at 39 and 37. I finish strong every year, just in time to forget everything by the time the snow melts. Leaving for Boston and Turkey Day Thursday, so those last two good days of the season will be golfless. Then winter sets in. out:


----------



## karatekyle

Good morning, pipers. LOTS of coffee this morning. I destroyed two tall Newcastle's with dinner with a mixed six for dessert. 'Twas a good night!


----------



## Longer ash

I got me a cob full of Dan Sweet Vanilla Honeydew nothing is going to stop me now!!!


----------



## The Mad Professor

Morning gents! 

Glad you had a smashed, er I mean smashing birthday, Kyle.

My condolences on the inevitable loss of your loved one Jim. I hope you find solace knowing that your clubs are in a better place... because if you played in the snow they would probably get ruined.

That actually sounds like a pretty good mix, Hilman. I'll have to try that out next time I crack a tin of Anni Kake.

Actually, Jim might appreciate my mix yesterday. I had some various flakes (obviously GH&Co. from their thickness) left in some baggies from a long time ago, so I mixed them and made my own surprise PPP. Upon the first light, it became quite apparent what the mix was: Ennerdale and Louisiana Flake. Floral pepper smoke! :lol: It was actually kind of good.

Had a bowl of some McC bulk English blend this morning, out of the Dublin, with more of the Ennerdale/LF combo to follow.

Two days til Turkeyday... I'm already hungry! :hungry:


----------



## szyzk

HV. I'm working my way through this tin, enjoying every moment, and then the rest will stay sealed for a while.


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> Actually, Jim might appreciate my mix yesterday. I had some various flakes (obviously GH&Co. from their thickness) left in some baggies from a long time ago, so I mixed them and made my own surprise PPP. Upon the first light, it became quite apparent what the mix was: Ennerdale and Louisiana Flake. Floral pepper smoke! :lol: It was actually kind of good.


Sounds ideal! I always try to spill a little Ennerdale on the plate for later. :smile:

Played good again, with a 39. Fun when the ball is behaving itself. I figure the course is playing to about a course rating of 40. Felt pretty warm out there with no wind, but it was in the 40s. :faint:


----------



## steinr1

The Mad Professor said:


> I had some various flakes (obviously GH&Co. from their thickness) left in some baggies from a long time ago, so I mixed them and made my own surprise PPP.


Sounds like good old fashioned Pensioner's Flake (GH made? Can't remember). What happens to the bits and bobs trimmed when making all those lovely rectangular flakes and plugs? Seem too good to waste? They don't. Just add some aromatic topping to meld it all together and voila! Smoked this years ago (impecunious student) and it weren't half bad for the price.

Just interrogated t'internet. This is still made - called Pensioner's Mixture. And it ain't cheap anymore. I suppose given that ex-duty the tobacco costs next to nothing you save very little overall. It used to be considerably cheaper than any other tobacco...


----------



## freestoke

Pensioner's Flake. Canned Paper Plate Potpourri! :lol: Sounds really good, actually. :tu

Starting with PA in the Sasieni rusticated Canadian (the 4Dot is rusticated, too -- must be a morning thing). I'm enjoying this pipe more and more. Light as a feather and eminently clenchable.

A beautiful Turkey Day Eve day here, sunny with no wind whatsoever. Looks like it could be the last golf outing of the year, failing a December warm spell. We played in December last year, pretty sure, so all hope is not yet abandoned. The way I'm putting with this claw grip, I would have won a lot more tournaments if I'd discovered it 40 years ago. Nineteen years ago, I might have even given the Senior Tour a shot!


----------



## gahdzila

Temps have been all over the place here. We had a cold snap last week with lows in the 30s and highs in the 50s. This morning, I don't think it got any colder than 50, and we're supposed to hit 75 tomorrow. And the weatherman is calling for freezing temps Saturday morning :hmm:

The MM Legend was next in the rack this morning. PA/5Bs, followed by SWR/5Bs.


----------



## 36Bones

Upper 70's today in the forecast. Enjoying some coffee and UF in the Diplomat.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Gonna be Peterson's Irish Flake (thanks, John!) in my dad Comoys bent bulldog. Here's to a short day!


----------



## The Mad Professor

HV remnants this morning from the herf last night. Always good times with the Puff crew! Later it will be remnants of Nightcap, followed by a big MMG bowl of PPP.

Looking forward to T-day... especially the pumpkin pie! :dance:

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!


----------



## szyzk

Drying out some RY but I'm much too busy handling the beginnings of our Holiday Sale... I need to light a bowl NOW!


----------



## freestoke

It must have been the Ennerdale snuff that Terry sent me, that I could still smell on the course two hours after taking it. Canning a 20 footer at 8 and a 30 footer at nine for birdies, I carded a very satisfying 34, two under, for my last outing of the year. :banana: Haven't had a score that low since last June, and it was a LOT easier to shoot that score in the summer. Figures. All I need is a 35 to go with it and I would shoot my age -- but the season is over! out:

A quick bowl of PA in the Szabo and off to Boston.


----------



## 36Bones

Up early preparing for the family onslaught, at least it's not at our house this year. :whoo: Having some hot Twinings Breakfast tea and EMP in DG Regal #65.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> I carded a very satisfying 34, two under, for my last outing of the year.


I think this will be directly attributable to the Ennerdale snuff's magic powers (or your skill...).

I'm afraid I'm with Mark Twain on golf " A good walk ruined."


----------



## El wedo del milagro

steinr1 said:


> I'm afraid I'm with Mark Twain on golf " A good walk ruined."


I'm with Churchill on golf, "A game invented by the devil, to be played with tools ill-suited to their purpose."


----------



## El wedo del milagro

...OH!

And Stogey in a bulldog.


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> I'm with Churchill on golf, "A game invented by the devil, to be played with tools ill-suited to their purpose."


I always think long sugar tongs would be the tool of choice for dropping the ball into that little hole.

"Golf is a game in which you claim the privileges of age, and retain the playthings
of childhood" - Samuel Johnson

Starting off the evening with Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls in a half bent Barling Billiard.


----------



## 36Bones

So, it's the day after Turkeygeddon. I trust everyone had a great day with friends and family. Up early and getting ready for round 2. Black coffee and some UF in the Savinelli. Make it a great day after, er....I mean Friday. :tu


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> I think this will be directly attributable to the Ennerdale snuff's magic powers (or your skill...).


I think the Ennerdale Toast explains everything. :tu Golf requires very little skill, rather one need to be in the right frame of mind, for which Ennerdale Toast seems to work magic. As Yogi Berra said of baseball, "...ninety percent mental and the other half is physical."

Just back from a walk with the SAP and the Pride. Silly me, I didn't bring any REAL tobacco to Boston with me. :rant: Just a few more hours and that will be solved, since we'll be hitting the road shortly.


----------



## szyzk

36Bones said:


> So, it's the day after Turkeygeddon. I trust everyone had a great day with friends and family.


Absolutely, and likewise I hope that everybody here had a wonderful day! I cooked for my wife and grandmother; afterwards we took my grandmother home and I pulled out all of her Christmas decorations so that she could start sprucing up the house for next month.



freestoke said:


> *Golf requires very little skill*


I disagree.



freestoke said:


> *rather one need to be in the right frame of mind*


I disagree.



freestoke said:


> *As Yogi Berra said of baseball, "...ninety percent mental and the other half is physical."*


If true - which it's not - then I am disappointed in Yogi making fun of both my mental and physical capacity. There is something else needed to succeed at golf. Basketball, soccer, baseball, football, frisbee, yo-yoing, hockey, dodgeball - you name it, I'm at least passable. Golf? I'm the worst golfer ever.


----------



## steinr1

GH Curly Cut in the Alco earlier. Dry enough now for an encore. This time with a bit of Perique added (got to get the blending tobacco ordered...). I've been inspired/maddened by exchanges on another thread to hope that "real" Three Nuns (in tins, in disks) is available in the Netherlands. However, I can find no trace on the internet so far. The search for the White Whale continues...

(I've had a thought that what the blend needs is a touch more sweetness and a bit more bite to it. I thought maybe a bit of bitey Virginia abd some topping - any suggestions? Starts to look like this blending business is quite tricky. Who would have thought?)


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> It must have been the Ennerdale snuff that Terry sent me, that I could still smell on the course two hours after taking it. Canning a 20 footer at 8 and a 30 footer at nine for birdies, I carded a very satisfying 34, two under, for my last outing of the year. :banana: Haven't had a score that low since last June, and it was a LOT easier to shoot that score in the summer. Figures. All I need is a 35 to go with it and I would shoot my age -- but the season is over! out:
> 
> A quick bowl of PA in the Szabo and off to Boston.


<Golf Clap>

Well played, sir. Golf is an affliction of mine as well, having picked up CFS (chronic fairway syndrome) a short decade ago.

As to shooting my age, I am waiting till I get older.


----------



## Andrewdk

Gonna be a hot one today. Enjoying SWR with 5B in the country gent while it's still cool out.


----------



## szyzk

steinr1 said:


> I've been inspired/maddened by exchanges on another thread to hope that "real" Three Nuns (in tins, in disks) is available in the Netherlands. However, I can find no trace on the internet so far. The search for the White Whale continues...


Good luck. Try as I might I wasn't able to track any down outside of collector's looking to sell their tins at a 10x markup.


----------



## freestoke

Back from Boston in RECORD time! 3:58, door to door. Wow, I just realized -- 67 mph average. :smile: Relaxing with a beer and "The Royal Yacht" in the copious FourDot pot. REAL TOBACCO!! :banana:

Andrew, it's monkey see, monkey do. If you don't play with good players, it's VERY tough to figure things out, even with lessons. If you do, you'll start playing much better in short order watching other people close at hand play the game well. They may or may not give you tips -- they probably will -- but you'll hear them making fun of their partners' (or even opponents') swings, with telling observations about what went wrong. "Wow, Stick, maybe if you just yanked it back a LITTLE faster, you could pick up a gravitational flux on the way back down and maybe keep it out of the trees." Or about what went right. You're ball will be near someone else's, now and again, so there's an immediate comparison of shots available. For example, watching Phil Mickelson wreck an 8-iron farther than I can hit a 4 iron if i catch it square won't bring anything directly home, but watching ME hit a shot from the same spot might actually give you a feel about how you should be doing things in the real, non-world-class player world. You learn the game by osmosis.

That goes for you, too, Brian! Play with better players and the game gets a lot easier. 

I still contend that it's a trick of sorts, at least flying the ball, with lots of ways to accomplish it. Now, rolling the ball (putting, chipping, the short game in general) is as much talent as skill, as much imagination as technique. 

And I'm going to have another bowl of this here RY. p And another beer! :beerchug:


----------



## szyzk

Yeah, I can putt. If there was an amateur putting championship, I'd be sponsored by Nike. Same with chip shots. Give me 30 yards and I'll hit the pin 9 out of 10 times. From 300 yards out, though - the ball has an equal chance of going BEHIND me when I take a shot as it does of going 10 yards forward or 270 yards*.

Needless to say, I don't enjoy golf and will make every excuse in the world NOT to play it. My competitive brain takes a hard beating and I end up frustrated, never enjoying a single minute of it (with or without beers & smokes).

*Forward for 50 yards with a sharp 90 degree turn to the left or right for the remaining 220.


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> *Forward for 50 yards with a sharp 90 degree turn to the left or right for the remaining 220.


You'd be an easy teach. "Oh...is THAT all there is to it!?"


----------



## 36Bones

Good morning fellow pipers. It was great being able to sleep in this morning. It's 29* and windy outside, atm. I think I'll wait a tad before venturing out for my first bowl of the day. I have some FVF in the Savinelli, ready to go at a moments notice. Make it a great Saturday. :tu


----------



## MarkC

I'm having another bowl of Virginia Woods and thinking of swearing to never, ever smoke a McClelland with less than six years on it again.


----------



## freestoke

Got started with the 4Dot and some PA. Back home, for sure! :smile: Another cup of coffee and I'm embarkin on "The Royal Yacht" with the TwoDot Canadian.


----------



## Dr. Plume

This forum is on a royal yatch frenzy! Fmotb in the meer


----------



## Longer ash

good morning pipers I got me a bowl of gl pease Laurel Heights in the works


----------



## AStateJB

Morning everyone. Smoking some Balrog this morning. Didn't quite nail this one on the first try like Smaug, but it's not far off. Just a couple minor tweaks needed and I think it will be ready to do battle with the best wizards on Puff.


----------



## szyzk

IPSD 2012 in my gorgeous bent, paneled McCarter.


----------



## steinr1

szyzk said:


> Good luck. Try as I might I wasn't able to track any down outside of collector's looking to sell their tins at a 10x markup.


I take it that you too are a disappointed aficionado of Three Nuns. It's been so long since I smoked any, I'm wondering if my memory is correct. They were unbroken (usually); dime-sized disks. Reddish with both darker and lighter tobaccos in the spun disks. I remember there being a bit of a shine to them as well, and the tin comments said that they were "sprayed" with some final topping before being tinned. I'm really vague on the last point. Maybe you can remember better.

Taste-wise, definitely VaPer, but sweeter in my memory than most and very prone to tongue bite. Red and other Virginias, Perique, Cavendish (??). And then the topping... I need to watch this as it's starting to become a bit of an obsession.


----------



## szyzk

steinr1 said:


> I take it that you too are a disappointed aficionado of Three Nuns. It's been so long since I smoked any, I'm wondering if my memory is correct. They were unbroken (usually); dime-sized disks. Reddish with both darker and lighter tobaccos in the spun disks. I remember there being a bit of a shine to them as well, and the tin comments said that they were "sprayed" with some final topping before being tinned. I'm really vague on the last point. Maybe you can remember better.
> 
> Taste-wise, definitely VaPer, but sweeter in my memory than most and very prone to tongue bite. Red and other Virginias, Perique, Cavendish (??). And then the topping... I need to watch this as it's starting to become a bit of an obsession.


To be fair, I never smoked the older Three Nuns when fresh. I've only been piping for a few years now... That said, I just finished off the last four disks from a 2002 tin. I couldn't detect a topping of any kind but that doesn't mean it wasn't initially there.

I would say it featured a mix between cavendish and perique, and that's where all of the copies fail. They either try to hit the sweet notes using certain VAs instead of cav, or the spicy notes with certain VAs instead of perique, and nothing is quite right. I was also smoking something pre-aged, though, so that changes ones perceptions - maybe the current copies will be similar in 8 years.

I can confirm that the new Three Nuns is utter garbage compared to the old. The blend isn't even close.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Balkan kick!


----------



## Andrewdk

Brian Fox in a McCarter quarter bent, yummy.


----------



## MarkC

Longer ash said:


> good morning pipers I got me a bowl of gl pease Laurel Heights in the works


I have got to pull a tin of that stuff out one of these days. I went a little crazy on it about two and a half years ago, ended up with eight tins, and haven't touched it since. There's just too many different blends out there, but I'm not complaining.


----------



## steinr1

szyzk said:


> To be fair, I never smoked the older Three Nuns when fresh. I've only been piping for a few years now... That said, I just finished off the last four disks from a 2002 tin. I couldn't detect a topping of any kind but that doesn't mean it wasn't initially there.
> 
> I would say it featured a mix between cavendish and perique, and that's where all of the copies fail. They either try to hit the sweet notes using certain VAs instead of cav, or the spicy notes with certain VAs instead of perique, and nothing is quite right. I was also smoking something pre-aged, though, so that changes ones perceptions - maybe the current copies will be similar in 8 years.
> 
> I can confirm that the new Three Nuns is utter garbage compared to the old. The blend isn't even close.


That chimes in with my notes. I'd say that there is definitely Red Virginia and some lighter Virginia in the mix; pretty obvious visually when fresh (if only - it was spectacular). It does seem to darken with age which may mask the base tobacco appearance. My experiments will continue with with use of GH Curly Cut and Davidoff Medallion Flake. Maybe more of the eye and less of the VaPer surround.

Any memory of the shininess I remember? My memory has this as a definite difference from other flakes or disks. Almost like it was lacquered.

I was loath to completely trash the new blend as many seem to like it, but I agree. A tasteless OTC which doesn't even have enough impact to offend.


----------



## freestoke

I refuse to look this up on principle, so I'll let one of you clue me in if the spirit moves you: What the hell is the BCS Championship? I saw that Notre Dame is headed there, going undefeated (not that I care), but curiosity got the better of me and I punched through to scan the article for a clue -- football, field, touchdown, run, pass, undefeated, kick, BCS, BCS, BCS -- nope, not here. I assume that if you don't know what BCS is by now, you don't deserve to be reading the article anyhow. I guess the old Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, et hoc genus omne, are passe now? :dunno: 

Smoking my 4Dot full of PA, watching white stuff falling from the sky. It's all over the ground. :tsk: Been doing this since Friday night. :tsk: More coffee. MORE COFFEE! :cp


----------



## Tony78

Morning all. After a busy week with my son's birthday, Relatives that came in for the holiday and a clogged kitchen sink it's nice to finally be on the forum again. Yesterday I had some Christmas Cheer in the Pete packed with the Frank method. That was my first time trying frank's method of loading the pipe and I was quite pleased. For this morning I've got some EMP in a Savenelli.


----------



## szyzk

steinr1 said:


> Any memory of the shininess I remember? My memory has this as a definite difference from other flakes or disks. Almost like it was lacquered.


The aged disks were definitely shiny, and a lacquer is probably the best way to explain it. I haven't come across another tobacco with that appearance.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> I refuse to look this up on principle, so I'll let one of you clue me in if the spirit moves you: What the hell is the BCS Championship? I saw that Notre Dame is headed there, going undefeated (not that I care), but curiosity got the better of me and I punched through to scan the article for a clue -- football, field, touchdown, run, pass, undefeated, kick, BCS, BCS, BCS -- nope, not here. I assume that if you don't know what BCS is by now, you don't deserve to be reading the article anyhow. I guess the old Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, et hoc genus omne, are passe now? :dunno:
> 
> Smoking my 4Dot full of PA, watching white stuff falling from the sky. It's all over the ground. :tsk: Been doing this since Friday night. :tsk: More coffee. MORE COFFEE! :cp


You're going to need a few bowls of RY to get through an explanation of the BCS. It's best to not even begin.

It's snowing here also - our side of the hill was getting big, light flakes starting yesterday morning and it's only managed to cover the grass. The side of the hill/plateau/whatever you choose to call it to the east was already inundated with plow trucks as of yesterday morning, so they're getting it much worse than we are.

Our new-found cold has me craving another bowl of IPSD 2012, so I'm going to indulge myself.


----------



## 36Bones

Good morning all. On it's way to 75* and a bit breezy. Enjoying some Tazo _Awake_ tea and GLP Union Square in the DG Viking. Make it a great Sunday. :tu


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> You're going to need a few bowls of RY to get through an explanation of the BCS. It's best to not even begin.


As I fill the FourDot pot, "The Royal Yacht" crew is rigging for heavy weather. Thanks for the forecast, Andrew. :typing: "BCS national championship<enter>"

Ah...Bowl Championship Series. Rose Bowl = Nokia. BCS Championship Game = Nokia. ergo Rose Bowl = National Championship Game. The more it changes, the more it stays the same.

Thanks for the boarding pass, Andrew. The storm seems too have passed and it's smooth sailing here on in.</enter>


----------



## MarkC

Okay, this could very well be just passing on bad information, but the way I heard it was that the blend was called 3 Nuns because it contained three different tobaccos, and that the difference between the old and new blends are that they took out the perique and put Kentucky in it's place. But like I said, that could just be BS.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> I refuse to look this up on principle, so I'll let one of you clue me in if the spirit moves you: What the hell is the BCS Championship? I saw that Notre Dame is headed there, going undefeated (not that I care), but curiosity got the better of me and I punched through to scan the article for a clue -- football, field, touchdown, run, pass, undefeated, kick, BCS, BCS, BCS -- nope, not here. I assume that if you don't know what BCS is by now, you don't deserve to be reading the article anyhow. I guess the old Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, et hoc genus omne, are passe now? :dunno:


Unfortunately, it has been declared illegal to talk about such subjects here in Oregon since the Stanford game...


----------



## 36Bones

MarkC said:


> Unfortunately, it has been declared illegal to talk about such subjects here in Oregon since the Stanford game...


That was a rough one. I was rooting for Oregon. I hope that wasn't the jinx.


----------



## trenschler

Tony78 said:


> .. For this morning I've got some EMP in a Savenelli.


Ditto here. Of course, that can be said for me almost every morning.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

GL Pease Renaissance 2002 in a Castello Le Catene 55. A steaming mug of Ethopia Ardi coffee joining in the morning lift.


----------



## AStateJB

Shelob in my warden.










The test smoke on this one is a success. My first 3 custom blends are finalized!


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> As I fill the FourDot pot, "The Royal Yacht" crew is rigging for heavy weather. Thanks for the forecast, Andrew. :typing: "BCS national championship<enter>"
> 
> Ah...Bowl Championship Series. Rose Bowl = Nokia. BCS Championship Game = Nokia. ergo Rose Bowl = National Championship Game. The more it changes, the more it stays the same.
> 
> Thanks for the boarding pass, Andrew. The storm seems too have passed and it's smooth sailing here on in.</enter>


For this year. Next year it won't be the Rose Bowl that hosts the championship. Thankfully for 2014 (?) they're moving to a four team playoff system.


----------



## steinr1

MarkC said:


> Okay, this could very well be just passing on bad information, but the way I heard it was that the blend was called 3 Nuns because it contained three different tobaccos, and that the difference between the old and new blends are that they took out the perique and put Kentucky in it's place. But like I said, that could just be BS.


As good information as any. Sounds reasonable. Doesn't explain why the RR pouched version produced now is so inferior. A touch of perique added and you'd more or less be away. Sadly, not so.

It would be nice of manufacturers to release their secret bending information one a tobacco is "retired". But this would prevent them selling the rights on to another manufacturer for future production, so I guess we won't ever get that. Just rumours and guesses based on fading memories.


----------



## Dr. Plume

36Bones said:


> Good morning all. On it's way to 75* and a bit breezy. Enjoying some Tazo _Awake_ tea and GLP Union Square in the DG Viking. Make it a great Sunday. :tu


I really dig taro awake tea


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> It would be nice of manufacturers to release their secret bending information one a tobacco is "retired". But this would prevent them selling the rights on to another manufacturer for future production, so I guess we won't ever get that. Just *rumours* and guesses based on fading memories.


You really are an expatriot! :lol:

It seems that Dunhill's recipes have followed the names along, blender to blender, with some fidelity over the years, but I'd bet the real cheese is the name and label. No doubt they could put any tobacco blend in the Royal Yacht can with no legal restrictions, but that would be kinda stupid. Three Nuns? Maybe they thought the sales wouldn't really change dramatically with a slightly altered mix, especially since nobody under the age of 60 knows what it was like back in the Golden Age. (If they remember at all. I've smoked the 1960s version, but have no real memory of it.)


----------



## Desertlifter

Pre-empting the thread for my morning smoke - meticulously planned by reaching into my tub o' tobacco and grabbing it:

Dunhill Nightcap in my Bjarne. Have a good Monday!


----------



## MarkC

steinr1 said:


> Just rumours and guesses based on fading memories.


Or, as they call it now, the internet.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Morning gents. Finishing up the last of a sample of university flake gifted to me by desertlifter on the share Thad a while ago. If you haven't checked out that thread do so and get in on the sharing! http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/315063-puff-tobacco-share-official-thread-15.html








Luckily mycroft bombed me some uni flake so I have popped the top on that and am drying a flake for the next smoke. Steaming cup of French pressed coffee on the side!


----------



## szyzk

Coffee & more IPSD 2012. I smoked a few bowls of this on IPSD but sealed the rest of it up and forgot about it until now. Not sure if it's the severe change in temperature (from 50s-60s to 20s-30s) but this blend is hitting the spot.


----------



## AStateJB

Had some GH Bob's Chocolate Flake in the Diplomat this morning. Not a bad way to start a Monday. Have a good one, gentlemen.


----------



## 36Bones

Nice morning for a Monday. Enjoying some Twinings breakfast tea and Union Square in the DG Regal #65. make it a good day. :tu


----------



## Stonedog

SWR this morning paired with strong Irish Breakfast Tea. Was nice after a long Thanksgiving trip sans pipe or cigar.


----------



## mcgreggor57

It was a Billy Budd start to the week. Surprisingly, no fires to put out or hornets nests to navigate after the long weekend.


----------



## Longer ash

good morning everyone just fired up some davidoff royalty with a nice cup of joe  let the day begin


----------



## The Mad Professor

Argh... coffee, nicotine, stat. It's a Monday... :cp

My kid wore me _out _over this long weekend -- he's so close to walking (took a few steps actually) and he crawls FAST. He understands "no" but just doesn't care. Man, I need to go to work and rest... :lol:

Keeping up with my rebellious ways, I'm having Nightcap this morning again. It's got a decent kick and tastes good enough to start the day with -- I need to find another lat blend with a strong nic kick before this one runs out.

Have a nice Monday, gents!


----------



## freestoke

Had a 4Dot/PA earlier, but now I'm smoking a practice bowl of LGF in the Savinelli, pursuant to my monthly review. First I've had in like a year? :ask:


----------



## Nachman

Been smoking GLP Picadilli in the mornings lately and RY the rest of the day. Picadilli is similar in strength to Chelsea Morning, but not as sweet and with a little more body.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning folks! 18* here, breaking out the flannels. Coffee was fantastic this morning. Not sure if it was just a good pot or if I'm judging all coffee relative to the hotel brews I drank this Thanksgiving! More than likely the latter...


----------



## ProbateGeek

Off the internet at home since Saturday afternoon - good to be back with you, gentlemen.

And you guessed it - 1792 Flake in a Country Gent. I'm so easy... p


----------



## Dr. Plume

The Mad Professor said:


> Argh... coffee, nicotine, stat. It's a Monday... :cp
> 
> My kid wore me _out _over this long weekend -- he's so close to walking (took a few steps actually) and he crawls FAST. He understands "no" but just doesn't care. Man, I need to go to work and rest... :lol:
> 
> Keeping up with my rebellious ways, I'm having Nightcap this morning again. It's got a decent kick and tastes good enough to start the day with -- I need to find another lat blend with a strong nic kick before this one runs out.
> 
> Have a nice Monday, gents!


mine too right on the verge of walking and really keeping us busy. know how you feel brother.


----------



## MarkC

The Mad Professor said:


> Keeping up with my rebellious ways, I'm having Nightcap this morning again. It's got a decent kick and tastes good enough to start the day with -- I need to find another lat blend with a strong nic kick before this one runs out.


Sicko. Opening Night for me.


----------



## gahdzila

The Mad Professor said:


> Argh... coffee, nicotine, stat. It's a Monday... :cp
> 
> My kid wore me _out _over this long weekend -- he's so close to walking (took a few steps actually) and he crawls FAST. He understands "no" but just doesn't care. Man, I need to go to work and rest... :lol:
> 
> Keeping up with my rebellious ways, I'm having Nightcap this morning again. It's got a decent kick and tastes good enough to start the day with -- *I need to find another lat blend with a strong nic kick before this one runs out.*
> 
> Have a nice Monday, gents!


You've had Billy Budd, right? It's a burley/lat/cigar leaf blend. Personally, I think Nightcap tastes a little better, but BB definitely has just as much nic as nightcap, or maybe a bit more.

C&D Pirate Kake is a must try, too. Huge bold lat flavor (it's 70% Latakia mg: ). Medium-strong in nic, maybe a tic less than Nightcap. I've only tried a 1 ounce sample, but I'm gonna order plenty more next time TAD hits me.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> You've had Billy Budd, right? It's a burley/lat/cigar leaf blend. Personally, I think Nightcap tastes a little better, but BB definitely has just as much nic as nightcap, or maybe a bit more.


I was going to suggest that my own self. McConnell Latakia Flake is pretty satisfying, too.


----------



## Desertlifter

MarkC said:


> Sicko. Opening Night for me.


....Pre-empting the thread for my morning smoke - meticulously planned by reaching into my tub o' tobacco and grabbing it:

Dunhill Nightcap in my Bjarne. Have a good Monday!.....

Great minds thinking alike and all that.... ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Guten Morgen! The clubs go in the garage today, but I see next Monday that they're calling for 47. Could there be higher temps on the horizon? :spy: 

Just a little 4Dot/PA to get the ball rolling. p Columbiano this morning, too! Probably will get rid of some snow today, at least, hopefully more than falls.


----------



## Blue Raccoon

Northwoods in a Sav Non-Pareil Black Rustic Pot Billiard


----------



## AStateJB

Frog Morton Across The Pond in my Drimaster this morning.


----------



## MarkC

Okay, just this one more bowl of Caravan and I'm off to bed. Maybe. I think I blew it. You see, I have to be at work at 3PM, so I need to get up at 2. It's already 8. But I'm pretty sure UPS will be coming by with tobacco today and they usually come between 9AM and 9:30, so there's no point in going to bed now. It's going to be a long evening at work. You see, tobacco _is_ bad for you!


----------



## freestoke

Never a moment's rest smoking a pipe, Mark. :faint:

I'm having a freshly cleaned Savinelli full of LGF right now. LGF seems to burn better in a big pipe, possibly because of the larger thread size. And I like it straight out of the can, no extra drying.


----------



## Stonedog

I don't think I posted this morning... Consummate Gentleman in my Edward's Bulldog. I'm almost through this tin and I think it's landed a place in my top 5.


----------



## ProbateGeek

I'm sailing the Royal Yacht this morning, with a fine Country Gent as a sailmate.


----------



## lostdog13

Maltese Falcon (Thanks MarkC) in my MM Diplomat


----------



## gahdzila

Ahhhhh, Wednesday.  My favorite day of the week. It's my day off work, the kids are at school, and I've usually got nothing pressing to do. Grocery shopping later, most likely...otherwise, I plan to sit in my chair and drink lots of coffee and do a lot of smoking today.

First up - the Dr Grabow Freedom 1812. I didn't finish it last night, so there was still half a bowl left this morning. SWR, 5Bs, and PPP DGT'ing on the bottom, and I topped the bowl with my breakfast blend - PA and 5Bs. WOW - is that enough acronyms for ya? :lol: It's cold out, but the coffee is hot and the pipe is warm and delicious.


----------



## freestoke

Ordinarily, this would go to the rant thread, but I thought I'd make it my first post of the morning here, while I'm still in a bad mood. Time Warner. Anybody afraid yet? :spy: I thought Patrick Stewart had said something amusing when he tweeted, "All I wanted to do was set up a new account with [Time Warner Cable] but 36hrs later I've lost the will to live," but now I know he meant it. All Audrey wanted to do was replace their modem with one she bought, to avoid the OUTRAGEOUS rental fee. We followed directions, gave them the MAC address, waited the required 24 hours (totally nonsensical) and tried the new modem. No dice. It goes online and puts you into their TWC fishbowl, with a smiling face and numbers to call. Putting the old modem back on line, we chatted for an hour with help. Tried again. No dice, fishbowl. Now, after an hour on the phone, Audrey is boosted to 'LEVEL THREE' and disconnected for the second time. (Which also gives me a real warm fuzzy about their phone service, that we fortunately don't have.) Eventually, after three hours of diddling, the penny falls: Apparently, you have to return their stinking modem (which probably cost them $20 each or something in bulk), before they will activate the new one. You HAVE to be kidding. :rant: I will categorically say, that whoever is responsible for this policy would have no mercy from me if I had the power to put him out into streets, taking his home and all his worldly possessions, leaving him to collect unemployment checks until they ran out -- and remain on the public dole for the remainder of his miserable existence. If it's merely a thoughtless mistake, then the person responsible for making it should be fired as being entirely too stupid to have a job involving that much power. If it's intentional, to make switching modems more difficult and annoying so that people give up and rent their stinking modem anyhow, then those making this policy should be imprisoned in an institution for the criminally insane.

Here's how it should work in a sane, honest, and company: Chat online with someone or phone them (or go to your account and do it yourself), give them the new MAC address and when they have it, swap out the modems. (The software should have taken care of everything, once the account is on the screen and the MAC address is typed in. "Apply" in other words. This process should take less than a minute, once you've gotten hold of somebody.) You now have a grace period, say a week, to bring back the old modem. They have lost nothing whatsoever, and if the old modem fails to show up, it's a simple matter of turning off your new modem until you cough it up. Making you return the old modem first is -- evil. Oh...one other thing. While she is on the phone, having called them multiple times (after disconnects at their end), they ask her for her PIN -- AGAIN. She gives it. It's the same one she's been using for the past few hours/days. It's the same one printed on her service agreement. In a barely understandable Indian accent, she is told, "I'm sorry, that is wrong PIN. You will have to call this number to get a new pin." Nightmarish. To her credit, she did manage to scream her way past that one. If the modem doesn't work this afternoon, I think she's going to have her charge card challenge the service this month and cancel the rest of it, before she and I lose the will to live and enter into a suicide pact with Patrick Stewart.

It takes more than PA this morning. I need the tranquility of the Royal Yacht in the capacious NoDot Canadian. p And some Columbian coffee, as I wish her godspeed at the TWC offices in Rome.


----------



## AStateJB

I was woken by Anni this morning. Now she is gone. Nothing more than a lingering sweetness on my lips. A VAPer in the wind...

Mmmmm... I love you Anni Kake! :lol:

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Jim. Sounds like an extra bowl of something good is called for. :tu


----------



## freestoke

AStateJB said:


> Sorry to hear about your troubles, Jim. Sounds like an extra bowl of something good is called for. :tu


Audrey just returned from the TWC office in Rome. There was a long line of irate women with bags of modems, all with the same complaint. Naturally, in concert with the rest of their service, there was only one clerk who knew nothing and could do nothing but accept the returns with apologies. Audrey made it clear that she wasn't yelling at the clerk, but loudly made her case, threatening to end service if it didn't work this afternoon. She says she left to applause. She is quite -- um -- well-spoken. :lol:

Noticed a jar of Grousemoor, which seemed appropriate for the next smoke. The remainder of the jar fit perfectly into the FourDot pot and I'm finishing another container! :smile: Grousemoor is pretty good! I'd say it's a little like having the Ennerdale lady living next door. p


----------



## mcgreggor57

I'm lazy: FM in MM CG


----------



## freestoke

Going for a more placid approach, with the last of Scotch's 20 year old Sail Green. I really like this stuff! I'll bet it's not as good anymore, cynic that I am. Twenty years' age no doubt helps, though. :tu Thanks, Scotch. That was a lot of good smokes! p


----------



## The Mad Professor

Wow Jim, sorry about your troubles. I've never had a problem with TWC, but have many grievences with Charter and Verizon. My biggest complaint about TWC is Charter was cheaper, even though they have been ranked the 3rd most hated company in the USA, according to Business Insider. 

Finished a bowl of Nightcap from last night, spiced with a little Three Friars - quite a good mix actually. Oh, and thanks for the recommendations on some stronger lat blends, guys!

Now starting a huge bowl of the Ennerdale/LF mix in the MMG. This should last most of the day.

Thank goodness the week is nearly half over!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Some borrowed 1792 Flake in the Sav Venezia billiard/lovat. Good morning smoke, with some English Breakfast tea & honey.


----------



## GlassEye

2 year old LTF in GBD canadian, with English breakfast tea.


----------



## freestoke

The Mad Professor said:


> Wow Jim, sorry about your troubles. I've never had a problem with TWC, but have many grievences with Charter and Verizon. My biggest complaint about TWC is Charter was cheaper, even though they have been ranked the 3rd most hated company in the USA, according to Business Insider.


TWC actually provides a pretty decent service, as long as there's not a problem. Apparently, they don't have any real programmers on board, or decent database designers. I recently canceled some premium channels (one movie a month worth watching wasn't getting the job done). I could hear frantic typing going on interminably in the background, obviously part of some tedious process that should have been little more than clicking a box(es) and hitting the submit button. They also have a habit of asking you over and over for information that SHOULD BE ON THE SCREEN ALREADY. They've verified my phone number, my name, my address and my PIN. Shouldn't they have my account number by now!? :rant: I'm reminded of installation packages that ask you to enter the date and time instead of reading it off the system clock the way a real programmer would do it, or IP addresses that it can read for itself, or similar info that is available to the shell. I hate stupidity, but I especially hate stupid inefficiency inflicted on me by inferior programmers.

This Sail Green continues to smolder beautifully in the TwoDot Canadian. Tastes extra nice this morning. :smile:


----------



## Desertlifter

Pre-empting the morning posts with my morning smoke - kicking off my part of the modest proposal thread with SWR in a cob.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All, I used my Edward's Bulldog to have my first taste of Edward's Reserve Blend. Fitting, right? My suspicion that this is just rubbed out LNF plus Latakia grows, but don't take that as a complaint. I enjoyed it and it reminded me a bit of Fillmore, just less nic.


----------



## Longer ash

good morning pipers hhmmm what to smoke what to smoke I got 3 davidoff medallions drying till then I will finish up some old samples of mb plum pudding


----------



## AStateJB

Didn't have time to dry anything this morning, but I did load some 4noggins Baldheaded Teacher into my MM Diplomat for later.


----------



## freestoke

With close to 6" of lake effect last night, it's quite pretty out with the sun and blue sky. Warms days ahead, so snow removal isn't required just yet. Hopefully the ground will be clear by xmas.

Just some PA in the 4Dot so far, but I'm set to embark shortly for a cruise on the Royal Yacht, with multiple cups of fresh ground Columbian to keep me warm. :cp


----------



## szyzk

This morning I set a baggie of Lancers Slices aside to bring to work and it's still sitting on the counter at home.

So it looks like I'll be exclusive to Royal Yacht today as that's all I have here with me!


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> This morning I set a baggie of Lancers Slices aside to bring to work and it's still sitting on the counter at home.
> 
> So it looks like I'll be exclusive to Royal Yacht today as that's all I have here with me!


Hard cheese, Andrew! I'll try to keep the side up with a few bowls here for moral support. p Keep a stiff upper lip, you'll get through. :tu


----------



## steinr1

Longer ash said:


> good morning pipers hhmmm what to smoke what to smoke I got 3 *davidoff medallions* drying till then I will finish up some old samples of mb plum pudding


These don't seem to get the profile they deserve on this forum. Really high quality VaPer with the added lift of the Cavendish. Probably the nicest looking tobacco I know of as well.

Pop goes a tin of this and into a Barling's Make S-M Zulu. I'm so easily led.


----------



## szyzk

steinr1 said:


> These don't seem to get the profile they deserve on this forum. Really high quality VaPer with the added lift of the Cavendish. Probably the nicest looking tobacco I know of as well.
> 
> Pop goes a tin of this and into a Barling's Make S-M Zulu. I'm so easily led.


You're absolutely correct, barely anyone mentions them around here. Royalty is quite nice too, if you're in the mood for a pipe bowl full of butter.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Bracken Flake in a Country Gent. Well, half a bowl anyway. This stuff has zero flavor to me. I'm starting over with a bowl of fresh Royal Yacht. 

Life's too short for tasteless.


----------



## 36Bones

It's supposed to be 75* today and no wind, but outside, right now, It's 40* and winder than Rosanne Barr singing the National Anthem. Awesome breakfast from the wife and now, espresso and a bowl of Esoterica Blackpool in the Diplomat. Make it a great Friday, my friends. :tu


----------



## 36Bones

ProbateGeek said:


> Life's too short for tasteless.


Hear, Hear!!


----------



## Stonedog

Edward's Reserve again, this time in the Country Gentleman. Not much more to add...


----------



## gahdzila

Fall piano recital is Sunday. Time to FREAK OUT! mg: In the ~2 years I've been taking lessons, I don't think my performance anxiety has improved ONE BIT. It's not paralyzing fear, but I definitely tense up....which makes my playing worse...which makes me more tense....vicious cycle. 

PA/5Bs in a cob. 

If anyone's looking for me, I'll be in the music room practicing. After I finish my pipe, that is


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Life's too short for tasteless.


Damn straight. Dig out the Thrasher's, Terry, and live a little!

I'm stoking up the Darth Rader with PA this morning, after suddenly discovering yesterday that it's -- FAMOUS! :banana: *http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...-carver-pipe-making-thread-2.html#post3743769 *I think I'll smoke it all day, since it's been my POD for weeks now without actually smoking it! :lol: Actually, my pipe rotation has been pretty small lately, 4Dot, FourDot Canadian, NoDot Canadian, FourDot pot, cob, cob, cob, cob. Haven't even smoked the FourDot apple much, and that could be my favorite pipe! Or is it the Mayfair, that I just broke out of hibernation last night after many weeks on the rack. And my favorite pipe, the Bari Dana, now sadly unused. And my other favorite pipe...sigh. I need to smoke more!! p

I need more coffee to deal with the infrequently smoked favorite pipe syndrome. :cp


----------



## Longer ash

Good Morning pipers going to start the day off with a bowl of Virginia Alliance and a big cup of Joe


----------



## 36Bones

freestoke said:


> Damn straight. Dig out the Thrasher's, Terry, and live a little!
> 
> I'm stoking up the Darth Rader with PA this morning, after suddenly discovering yesterday that it's -- FAMOUS! :banana: *http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...-carver-pipe-making-thread-2.html#post3743769 *I think I'll smoke it all day, since it's been my POD for weeks now without actually smoking it! :lol: Actually, my pipe rotation has been pretty small lately, 4Dot, FourDot Canadian, NoDot Canadian, FourDot pot, cob, cob, cob, cob. Haven't even smoked the FourDot apple much, and that could be my favorite pipe! Or is it the Mayfair, that I just broke out of hibernation last night after many weeks on the rack. And my favorite pipe, the Bari Dana, now sadly unused. And my other favorite pipe...sigh. I need to smoke more!! p
> 
> I need more coffee to deal with the infrequently smoked favorite pipe syndrome. :cp


The grain on the pipe is absolutely stunning!! :faint: If, you ever decide to lose it in a box, and accidently send it to Texas, I promise I'll return it. :mischief:


----------



## Stonedog

gahdzila said:


> Fall piano recital is Sunday. Time to FREAK OUT! mg: In the ~2 years I've been taking lessons, I don't think my performance anxiety has improved ONE BIT. It's not paralyzing fear, but I definitely tense up....which makes my playing worse...which makes me more tense....vicious cycle.
> 
> PA/5Bs in a cob.
> 
> If anyone's looking for me, I'll be in the music room practicing. After I finish my pipe, that is


I've been reading about performance anxiety as I suffer from this at times (like when I'm presenting at an AppleSeed, for example). Some of the most interesting advice I've read on this great interweb has to do with changing your perception of the audience and your understanding of their expectations. Realizing that they're not there to grade and judge you, but to share your experience and enjoy and/or learn from what you're sharing with them. Sounds a little too touchy feely for me, but it is an interesting (and for me novel) way to look at the problem.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> Fall piano recital is Sunday. Time to FREAK OUT! mg: In the ~2 years I've been taking lessons, I don't think my performance anxiety has improved ONE BIT. It's not paralyzing fear, but I definitely tense up....which makes my playing worse...which makes me more tense....vicious cycle.


Rehearse. Pay your kid to watch you do your recital. :lol: Try smiling while you practice for your recital -- consciously put a smile on your face as you play, and listen to yourself, finding the music in what you're doing, rather than the "correct notes". Blurring a passage means nothing to the listeners. Blast right on by the mistakes -- sometimes little goofs can sound better than the right notes, as long as the rhythm remains intact. If it falls apart, no big deal. A confident pause, a smile, then start on the next part. Don't draw attention to the fact that you've screwed up and the only ones who will notice are you and your teacher. SMILE WHILE YOU PLAY. You don't have to reach the Nat King Cole level of toothy nonchalance, but a furrowed brow does not lend itself to an internal musical sense. A common mannerism one sees with good piano players is that when they sit down, they stretch their arms before they start, to loosen the muscles in the shoulders. Guitar players do something similar, even holding the right hand down, flexing and shaking it to relax the hand before starting -- anything to break up the "impetus" of performing before the play(ing) begins. Practice the recital. Make believe you are doing it "live", not merely improving your command of the piece. In short, stop practicing and start playing when you go through your recital piece(s).

Stoking up the Darth Rader again, with some Royal Yacht. This pipe is smoking really well right now! Took a while to break it in, but I think it has "arrived". :banana:


----------



## gahdzila

Stonedog said:


> I've been reading about performance anxiety as I suffer from this at times (like when I'm presenting at an AppleSeed, for example). Some of the most interesting advice I've read on this great interweb has to do with changing your perception of the audience and your understanding of their expectations. Realizing that they're not there to grade and judge you, but to share your experience and enjoy and/or learn from what you're sharing with them. Sounds a little too touchy feely for me, but it is an interesting (and for me novel) way to look at the problem.


Basically, the old axiom of pretending they're all in their underwear. Good advice :thumb:



freestoke said:


> Pay your kid to watch you do your recital.


Oh, he'll be there. He's performing, too!

Or do you mean practice performing at home in front of the kids as an "audience"? Good advice. I plan to.



freestoke said:


> Try smiling while you practice for your recital -- consciously put a smile on your face as you play, and listen to yourself, finding the music in what you're doing, rather than the "correct notes". Blurring a passage means nothing to the listeners. *Blast right on by the mistakes -- sometimes little goofs can sound better than the right notes, as long as the rhythm remains intact.* If it falls apart, no big deal. A confident pause, a smile, then start on the next part. *Don't draw attention to the fact that you've screwed up and the only ones who will notice are you and your teacher.* SMILE WHILE YOU PLAY. You don't have to reach the Nat King Cole level of toothy nonchalance, but a furrowed brow does not lend itself to an internal musical sense. A common mannerism one sees with good piano players is that when they sit down, they stretch their arms before they start, to loosen the muscles in the shoulders. Guitar players do something similar, even holding the right hand down, flexing and shaking it to relax the hand before starting -- anything to break up the "impetus" of performing before the play(ing) begins. Practice the recital. Make believe you are doing it "live", not merely improving your command of the piece. In short, stop practicing and start playing when you go through your recital piece(s).


More great advice. You're definitely right about blasting through little mistakes. I think every performer _makes_ mistakes, but pausing and resetting or trying to "fix" them calls attention to them. A good performer blasts right through without even slowing down, and no one notices. Unfortunately, it's easier said than done. I'm consciously working on exactly that now. _Rehearsing_ rather than _practicing._


----------



## Stonedog

gahdzila said:


> Basically, the old axiom of pretending they're all in their underwear. Good advice :thumb:


Not exactly. What I took from it is that you have to look at the audience not as critics but as a group of people that are interested in what you are about to do and are happy to be there to witness it.

Jim showed me up with his advice anyway - RG to Jim if I hadn't already given him some in the last few weeks.


----------



## steinr1

gahdzila said:


> Basically, the old axiom of pretending they're all in their underwear.


I imagine about 50% of the population like that anyway. And I enjoy about 50% of that experience.


----------



## freestoke

How's this for the "smile idea", Clifford. :lol:

Johann Sebastian Bach, Sonata II BWV 1003, Fuga - YouTube


----------



## ProbateGeek

Jim - I would give a great deal to be her leg stand. Classical guitar chicks are hot!

:biggrin:


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> How's this for the "smile idea", Clifford. :lol:
> 
> Johann Sebastian Bach, Sonata II BWV 1003, Fuga - YouTube


VERY NICE!


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> How's this for the "smile idea", Clifford. :lol:
> 
> Johann Sebastian Bach, Sonata II BWV 1003, Fuga - YouTube


A technically competent performance, but would this have its nigh on half million hits if it wasn't a "Fruity Girl playing an Instrument" (Ooh errrr! I'm ashamed. Can't help myself even when discussing this...)? I think not. It saddens me somewhat to know that it is a very long time (if ever) since I saw a plug-ugly dame on the cover of BBC Music Magazine which I have taken since it started 20 years ago. Loads of Fruity Girls, but no Plain Janes. My wife even jokes about this and asks each month who the "Cover Girl" is. The men are allowed to be as ugly as sin - it's the music that counts there. Life ain't fair.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> The men are allowed to be as ugly as sin - it's the music that counts there. Life ain't fair.


Half of it's good grooming. Ever see the lady figure skaters without makeup? :shock: But you''re right, I guess. I pulled her out of the hat because of the seraphic smile on her face while she plays. :smile: It comes across better than Janis Joplin, ya know?

Good morning, Melbourne! :wave: I just finished a bowl of 1792 that I found in a baggie hidden on my desk. I remember now...I jarred some up and put a flake or two in a baggie to smoke, and there it's been for weeks, crispy at this point. Too crispy, but not horrible in the end. p


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Half of it's good grooming. Ever see the lady figure skaters without makeup? :shock: But you''re right, I guess. I pulled her out of the hat because of the seraphic smile on her face while she plays. :smile: *It comes across better than Janis Joplin, ya know? *


Compare Janis Joplin with our lovely, home-grown Cheryl Cole:

Janis - Raw, exuberant, emotional and emotive, pure talent.

Cheryl - Proof of how just far you can get on good looks and Auto-Tune alone.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Compare Janis Joplin with our lovely, home-grown Cheryl Cole:
> 
> Janis - Raw, exuberant, emotional and emotive, pure talent.
> 
> Cheryl - Proof of how just far you can get on good looks and Auto-Tune alone.


Never heard of Cheryl. I'm betting Janis Joplin is still more famous, though, forty years on. I never liked her all that much, being more a Gracie Slick kinda guy. Gracie was a real hippie (almost the definitive hippie :hippie, while Janis was more just a ******* juicehead. Plus, Gracie wrote "White Rabbit" -- genius tune. :tu I probably would have liked Me and Bobby McGee better if she hadn't called the harmonica a "harpoon". groan. Always just hated that. (Plus, the Appalachian xmas carol they put new words to is much nicer with Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Linda Ronstadt singing it in the traditional way that makes MaBM sound musically sloppy and klutzy by comparison. I don't care much for xmas carols in the main, but that's one that should get some play and never does.) Janis was guilty of the Sinatra-esque "one more time" thing, too. Repeating a phrase more than three times, never mind ten or twelve, at the end of a tune is TEDIOUS -- should be illegal. I don't deny Janis could really sing, though -- when she was sober.

Got the Darth Rader and some PA wishing everybody a good morning! p


----------



## 36Bones

Breakfast. Check! Coffee. Check! Virginia Woods in the Savinelli. Check! Total= a great Saturday.


----------



## freestoke

I popped some Peterson's Christmas 2011 yesterday. Talk about a nice room note! :tu Had some spillage onto the paper plate, along with some crumbs of 1792, so I mixed some PA with it. FINE! Reusing the Darth Rader. Just now climbing above freezing. We could even be punishing the pill Monday or Tuesday. :banana: December golf is always good.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> Janis was more just a ******* juicehead... ... I probably would have liked Me and Bobby McGee better if she hadn't called the harmonica a "harpoon". groan. Always just hated that.


That song was written by Kris Kristofferson, one of my all time favorites.

He wrote that line as "pulled my Harp from my dirty red bandanna". Janis, as usual, upped the emotional content by changing it to "harpoon". Harpoon is slang for both harmonica, and needle. One tiny change and Janis turned a beautiful sad and wistful song into something truly poignant.

I love ya Jim, yer one of my favorites here on the pipe forums... but yer WAY too "tweedy" to ever understand anythin' "downhome".


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> *Never heard of Cheryl.* I'm betting Janis Joplin is still more famous, though, forty years on. I never liked her all that much, being more a Gracie Slick kinda guy. Gracie was a real hippie (almost the definitive hippie :hippie, while Janis was more just a ******* juicehead. Plus, Gracie wrote "White Rabbit" -- genius tune. :tu I probably would have liked Me and Bobby McGee better if she hadn't called the harmonica a "harpoon". groan. Always just hated that. (Plus, the Appalachian xmas carol they put new words to is much nicer with Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Linda Ronstadt singing it in the traditional way that makes MaBM sound musically sloppy and klutzy by comparison. I don't care much for xmas carols in the main, but that's one that should get some play and never does.) Janis was guilty of the Sinatra-esque "one more time" thing, too. Repeating a phrase more than three times, never mind ten or twelve, at the end of a tune is TEDIOUS -- should be illegal. I don't deny Janis could really sing, though -- when she was sober.
> 
> Got the Darth Rader and some PA wishing everybody a good morning! p


You don't know our Cheryl?!! Don't bother.

Grace Slick did have some astounding pipes. But wasn't quite as Hippy as Janis (God - the things you choose to argue over...). Grace was a firmly a nice, white, middle class girl. A mainstream fashion model (albeit, I think, at the same time as she was singing with the Great Society - for whom she wrote White Rabbit and other "Airplane" classics) with credits in Harper's Bazaar (again, I think). Graduated University. She apparently maintained her standards while all around her were abandoning theirs. I've read articles from the time on her that showed surprise that you would never have imagined that the clean, pretty, well turned out and polite young lady was the same infamous Grace Slick that caused panic in the hearts of parents of teenage girls. You couldn't say that about Janis. She dove into the full Hippy lifestyle with gay abandon, dropped out of University (where the Texas ******** obviously LOVED her) and went to live the life in Southern California. Archetypal Hippy Chick? I give you Janis Joplin. But she did have dreadful taste in backing bands. And Grace made the mistake of not dying (at the correct age of 27). You simply can't be a real legend and live a full life. Have you seen her now? She looks like someones grandma. A relatively good looking grandma (you don't lose the cheekbones), granted, but a grandma nonetheless. Due to her foresight in dying young (at 27 - as is dictated), you can't imagine and never have to see Janis as a oldie. *THE* Hippy Chick.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Janis did lots of things other artists could never imagine doing.

She fell madly in love with pigpen (the original leader of the Grateful Dead, before Jerry) and once she figured out he would never be her man, she fell apart and cried and told the story to a crowded amphitheatre of thousands. She cried, and the whole audience cried with her.

She knew how to move people.


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> Janis did lots of things other artists could never imagine doing.
> 
> She fell madly in love with pigpen (the original leader of the Grateful Dead, before Jerry) and once she figured out he would never be her man, she fell apart and cried and told the story to a crowded amphitheatre of thousands. She cried, and the whole audience cried with her.
> 
> She knew how to move people.


Janis's voice was indeed a window to her heart. She's sadly missed. Though in a way I don't regret the fact that we don't have a sad, burnt out remnant of her to this day, which we surely would have if she had lived.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> You don't know our Cheryl?!! Don't bother.
> 
> Grace Slick did have some astounding pipes. But wasn't quite as Hippy as Janis (God - the things you choose to argue over...). Grace was a firmly a nice, white, middle class girl. A mainstream fashion model (albeit, I think, at the same time as she was singing with the Great Society - for whom she wrote White Rabbit and other "Airplane" classics) with credits in Harper's Bazaar (again, I think). Graduated University. She apparently maintained her standards while all around her were abandoning theirs. I've read articles from the time on her that showed surprise that you would never have imagined that the clean, pretty, well turned out and polite young lady was the same infamous Grace Slick that caused panic in the hearts of parents of teenage girls. You couldn't say that about Janis. She dove into the full Hippy lifestyle with gay abandon, dropped out of University (where the Texas ******** obviously LOVED her) and went to live the life in Southern California. Archetypal Hippy Chick? I give you Janis Joplin. But she did have dreadful taste in backing bands. And Grace made the mistake of not dying (at the correct age of 27). You simply can't be a real legend and live a full life. Have you seen her now? She looks like someones grandma. A relatively good looking grandma (you don't lose the cheekbones), granted, but a grandma nonetheless. Due to her foresight in dying young (at 27 - as is dictated), you can't imagine and never have to see Janis as a oldie. *THE* Hippy Chick.


Hell, Gracie's older than I am! And looks to be in a lot better shape, too! :lol: They were both middle class drop outs, with Joplin married to a -- gasp -- Texaco engineer, so there's not much to choose from there. Gracie was famous for being too smashed to perform, so they were both juiceheads, I guess. I think there was a schism in the hippie world right about Joplin time, with the Bacchanalian branch abandoning all propriety and common sense, while Baba Ram Das and the Mahesh Yogi lead off in another direction. I suppose my aversion to Joplin was that a lot of the tunes are "country and western mournful", a little too touch feely, for want of a better term, while Gracie was more in the loud and trippy Jimi Hendrix direction. Hippie revolutionary versus the Age of Aquarius' version of one more for my baby and one more for the road. Planning to spike Richard Nixon's drink with LSD on a visit to the White House with Abbie Hoffman is the real hippie ideal, versus zoning out with a bottle of Southern Comfort and a heroin habit. Where was Janis when we were trying to elevate the Pentagon!? Gracie was with us!







...I think. :spy:

Robert, I'm just your basic bar bore. Anything I say can and should be used for entertainment purposes only. :beerchug:


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> Janis did lots of things other artists could never imagine doing.
> 
> She fell madly in love with pigpen (the original leader of the Grateful Dead, before Jerry) and once she figured out he would never be her man, she fell apart and cried and told the story to a crowded amphitheatre of thousands. She cried, and the whole audience cried with her.
> 
> She knew how to move people.


I don't doubt it for a minute, but I can honestly say that that kind of thing makes me extremely uncomfortable. :behindsofa:


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Janis's voice was indeed a window to her heart. She's sadly missed. Though in a way I don't regret the fact that we don't have a sad, burnt out remnant of her to this day, which we surely would have if she had lived.


My god, it's like in the movie "The Odd Couple", when Oscar leaves the room with everybody laughing to mix a couple of drinks and comes back to find Felix and the two girls crying their eyes out. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Ya got a hard heart there, Tweedy Mc Gee. :roll:


----------



## lostdog13

Janis never felt part of the community growing up, and found music as an escape. She had a lot of trouble trying to be comfortable in her own skin, and alcohol and drugs were a way for her to cope with trying to be comfortable as her and somehow living up to what was expected of her from her family (she was a southern girl after all). This was impossible as she was expected to go to school and eventually marry and raise a family. Her death is attributed to a stronger than normal batch of heroin. There were a bunch of deaths that weekend from OD. Janis Joplin is one of my favorites, so I learned everything I could about her. My oldest memories of music are of Bobby McGee being played through a stereo on an 8-track cassette.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> ...while Baba Ram Das and the Mahesh Yogi lead off in another direction.


Laughing, I believe, all the way to the bank...

Mahesh Yogi did the Yogic Flying thing, I think. I'm off to find some on YouTube. I'll laugh till I cry.

That didn't take long.






Not be best I've seen, but still funny.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Laughing, I believe, all the way to the bank...
> 
> Mahesh Yogi did the Yogic Flying thing, I think.


Transcendental Meditation definitely brought in the big bucks, but Ram Das wasn't quite able to get it into gear. Wow, that Yogic Flying is really something! :shock: How do you know when to jump? :ask: Seems like that would break up your navel gazing in a hurry. And what's with all the clothes? I thought you were supposed to wear a loincloth for that sort of thing.


----------



## MarkC

Damn. I'd have a hell of a time choosing between Grace Slick and Janis Joplin. Strangely enough considering which one died young, I'd have to go with Joplin for the body of her work, but _White Rabbit_ would probably be my pick for number one song of all time. And _Somebody to Love_ isn't bad either.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> Ya got a hard heart there, Tweedy Mc Gee. :roll:


:lol: I'm a softy for REAL problems, but unrequited young love does not meet any of my requirements for a real problem. Everybody's got a sad story, as they say.

Got the last of the refill jar of PA in the 4Dot, so it looks like I'll have to make a trip to the canister in while. Fresh ground Columbian this morning.


----------



## 36Bones

Muggy this morning 92% RH and 66* already, heading to 80*. This is December? mg: Enjoying some Virginia Woods in the DG Viking and drinking some Tazo "Awake" tea.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Damn. I'd have a hell of a time choosing between Grace Slick and Janis Joplin. Strangely enough considering which one died young, I'd have to go with Joplin for the body of her work, but _White Rabbit_ would probably be my pick for number one song of all time. And _Somebody to Love_ isn't bad either.


Back to Robert's original grousing about what sexist twits men are, and how unfair it is that pretty girls get all the breaks: when I was 27, the better looking the better. It's all in the hormonal flux. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

A DGT in the Darth Rader from last night, but it didn't last long. I think it was Peterson xmas 2011, plus some heftier leavings off the paper plate -- good! :tu Onto The Royal Yacht, Darth Rader redux.


----------



## MarkC

This morning I'm smoking my own concoction. Two parts three year old HOTW to one part three year old McCranie's Red Ribbon that sat in the cabinet for six months. It's not bad, but I can't say it's an improvement on the two original blends.


----------



## gahdzila

Starting off with PA/5Bs, as usual, in the DG Big Pipe walnut dublin. I'll be smoking some new stuff today! Got a bunch of samples in the mail from some very generous BOTLs here, and I am completely out of mason jars. I don't like leaving stuff laying around in ziplocks, so I'll be getting started on it post haste!


----------



## gahdzila

Peterson Holiday. Not bad!


----------



## freestoke

Employing the trusty 4Dot with a bottom load of VCF and a top load of the PA powder at the bottom of the jar. Needed something to keep the crumbs from going up the stem, plus a little aromatic for the late morning. Man, this is one sliver of VCF with about 90% PA and it's a vanilla milkshake! :shock: Amazing. And I haven't even burned down to the VCF yet!


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

GL Pease Renaissance 2002 in a Castello Le Catene 55.


Castello Le Catene 55 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Longer ash

enjoying a bowl of Peterson Irish Flake with some coffee


----------



## ProbateGeek

Wow, late morning - stayed up way too late watching a recording of the Blazers surprise win in double-overtime. BBBBBAAATTTTUUUMMMMM! Got up at 11:15, so must have needed the sleep.

1792 Flake in a Country Gent, with coffee. I'm feeling good. :tongue:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Back to Robert's original grousing about what sexist twits men are, and how unfair it is that pretty girls get all the breaks: when I was 27, the better looking the better. It's all in the hormonal flux. :lol:


Not exactly grousing - observing. I was really commenting on the unfairness of the world (maybe the shallowness of youth pop in particular - how surprising) that someone like our lovely Cheryl Cole - and she is quite stunning - can have a VERY successful and lucrative career in pop and then in the media (made it as part of the artificially created pop group Girls Aloud in a TV "talent contest" - the talent she really has is looking real good; has become a "TV personality" since) despite having no discernible talent apart from doing what she is told by Pete Waterman and Louis Walsh, and the aforementioned luck of being born looking good. And, damn, she does look really good.

It has always been thus, but now it appears that this is the only way. And it's to our loss. Janis would stand no chance today. Gracie would probably get a look in (so long as she behaved herself and didn't make waves. I find that unlikely.)

And it IS unfair to women. Steve Tyler. Not an attractive man (How can he have such an attractive daughter? His entire gene set must be regressive). Barely looks human at all. Successful? I'll say.

For amusement, the one example of a "troll" making it big in the UK I can cite is Susan Boyle. A not so attractive Scottish singer who (again) made it big on the back of a TV talent programme. They made her slim and shaved her down to make her appearance more palatable, but a lot of the votes and comment she got were clearly out of sympathy rather than an acknowledgment of her (real) singing talent. She apparently has a new album out. A Twitter tag was set up by her PR to help promote it. They thought "Susan Album Party" would be a good one. #susanalbumparty. I kid you not. I laughed until I stopped.


----------



## steinr1

Apart from musing on the unfairness of the world, I have been smoking a lot of Ennerdale Flake. As always, in its dedicated meerschaum.

I'll be moving on to some Dunhill Flake and, maybe later, some Louisiana Flake in an attempt to avoid ridicule by getting some colour into my big Ropp meerschaum. It is a bucket and a half. Takes almost three full flakes of Dunhill Flake to fill it up properly.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Transcendental Meditation definitely brought in the big bucks, but Ram Das wasn't quite able to get it into gear. Wow, that Yogic Flying is really something! :shock: How do you know when to jump? :ask: Seems like that would break up your navel gazing in a hurry. And what's with all the clothes? I thought you were supposed to wear a loincloth for that sort of thing.


Jumping? OUTRAGEOUS LIBEL! These guys are FLYING. It's all through the power of meditation.


----------



## MarkC

steinr1 said:


> How can he have such an attractive daughter?


Philosophers will debate this for centuries...


----------



## Salty

Nightcap in the Savinelli. Gotta get up this afternoon for work.


----------



## freestoke

Success in the singing world can be totally inexplicable, viz. Ethel Merman and Kate Smith, neither of whom could even carry a tune. Unspeakably awful, both of them, without looks or humor or much of anything going for them except confidence and volume. "Traditional size" (ala The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency) didn't seem to hurt Aretha much, either, although she's one of the great voices of the 20th Century, imo, deserving of her fame. 

Too lazy to go refill the PA jar, I've stuffed a bunch of SWR into the 4Dot and am trying to down enough coffee to regain use of my prefrontal cortex.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Fmotb in an unidentifiable cob. I like this blend when I am in a lazy calm mood.


----------



## AStateJB

Had some Shortcut to Mushrooms on the way in this morning.


----------



## lostdog13

Finished off my Bright CR Flake this evening (hey it's morning in the States). Thanks Mark!


----------



## freestoke

Smoking some Dart Mix, having brought the jar home last night. Still about two bowls left in there and I'm trying to decide if I want to leave it for "seed material" in its next incarnation or begin with a clean new jar. Or start smoking Erinmore Flake when I play. :smile: Decisions, decisions.


----------



## Longer ash

Good morning pipers going to fire me up a bowl of Orlik Golden Sliced get me some coffee and let the day begin


----------



## Baron_Null

Captain Black Gold in my MM Mini to start out the day. Refreshing. Hope everyone has a good day today!


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Success in the singing world can be totally inexplicable, viz. Ethel Merman and Kate Smith, neither of whom could even carry a tune. Unspeakably awful, both of them, without looks or humor or much of anything going for them except confidence and volume. "Traditional size" (ala The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency) didn't seem to hurt Aretha much, either, although she's one of the great voices of the 20th Century, imo, deserving of her fame.
> 
> Too lazy to go refill the PA jar, I've stuffed a bunch of SWR into the 4Dot and am trying to down enough coffee to regain use of my prefrontal cortex.


Started off the day with Black Bogie in a tiny Yeco Junior. Same as last thing the previous night. A good blast of Vitamin N at both ends of the day seems a good idea.

You can add any given German Cabaret singer to your list of caterwaulers - although technically, they are the masters of the "semi-tone flat" technique. Regard the archetype - Lotte Lenya. Also possessed of a visage like a bulldog chewing a wasp.

There are two singers who scare any female vocalist. Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald. Can't think of any who come close to them; particularly Ella. (Operatic sopranos are excluded - in a different genre; and many of those - most - would kill for Ella's ability.)


----------



## MarkC

However, would either of them make it today, without being told they had to shed the pounds? Who needs talent when you've got autotune...


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> However, would either of them make it today, without being told they had to shed the pounds? *Who needs talent when you've got autotune.*..


For some reason, Gordon Lighthead springs to mind. Saw him live once, in a setting with no more than thirty people in the audience. Watching him try to tune a guitar is painful. They must have done WONDERS in the studio.

Trying to recover my equanimity with some RY. I think an albuterol inhaler might get really "light" in the dose department right at the end, because I was struggling all last night at the dart board and didn't seem to be able to crank up at all today. Opened a new one and feeling a LOT better! :smile:


----------



## steinr1

MarkC said:


> However, would either of them make it today, without being told they had to shed the pounds? Who needs talent when you've got autotune...


They would. There are enough people with the ability to tell the difference to make it happen. Auto-Tune can only go so far; you can easily tell when it's been used. But let's not let the pre-Auto-Tune generation (and the real talents of today) get away with it too easily. Recordings are not one take wonders anymore. They are a conglomeration of separate "best take" phrases and even individual notes. Still miles better than the attempts by engineers to hammer some tuning into a talentless pretty-boy or girl.

Sound engineers sometimes have a good sense of humour (and sense of justice). There is the famous recording of Paul McCartney's Wings (which proved that even a Beatle could suck) where the engineer obviously got pissed off at Macca allowing his squeeze to "sing" along despite having no talent. He pulled all the other vocals down and gave Linda centre stage. Surprisingly, they didn't release that cut.


----------



## Dr. Plume

I feel like I am in modern music history class all over again......


----------



## freestoke

It's going to be GORGEOUS today! December golf, with a projected high of -- :shock: -- 63! :banana: A little wind, but who cares!? :smile:

Having some Billy Budd in the Country Gent right now, with some nice Columbian coffee. p


----------



## Longer ash

good morning pipers going to have me a bowl of 4 noggins 3 blind moose time to work on these sample baggies and drinking some coffee


----------



## AStateJB

Morning, gentlemen. I'm enjoying some Frog Morton Across the Pond this morning.


----------



## freestoke

Put some Anni Kake out to dry, pretty moist out of the jar. Not entirely there yet, but I'm going to stoke up the Diplomat anyhow -- no, make that the CG -- and give it a whirl. 

p 55* already. :tu


----------



## ProbateGeek

Taking my mother-in-law to the airport this morning - she's been here since early June.

Gonna be KK in the CG, and probably some quiet giggling on the way home... :tongue:


----------



## MarkC

ProbateGeek said:


> Taking my mother-in-law to the airport this morning - she's been here since early June.


At the risk of sounding like an a-hole, congratulations! 

A bowl of Caravan to start the day. I'm sitting here waiting for UPS to bring me a big box of McClelland goodies. They showed up yesterday, but I had a drs appointment and forgot to leave the note I wrote on the door. I hate missing UPS!


----------



## freestoke

Missing her cooking already, right Terry? :smile: 

Starting the day with KK in the 4Dot.


----------



## Stonedog

Ashton's Artisan Blend in the little Grabow. The small bowl works well with this one but I couldn't put my finger one what's different about it. There is a slight musty note on the retrohale that I haven't experienced in other English blends. After re-reading the tin description I see it has a bit of perique in addition to the VA, Latakia and Turkish. I like it. This is the second Ashton blend I've tried and I'm impressed.


----------



## Desertlifter

Sugar Barrel in a cob. Puts only BigSarge's Captain Black between me and Mixture 79!


----------



## szyzk

Cup of Irish Breakfast, a malty, malty, malty tea that is hitting the spot right now. I'll be into a second cup before I put fire to a bowl of Capstan (a Sasieni 4Dot).

I have some Rooibos earmarked for the early afternoon, and a bowl of Marble Kake if I want a change of pace.


----------



## freestoke

Put out a little Anni Kake to dry and in the meantime I'll try this KK in the Country Gentleman. I feel very "Twainish" with this combo, especially since this cob is creeping up on being black. Can't really feel Twainish riding the waves on The Royal Yacht, even with a cob, ya know?


----------



## gahdzila

PA/5Bs in the Sav Capri. What a great pipe!

Next on the list is some Modest Proposal baccys for review!


----------



## AStateJB

szyzk said:


> Cup of Irish Breakfast, a malty, malty, malty tea that is hitting the spot right now. I'll be into a second cup before I put fire to a bowl of Capstan (a Sasieni 4Dot).
> 
> I have some Rooibos earmarked for the early afternoon, and a bowl of Marble Kake if II want a change of pace.


That Rooibos is good stuff! Probably my second favorite just behind Honeybush. :tu


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> Cup of Irish Breakfast, a malty, malty, malty tea that is hitting the spot right now. I'll be into a second cup before I put fire to a bowl of Capstan (a Sasieni 4Dot).


Where'd you get the 4Dot, Andrew? Even though it's the nouveau variety Sasieni, mine smokes fabulous. p Going Twain this morning, more KK in the cob.


----------



## 36Bones

I was able to secure some Stonehaven and FVF from the local shop, pricey, but darn sure worth it. Halleluiah!!!! Enjoying some in the DG Regal #65 and some Tazo "Awake" tea.


----------



## Longer ash

Good morning pipers going to have me a bowl of 4 noggins 3 blind moose again to start the day


----------



## szyzk

AStateJB said:


> That Rooibos is good stuff! Probably my second favorite just behind Honeybush. :tu


Hmm, never had nor heard of Honeybush before. I'll need to keep my eye open for some!



freestoke said:


> Where'd you get the 4Dot, Andrew? Even though it's the nouveau variety Sasieni, mine smokes fabulous. p Going Twain this morning, more KK in the cob.


Ebay! It's a lovely early-to-mid 80s dark ruff root straight billiard. Smokes like a champ, looks like it cost a million bucks, but it only set me back $20-25 which I consider a steal. It's going to stay with me until it burns though.


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> Ebay! It's a lovely early-to-mid 80s dark ruff root straight billiard. Smokes like a champ, looks like it cost a million bucks, but it only set me back $20-25 which I consider a steal. It's going to stay with me until it burns though.


Cool! An "old" 4Dot! I got mine for under $60, including shipping from Scotland, brand new. Hard to beat a Sasieni at that price level. :tu

I'm going for the Anni Kake now. Feels about dry enough, so into the 4Dot Diplomat it goes. p


----------



## AStateJB

szyzk said:


> Hmm, never had nor heard of Honeybush before. I'll need to keep my eye open for some!.


It's a naturally sweet tea (hence the name). You can find flavored varieties/blends, but I prefer just regular ol' Honeybush.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> Cool! An "old" 4Dot! I got mine for under $60, including shipping from Scotland, brand new. Hard to beat a Sasieni at that price level. :tu


They are great smokers! I would gladly pay $60 for one, I think they're well worth it.

Slightly off-topic: Given that I love the traditional design of the Sasieni so much, and I'm head over heels in love with the idea of owning a Dunhill cumberland billiard, I think I'm going to place an order for a Wessex cumberland billiard. A fraction of the cost, the aesthetic I'm looking for, and hopefully similar smoking qualities to the Sasieni. Plus, that'll cool my jets so that I won't be looking so puppy-eyed at the Dunhills.



AStateJB said:


> It's a naturally sweet tea (hence the name). You can find flavored varieties/blends, but I prefer just regular ol' Honeybush.


Looks like a trip to Wegmans is in order so that I can track some down! I'm not big on flavored blends, I prefer mine straight (I'm noticing a trade - single origin tea, coffee, cigars, chocolate), so this sounds right up my alley.

Heating the water for my Rooibos now...


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> A fraction of the cost, the aesthetic I'm looking for, and hopefully similar smoking qualities to the Sasieni. Plus, that'll cool my jets so that I won't be looking so puppy-eyed at the Dunhills.












Just finished the 4Dot of Anni Kake. Nice stuff. :smile: Think I'll head back into Twainville, with the cob and some more KK.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


>


Great ad! I would LOVE a WWII-era Sasieni! One of these days...

It's sad that it _was_ acceptable for a public official to be pictured while smoking, because _today_ you know he would be demonized/relieved of duty/tied to concrete and thrown into the ocean before the digital imaging processor had time to finish writing the file to memory.


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> Great ad! I would LOVE a WWII-era Sasieni! One of these days...
> 
> It's sad that it _was_ acceptable for a public official to be pictured while smoking, because _today_ you know he would be demonized/relieved of duty/tied to concrete and thrown into the ocean before the digital imaging processor had time to finish writing the file to memory.


Since he was due to become king in the not too distant future, you could be very sorry later for screwing around with Prince Edward too much. eep: I find it amazing that he would do the ad at all. He must have REALLY liked Sasieni pipes, because I'm fairly sure he didn't need the pittance that the ad would have brought him. Either that or he had it in for Dunhill, who held the royal tobacco charter.

I have absentmindedly filled the 4Dot again with KK. Oh well. Guess I can muddle through somehow.


----------



## ProbateGeek

MarkC said:


> At the risk of sounding like an a-hole, congratulations!


No risk - thank you.


freestoke said:


> Missing her cooking already, right Terry? :smile:


Not yet - 6 months of Korean food on a daily basis will go a long way. Made some nice spaghetti last night, with a simple salad. Hit the spot, and was followed by some port and an Illusione ~88~ on the front porch. Ahhhhh....

(and thanks again, Andrew!)


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Not yet - 6 months of Korean food on a daily basis will go a long way.


:biglaugh:

So, how does kimchi smoke, Terry? :smile:


----------



## szyzk

ProbateGeek said:


> Not yet - 6 months of Korean food on a daily basis will go a long way. Made some nice spaghetti last night, with a simple salad. Hit the spot, and was followed by some port and an Illusione ~88~ on the front porch. Ahhhhh....
> 
> (and thanks again, Andrew!)


At least your mother-in-law can cook. Also, I'd love 6 months of Korean food!

Glad you're enjoying the cigars!


----------



## freestoke

Some more AK in the 4Dot this morning, while I to decide what to do about the Dart Mix. :dunno: I'm thinking about drying a flake or two of VCF, crumble it into a couple of ounces of KK, some 5B for burn stabilizer, and go with something really simple. I can always throw something else in later. 

At 24*, the frost is on the pumpkin. Nice day!


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> At 24*, the frost is on the pumpkin. Nice day!


Frost is on the _what?_


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Frost is on the _what?_


 Punkin. Typo.

Just finished two straight CG full of KK, making things a little buzzy this early in the morning. Gotta go back to the Anni Kake I think. p My Twain imitation isn't working just yet.


----------



## GlassEye

Three year old Classic Burley Kake in the Great Dane bent egg. This stuff is quite nice when it is cooler outside.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Punkin. Typo.
> 
> Just finished two straight CG full of KK, making things a little buzzy this early in the morning. Gotta go back to the Anni Kake I think. p My Twain imitation isn't working just yet.


:lol:


----------



## szyzk

For those of you looking for something relatively cheap (under $3/oz.)...

I needed a change of pace, so I've been alternating between Altadis' bulk Sweet Virginia and Golden Dream. SV is a ready-rubbed VA-only (as far as I can tell) blend that is sublimely sweet, nice and bright, and actually quite tasty. GD is a mostly-Burley ready-rubbed that is smooth and nutty, tasty but not terribly complex. It's not often I'll be here trying to push Altadis blends, but they got these two right.


----------



## Desertlifter

ProbateGeek said:


> No risk - thank you.
> 
> Not yet - 6 months of Korean food on a daily basis will go a long way. Made some nice spaghetti last night, with a simple salad. Hit the spot, and was followed by some port and an Illusione ~88~ on the front porch. Ahhhhh....
> 
> (and thanks again, Andrew!)


Port and an Illusione? So full of win.

And 6 months of Korean food? Been there, done that! 

In fact, when I left Germany and returned to the US the first time I was only 20 years old. A very YOUNG looking 20. After spending two years crawling gasthof after gasthof, this sucked beyond all semblance of good. So I took the most immediate "get out of 'murica free" card that I could get - off to Korea I went for nearly six months of TDY (temporary duty). Spent a couple of months in Anjon-Ri, then was sent south to Pusan (SUCH a cool place) until I had to rotate stateside. Went to PLDC (sergeant's school), and that got me through my 21st birthday.

On the bright side, I completely lost my German-food engendered beer belly in Korea - not because of a lack of food. I love Korean food. On the not so good side....okay, there wasn't one. I really enjoyed my time there. My next TDY there was only three months, sadly. On the bright side, I moved back to Germany again shortly after returning from Korea the second time.


----------



## MarkC

This is odd, but the only food I remember from Pusan is fried egg sandwiches.


----------



## 36Bones

Going to be a beautiful day. Rake leaves or play disc golf? _**stand by for coin toss**_ Oh!, what a shame, raking leaves lost. Enjoying some Union Square in the Savinelli. Make it a great Friday! :tu


----------



## Dr. Plume

Anni kake in the mm hardwood not bad stand by for the review.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> On the bright side, I completely lost my *German-food engendered beer belly* in Korea - not because of a lack of food. I love Korean food.


sigh. I've been wanting to get out of here and move to civilization since 1980. What I really need is an England with German food, beer and clean public restrooms. I was stuck with ideology, though, "My country right or wrong, to be defended when right and righted when wrong." My family's been here for 346 years at this point, so I guess I'm from an obstinate crew. sigh. I'm such a stupid.

But this put me in mind of my 1986, 10 day work trip to Germany. I stayed at the St. Michael's Hotel in Morbach, which was still using real silverware from before WWII. I took photographs of my meals there. All-you-can eat breakfast, with German muffins, ham, sausage, eggs in those little cups, lunch at some place for a jägerschnitzel and a couple of bears, wild boar at the restaurant later with a few beers, a few beers down in the bar...repeat for 10 days. I went there at 151 and came back at 167. I honestly didn't think it was possible to pack on pounds that fast. Heaviest I ever was in my life.

I've taken Robert's advice and have some Louisiana Flake burning in the Country Gent. p


----------



## AStateJB

Time to wake up. This should do it!


----------



## freestoke

The Royal Yacht picked me up a few minutes ago and we're headed for late morning, an isolated area of Puff largely uninhabited on the weekends. Coffee!

I hope you live to tell the tale, Josh. :mrgreen: You're entering Twain Territory. :spy:


----------



## AStateJB

freestoke said:


> I hope you live to tell the tale, Josh. :mrgreen: You're entering Twain Territory. :spy:


I'm enjoying it so far. Definitely the kick I needed this morning if I'm going to clean out the garage!

I'll have to buy some more to stick in the cellar for a while and see how it changes with age.


----------



## freestoke

I've got some proper Louisiana Flake going in the Darth Rader with some more coffee. Lunch is on the menu. :smile:


----------



## Troutman22

My first ever plug this morning. I was gifted a 1x1 "chunk" a few months ago from my favorite local pipemaker. I finally decided to take the plunge. I got out my knife and started shaving. It was so fun I basically carved the entire thing up haha. Loaded a bowl and sat outside all bundled up. It was a little hard to get started, probably needs some drying time. Damn thing lasted a long time though and tasted wonderful. I was told it was the rare FVF plug. If you ever get the chance jump on it.


----------



## freestoke

:shock: Full Virginia Plug!? Doesn't appear to be something they allow off the island. Sound excellent! 

This morning, I'm smoking the penultimate bowl of Dan's 56 year old Prince Albert. (Feel like I need to use the full name out of respect.) Last night I reamed and cleaned the 4Dot, paying special attention to clearing out the heel, so it's smoking extra nice. p Coffee seems better than normal, too! :cp


----------



## Longer ash

Good Morning Pipers today I am trying a sample of Captain black gold


----------



## freestoke

Wow, I'd forgotten about that free sample deal, Jason. Polished off the last of the Dart Mix this morning, long live the Dart Mix. This time it will be easier to remember: 1/2 Kendal's Kentuck, 1/4 Carter Hall and 1/4 Three Blind Moose. Got the jar filled and ready to transport!


----------



## freestoke

Can't say that this is hitting the spot at all for my first smoke. :frown: I left some Louisiana Flake and VCF on the plate last night, but forgot about it and never smoked it. This is not a happy morning smoke at all. I'm abandoning it and reloading with Carter Hall. 

Getting a ton of rain today! At least it's not a foot of snow instead.


----------



## Longer ash

Good Morning pipers I am starting out with some dunhill early morning


----------



## Dr. Plume

Ugh hh afternoon here but feels like I just got hit by a freight train. Into work I go coffee and a pipe. Fm or anni kake can't decide.


----------



## freestoke

This CH is still burning in the Darth Rader. I think this pipe exists in some parallel dimension, where tobacco poured into the chamber disappears into a worm hole at the bottom and begins to return as you smoke the pipe. I doesn't seem very large on the outside, but holds a huge amount of tobacco. :dunno: Okay with me though! :tu Actually, this Darth Rader smokes CH much better than the 4Dot does! :smile:


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> This CH is still burning in the Darth Rader. I think this pipe exists in some parallel dimension, where tobacco poured into the chamber disappears into a worm hole at the bottom and begins to return as you smoke the pipe. I doesn't seem very large on the outside, *but holds a huge amount of tobacco*.


Uh, HELLO? And just how many _Legends _does it hold? 
Sheez...

:tongue1:


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> This CH is still burning in the Darth Rader. I think this pipe exists in some parallel dimension, where tobacco poured into the chamber disappears into a worm hole at the bottom and begins to return as you smoke the pipe. I doesn't seem very large on the outside, but holds a huge amount of tobacco. :dunno: Okay with me though! :tu Actually, this Darth Rader smokes CH much better than the 4Dot does! :smile:


I'm so happy that it's serving you well, Jim!

Well, I am sitting in the Bexar County Justice Center, waiting on my name to be called for possible juror service. I really don't mind it, except that there is a really nice courtyard right outside this stuffy room that we are allowed to use freely, but no smoking! Ugh!!


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> I'm so happy that it's serving you well, Jim!
> 
> Well, I am sitting in the Bexar County Justice Center, waiting on my name to be called for possible juror service. I really don't mind it, except that there is a really nice courtyard right outside this stuffy room that we are allowed to use freely, but no smoking! Ugh!!


It's turned into great pipe, Dan! Think I'm going to move on to some RY now, for some Vitamin N. p

I always wanted to serve on a jury. out: I've been called once, went through the whole shebang, as right before we left for the jury room, they settled. out:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

It's a dark and rainy morning here on the Olympic Peninsula...perfect pipe weather! Starting out with GL Pease Lagonda in a Worobiec 500-4 and a steaming hot cup of Ethiopia Adir coffee.


worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Longer ash

wow that is a sweet looking pipe....


----------



## ProbateGeek

My second smoke of Stonehaven this morning (first was months and months ago). I don't know why I didn't "get it" the first time, but this morning I sure did. Wow, what a unique flavor this stuff has. Smoked it in a Country Gent, and the first 1/4 or so of the bowl was burning extremely hot, even though I was purposely smoking at a snail's pace. It settled down after that, and was a good 50 minutes of pleasure during the morning commute. The smoke is a bit more "airy" than I normally like, but what a special tobacco Stonehaven is. 

After a bowl on the way home today, I have about 4 or 5 bowls left, so will only smoke it occasionally. Whoever sent it to me (I'm going to have to look that up), many thanks!


----------



## steinr1

The morning was spent finishing off some Kendal Flake in a little Ropp Paneled Billiard (repeat until consumed). I found it a bit "Meh". I won't be restocking. My order of tobacco and snuff arrived while I was at work (Joy!) so this evening should be more adventurous. I'll post on the appropriate thread.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> I always wanted to serve on a jury. out: I've been called once, went through the whole shebang, as right before we left for the jury room, they settled. out:


I served ONCE. A fire at a business and two insurance companies were arguing over who should pay. Talk about BORING.

I got the letter once more, but swindled my way out of that one.


----------



## ProbateGeek

I've been a voting citizen for 31 years, and have not ONCE been called upon for jury duty. I did get a get a card once from the Tarrant County (Ft. Worth), Texas, court system asking me to appear, but it was in my dad's name (I'm a junior). This was sent to me at my Vancouver, Washington, address, a few years AFTER my dad's death. Who the hell was working the computers that day, and what were they thinking?

Needless to say, I opted to ignore the notice. :tongue1:


----------



## AStateJB

Morning, all. 

I've been craving VAs for the past couple days so I think I'll start today with some MacBaren HH Mature Virginia.


----------



## Baron_Null

Finishing off an evening of celebration with some Santa Fe #3 (B&M Burley) in my MM Mini Cob. And before you ask, yes I am finishing my evening in the early morning.


----------



## Stonedog

AStateJB said:


> Morning, all.
> 
> I've been craving VAs for the past couple days so I think I'll start today with some MacBaren HH Mature Virginia.


Same here. After solid run with latakia blends I fished out my jar of Ashton's Gold Rush and had that exclusively yesterday and will again today.

On an unrelated note, my wife asked me to send a link to some "hobbit pipes" so that she could get me one for Christmas. One of candidates is now listed as out of stock at smokingpipes (a cool plateau churchwarden by Johs). I'm hoping she was the buyer!


----------



## freestoke

May Galadriel guide your wife's hand, Jon. :smile:

Having some Carter Hall in the Darth Rader this morning. It's stopped raining!


----------



## AStateJB

Stonedog said:


> Same here. After solid run with latakia blends I fished out my jar of Ashton's Gold Rush and had that exclusively yesterday and will again today.
> 
> On an unrelated note, my wife asked me to send a link to some "hobbit pipes" so that she could get me one for Christmas. One of candidates is now listed as out of stock at smokingpipes (a cool plateau churchwarden by Johs). I'm hoping she was the buyer!


Awesome! Congrats! I'm surprised you didn't direct her here... MacQueen Pipes


----------



## scopawl

AStateJB said:


> Awesome! Congrats! I'm surprised you didn't direct her here... MacQueen Pipes


I _accidentally _left that website open on my computer. Here's hoping the other half notices the not-so-subtle hint.


----------



## Dr. Plume

scopawl said:


> I _accidentally _left that website open on my computer. Here's hoping the other half notices the not-so-subtle hint.


Hahaha great job.


----------



## Stonedog

AStateJB said:


> Awesome! Congrats! I'm surprised you didn't direct her here... MacQueen Pipes


I completely forgot about those pipes!!!

But, the links I sent her included advice on how to get the purchase up over $100 and therefore free shipping. Options were Uni Flake, Anni Kake and Haddo's Delight. I have absolutely no idea if she was the buyer, or if she'd see the logic in spending more to save on shipping, but my fingers are crossed.


----------



## AStateJB

Stonedog said:


> But, the links I sent her included advice on how to get the purchase up over $100 and therefore free shipping. Options were Uni Flake, Anni Kake and Haddo's Delight. I have absolutely no idea if she was the buyer, or if she'd see the logic in spending more to save on shipping, but my fingers are crossed.


Well played, sir! Well played! :tu


----------



## MarkC

Popped something new to try this morning: Astleys No. 44 Dark Virginia Flake.


----------



## ProbateGeek

MarkC said:


> This is odd, but the only food I remember from Pusan is fried egg sandwiches.


Funny - I made it down to Pusan only twice, and the lone memory I have is getting drunk with a taxi driver, and him speeding along the streets of Pusan at about 3 in the morning, on the sidewalks.

Yeah, they don't call Koreans "the Irish of the Orient" for nothing. . .

:new_all_coholic::new_all_coholic::new_all_coholic::new_all_coholic::new_all_coholic::new_all_coholic::new_all_coholic:


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> I completely forgot about those pipes!!!
> 
> But, the links I sent her included advice on how to get the purchase up over $100 and therefore free shipping. Options were Uni Flake, Anni Kake and Haddo's Delight. I have absolutely no idea if she was the buyer, or if she'd see the logic in spending more to save on shipping, but my fingers are crossed.


I like the way you think, Jon.


----------



## freestoke

Firing off a calibre-perfectemente musketball of LGF in the Savinelli. p Hmmm...I think I'll change my mind. I'm heading out! The Pride and the SAP await. lane:


----------



## gahdzila

I started off the day with Sugar Barrel (gifted from DanR). I've tried it once before, but it's been a long time. Come to think of it, I think the last time I tried it was a gift from DanR! As best I can remember, I wasn't a huge fan last try. I'm enjoying it today, though. Tub-worthy? Maybe...maybe not. Perhaps I should smoke more to make a better determination. How about another bowl right now?


----------



## ProbateGeek

I don't think I've had any Escudo since last February. So, I picked it for my commute smoke this morning. I've confirmed what I had suspected - Escudo is a biter for me. From the first puff my tongue was objecting - just holding the smoke in my mouth starts a protest from the nerve endings, taste buds, everything. Dunno - I guess that's my physical makeup, and why I had been avoiding Escudo for so long.

Looks like I have one unopened tin that will get considerable age... dang it.


----------



## Stonedog

ProbateGeek said:


> I don't think I've had any Escudo since last February. So, I picked it for my commute smoke this morning. I've confirmed what I had suspected - Escudo is a biter for me. From the first puff my tongue was objecting - just holding the smoke in my mouth starts a protest from the nerve endings, taste buds, everything. Dunno - I guess that's my physical makeup, and why I had been avoiding Escudo for so long.
> 
> Looks like I have one unopened tin that will get considerable age... dang it.


I've only tried a few samples of Escudo but I didn't care for it. I'm in the minority, I know, but that just means more for everyone else right?

Ashton's Artisan Blend in the basket this morning. I've only tried a handful of latakia blends (among them SL and GLP Westminster) but this has taken the number one spot.

It is fortuitous that the local B&M picked up a big selection of Ashton tins. I never would've ordered them online since I focus on the blends I already know about. I guess there is something to be said for impulse buying...


----------



## Dr. Plume

Hmmm escudo.......


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Escudo is the only VAper I will smoke always and any time I have it. Other VApers are an occasional thing for me.


----------



## ProbateGeek

El wedo del milagro said:


> Escudo is the only VAper I will smoke always and any time I have it. Other VApers are an occasional thing for me.


Oh, _REALLY_? Hmmmm...

_< trigger finger begins a nervous twitching. . . >_


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Calm down there Skippy...

You have already got me recently, if ya double tap me, I'll rise from my grave and drop a big-ole-nuke on ya. It will include tobacco of multiple forms, loose teas, home roasted coffees, accessories and paraphernalia, and hand crafted untaxed spirits.

Beware!


----------



## ProbateGeek

El wedo del milagro said:


> Calm down there Skippy...
> 
> You have already got me recently, if ya double tap me, I'll rise from my grave and drop a big-ole-nuke on ya. It will include tobacco of multiple forms, loose teas, home roasted coffees, accessories and paraphernalia, and hand crafted untaxed spirits.
> 
> Beware!


Nope, it wasn't me. Unless I've suddenly become old and forgetful.

And I'm sorry, but "Skippy"? You're really beggin' for this Escudo, aren't ya? :boink:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Sorry Terry, I confused you for a moment with Dan. Not sure why that happened. But ya both are awfuly cool...

But go ahead and bomb me... my new Israeli style "zero tolerance policy" is now in effect.


----------



## AStateJB

Good morning, pipers! Luxury Bullseye Flake in a cob for me this morning.


----------



## lostdog13

El wedo del milagro said:


> Sorry Terry, I confused you for a moment with Dan. Not sure why that happened. But ya both are awfuly cool...
> 
> But go ahead and bomb me... my new Israeli style "zero tolerance policy" is now in effect.


Someone is just itching to get to the top of my list....ok, ok second. The top spot is very special and reserved; 2-13 are negotiable.


----------



## freestoke

Ordered a case of pipe cleaners and a few of Brebbia nails (I lose at least one a month) to get to the $50 mark at smokingpipes last night. No tobacco! :spy: All I can make up my mind about is my dwindling supply of PA, down to half a tub, and they don't carry it. :tsk: Apparently I am back from the dead this morning, sleeping through a massive cat fight between Morgan and Heidi, right outside the bedroom door this morning, complete with screaming and howling. (Both female, BTW.) This would indicate a need for some heavier Vitamin N ingestion this morning, dontcha think or* dont*choooo? And LOTS of coffee! :cp KK seems in order and I'll use one of the Canadians for capacity.


----------



## ProbateGeek

After yesterday's trouble (Escudo and Dan Patriot Flake, both biters for me), I'm glad to be back to 1792 Flake in a Country Gent. Less than half a jar of 1792 left, and no order really in sight. . . _< gulp >_


----------



## lostdog13

ProbateGeek said:


> After yesterday's trouble (Escudo and Dan Patriot Flake, both biters for me), I'm glad to be back to 1792 Flake in a Country Gent. Less than half a jar of 1792 left, and no order really in sight. . . _< gulp >_


hmmm....


----------



## gahdzila

Sugar Barrel, followed by Prince Albert in the Dr Grabow Viscount author.

Try to stay warm out there!


----------



## freestoke

Vide infra.


----------



## freestoke

freestoke said:


> After a quick Country Gentleman's portion (approximately 1.3 Legends) of CH, I'm continuing on with it, taking a shot at reducing the PPP. The VCF has invaded the entire pile, although it's mainly a background room note, fortunately. One stinking little flake of VCF last week some time and it lingers on.
> 
> Almost back to the living this morning. More coffee! :cp


And Terry, the capacity of the Darth Rader is estimated at between 4 and 5 Legends.

Obviously, I'm not awake yet today.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Finishing off a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake left over from last night.

I'm gonna try and get started on that big pile of review tobaccos this afternoon. The cold is gone.


----------



## MarkC

Almost 9 in the morning, with work at 3PM, and I'm still not sleepy. Time for a bowl of Astleys No. 44...


----------



## ProbateGeek

ProbateGeek said:


> After yesterday's trouble (Escudo and Dan Patriot Flake, both biters for me), I'm glad to be back to 1792 Flake in a Country Gent. Less than half a jar of 1792 left, and no order really in sight. . . _< gulp >_


Whew! Crisis averted. . . :thumb:










But thank you, John, for your concern. :yo:


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> Whew! Crisis averted. . . :thumb:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But thank you, John, for your concern. :yo:


I always love these warnings about things that are "known in the State of California". Clearly, everywhere else ignorance reigns. Laughed about it a couple of days ago when I got delivery of a tin of 1792 Flake for the first time. Never tried it before. See what peer pressure can do? Wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

(Why "1792"?? The murder of King Gustav III of Sweden? No? Must be the introduction of oranges to Hawaii.)


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> I always love these warnings about things that are "known in the State of California". Clearly, everywhere else ignorance reigns. Laughed about it a couple of days ago when I got delivery of a tin of 1792 Flake for the first time. Never tried it before. See what peer pressure can do? Wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
> 
> (Why "1792"?? The murder of King Gustav III of Sweden? No? Must be the introduction of oranges to Hawaii.)


That is funny, isn't it? Who but Californians even cares? On second thought, who in California would heed such a warning? Ridiculous.

1792 was the start of the Samuel Gawith company, I believe.

So, you like? Worth the fuss?


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> That is funny, isn't it? Who but Californians even cares? On second thought, who in California would heed such a warning? Ridiculous.
> 
> 1792 was the start of the Samuel Gawith company, I believe.
> 
> So, you like? Worth the fuss?


Haven't tried as yet. It's waiting in a stack of tins for me to get over my rope/plug/aromatic phase. I'll keep you posted...


----------



## ProbateGeek

I had some this morning, after about a week without. Damn fine tobacco - the nic hit was noticeable, and appreciated. As was the relief to my tongue.
Hope you enjoy it as much, Robert.


----------



## lostdog13

ProbateGeek said:


> Whew! Crisis averted. . . :thumb:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But thank you, John, for your concern. :yo:


Just a temporary solution. :heh:


----------



## AStateJB

Good morning and happy Friday! I'm polishing off some MacB HH Mature Virginia now, then I'll move on to some McC Blue Mountain. Have a great one, gents! :yo:


----------



## freestoke

A bit late with my morning post, but "Good Morning!" Right now I'm working on some SWR, straight up in the Szabo bent. This is such a fine pipe and due to get better, possibly. My pipe cleaner order includes a couple of 9mm adapters, one for this Szabo, the other for the Savinelli 120 Anni.


----------



## Dr. Plume

AStateJB said:


> Good morning and happy Friday! I'm polishing off some MacB HH Mature Virginia now, then I'll move on to some McC Blue Mountain. Have a great one, gents! :yo:


What are your thoughts on the blue mountain now that you have had a few bowls.


----------



## Dr. Plume

ProbateGeek said:


> I had some this morning, after about a week without. Damn fine tobacco - the nic hit was noticeable, and appreciated. As was the relief to my tongue.
> Hope you enjoy it as much, Robert.


I was fine with the nic but not so much with the taste. Unfortunate..... I retrohal end it and about coughed my way into a hospital. Too strong a taste for myself. However I am fine with things like nightcap..... Who knows.


----------



## lostdog13

AStateJB said:


> Good morning and happy Friday! I'm polishing off some MacB HH Mature Virginia now, then I'll move on to some McC Blue Mountain. Have a great one, gents! :yo:


Let me know what you think of the Blue Mountain.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Dr. Plume said:


> I was fine with the nic but not so much with the taste. Unfortunate..... I retrohal end it and about coughed my way into a hospital. Too strong a taste for myself. However I am fine with things like nightcap..... Who knows.


1792 IS a different taste. I don't think I got it on the first few bowls, but once it took, it took real good - that and The Royal Yacht are currently my Top 2.


----------



## Dr. Plume

ProbateGeek said:


> 1792 IS a different taste. I don't think I got it on the first few bowls, but once it took, it took real good - that and The Royal Yacht are currently my Top 2.


I haven't given up on it yet ill revisit in a couple months.


----------



## AStateJB

lostdog13 said:


> Let me know what you think of the Blue Mountain.


I like it. It has a very cool, mellow lat flavor. I'd say mild-medium nic hit. Fits the bill perfectly when I want some lat, but don't need a nic kick.


----------



## steinr1

Peterson Special 2012 Reserve in a Barling straight sculptured (don't know the right term for this finish) Billiard.

Magnificent. I can't recommend this tobacco highly enough. And I'm not usually a fan of aromatics.

(This will remain recommended until someone gives in and buys some or I run out and forget.)


----------



## MarkC

steinr1 said:


> (This will remain recommended until someone gives in and buys some or I run out and forget.)


Please, have another bowl!


----------



## Mante

It is not good morning from me, rather good afternoon but I just packed a bowl of Penzance & it shall be set alight shortly. A nicely chilled Hook Norton "12 Days" beer is ready as well. Happy days.


----------



## steinr1

Second today and a new one for me...

Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake in a rusticated Barling straight meerschaum Billiard (Bought when I was into Barling meerschaums and hardly smoked since - nice stem in opalescent green with a couple of brass rings)

Bought on general recommendation from various threads here; not one I have tried or use regularly (but see later). Moist enough to heavily stain the tin paper, very dark, slightly broken flake which rubs out "stringy", a bit like Condor Long-cut or St. Bruno (which it strongly resembles). A bit difficult to light but fine once underway. I feel that the first quarter to third of a bowl is needed to get most things going as they should - I don't intentionally dry tobaccos. Cased with Tonquin (obviously so) and some alcohol topping (less obviously - I checked and it's whisky). I'm never sure about spirit toppings... Flambeing food is done to remove the alcohol and the bitter aftertaste that can cause. I get that here - very slight, but distinct, I feel. STRONG nicotine hit for me; I stopped after half a bowl - it was enough (early morning on an empty stomach). I'll return to it later. It's near the level of St. Bruno, which I rate as a nicotine monster. I thought, given the amount of snuff I take, that I could no longer be harmed by conventional weapons, but I appear to be wrong. Once properly lit, it gave a good rich smoke and plenty of it. In the mouth, I found it a very "soft" tobacco; I don't think I could provoke it into tongue bite if I tried. Taste-wise, I get some of the flavours and aromas that I enjoy in both Louisiana Flake and Condor plus a hint perhaps of "English Lakeland". The whole affair was very familiar. I found that this is the same as the old Cob Flake which I did smoke very occasionally decades ago. It's obviously a very high quality tobacco, but the overall package is not for me. I'll finish the tin (eventually) but almost certainly won't buy again. Definitely not one to recommend for the less experienced; it's simply too strong. Apologies to those who habitually reach for it.


----------



## steinr1

MarkC said:


> Please, have another bowl!


I intend to get another 4 or 5 100g tins. It may remain recommended for a long time...


----------



## Desertlifter

GLP Charing Cross in the Bjarne Saucer. 

Off to work at the state patrol, then it's celebratory dinner night with my wife - she finished her second master's degree last week!


----------



## freestoke

Starting with a Darth Rader full of Carter Hall. (And I snuck in a broken up coin of bone dry Black XX to add a minor Vitamin N boost.)


----------



## Dr. Plume

Desertlifter said:


> GLP Charing Cross in the Bjarne Saucer.
> 
> Off to work at the state patrol, then it's celebratory dinner night with my wife - she finished her second master's degree last week!


Congrats


----------



## Mason16Filz

Starting the day with a bowl of Molto Dolce.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Desertlifter said:


> GLP Charing Cross in the Bjarne Saucer.
> 
> Off to work at the state patrol, then it's celebratory dinner night with my wife - she finished her second master's degree last week!


Congratulations to your wife, Brian!

GKC Pipe Clup Rich Oriental Ltd. Ed. 2011 in a Peterson's Sherlock Holmes.


Peterson's Sherlock Holmes_Table by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> Second today and a new one for me...
> 
> Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake in a rusticated Barling straight meerschaum Billiard (Bought when I was into Barling meerschaums and hardly smoked since - nice stem in opalescent green with a couple of brass rings)
> 
> Bought on general recommendation from various threads here; not one I have tried or use regularly (but see later). Moist enough to heavily stain the tin paper, very dark, slightly broken flake which rubs out "stringy", a bit like Condor Long-cut or St. Bruno (which it strongly resembles). A bit difficult to light but fine once underway. I feel that the first quarter to third of a bowl is needed to get most things going as they should - I don't intentionally dry tobaccos. Cased with Tonquin (obviously so) and some alcohol topping (less obviously - I checked and it's whisky). I'm never sure about spirit toppings... Flambeing food is done to remove the alcohol and the bitter aftertaste that can cause. I get that here - very slight, but distinct, I feel. STRONG nicotine hit for me; I stopped after half a bowl - it was enough (early morning on an empty stomach). I'll return to it later. It's near the level of St. Bruno, which I rate as a nicotine monster. I thought, given the amount of snuff I take, that I could no longer be harmed by conventional weapons, but I appear to be wrong. Once properly lit, it gave a good rich smoke and plenty of it. In the mouth, I found it a very "soft" tobacco; I don't think I could provoke it into tongue bite if I tried. Taste-wise, I get some of the flavours and aromas that I enjoy in both Louisiana Flake and Condor plus a hint perhaps of "English Lakeland". The whole affair was very familiar. I found that this is the same as the old Cob Flake which I did smoke very occasionally decades ago. It's obviously a very high quality tobacco, but the overall package is not for me. I'll finish the tin (eventually) but almost certainly won't buy again. Definitely not one to recommend for the less experienced; it's simply too strong. *Apologies to those who habitually reach for it.*


No apologies needed - if everyone liked it as much as some of us do, we'd be pissed (in the US sense of the word). BUT - I'd love to see a pic of your meer, the stem and brass combo is no doubt enticing.


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> No apologies needed - if everyone liked it as much as some of us do, we'd be pissed (in the US sense of the word). BUT - I'd love to see a pic of your meer, the stem and brass combo is no doubt enticing.


I'd love to oblige - but I'm out of file space on the forum and I don't know how to delete them (and am too lazy, so far, to get an alternative gallery set up). If you do know how to get rid of them, I'd appreciate it. It doesn't appear intuitive.


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> No apologies needed - if everyone liked it as much as some of us do, we'd be pissed (in the US sense of the word). BUT - I'd love to see a pic of your meer, the stem and brass combo is no doubt enticing.


Found the delete function... But I'm still a bit dubious about the upload of this new image.

Not the best picture and the brass could do with a polish... Quite a long and heavy pipe - a real tooth-puller. A standard pipe cleaner just about disappears inside it.

View attachment 73876


----------



## AStateJB

Looks like it is coloring nicely. :tu Good looking pipe!


----------



## steinr1

AStateJB said:


> Looks like it is coloring nicely. :tu Good looking pipe!


Thanks. I don't smoke it as much as I should. I'll be honest - the colour is nothing to do with me. Or any previous owner, I think. The pipe was VERY lightly smoked when I got it - tiny bit of tooth chatter on the bit and the bowl not fully blackened. I'd guess under 5 smokes. The colour is all down to the original finish.

It's odd. A lot of the meerschaums that various people have picked up are practically unused. I wonder why?


----------



## AStateJB

steinr1 said:


> It's odd. A lot of the meerschaums that various people have picked up are practically unused. I wonder why?


That's a good question. I guess I should be paying more attention. I'd really like to have a decent meer, and if I had one it would be far from unused.


----------



## MarkC

That's a question I've had for years. Is it that the ones that are colored nicely never reach the marketplace? Or at least not at the levels that we "unwashed masses" know about? That's all I can figure out. Either that, or this whole coloring thing is a big scam and we've all been sucked in...


----------



## Desertlifter

SG Grousemoor in a cob. Yum!


----------



## freestoke

The Darth Rader, Carter Hall, Columbian coffee, and the temperature is above freezing in mid-December. Seems to be pretty nice morning all 'round. p


----------



## AStateJB

Morning, gentlemen. Sunday... Where did the weekend go??? Oh well, I guess I'll do what I can to enjoy it. 

Penzance in the Pete it is!


----------



## gahdzila

:anim_soapbox:

You know, one would think that in 2012, someone somewhere could design a plastic baggy to keep my newspaper dry in the rain. The ones they use around here are completely useless. But, hey....at least they're recycled! :banghead: I'd just as soon the paperboy skip my house when it's raining.

Then again, I guess I _could_ get my lazy arse out of the bed earlier so my paper isn't sitting in a puddle for 2 hours by the time I retrieve it 

Or I could join the 21st century and read the news online.

But that's not the point, dammit! :lol: There's something visceral, something _real_ about holding a _real_ newspaper in your hands, clipping _real_ coupons, doing the crossword with a pencil.

Gentlemen have gotten home delivery of the newspaper for....how many years now?!? This water falling out of the sky thing is not a new phenomenon! Can't you yahoos figure out how to deliver a dry newspaper?

PA in the Legend....as I download the "e-newspaper" :rant:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Frog Morton's Cellar in the tiny Dr. G Grand Duke on the drive up the mountain to work today.


----------



## TonyBrooklyn

Just packing some 1792 flake into the Ascorti bulldog while reading cliffs funny post.
Anyone that gets a laugh out of me after that terrible incident yesterday gets a smack!
Duck!


----------



## Stonedog

Morning everyone. I skipped the pipe this morning for an Alec Bradley Family Blend. The kids are studying for finals and the wife is baking banana bread and cookies for the neighbors. What better time to slip away to the back porch and enjoy a cigar will reading Puff?

In a few hours I will brave the mall traffic and pick up my wife's Christmas present. Wish me luck.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> But that's not the point, dammit! :lol: There's something visceral, something _real_ about holding a _real_ newspaper in your hands, clipping _real_ coupons, *doing the crossword with a pencil.*


I always use a ballpoint. oke: Unluckily, the Rome Daily Sentinel (aka, The Daily Senile) has become an extension of the crowd that makes up the news as they go along and has taken to publishing marginally literate ignoramuses in their opinion section. The editor herself seems to live in some sort of fantasy land, where all you have to do is believe something to make it true. She probably watched Peter Pan too much as child. I ended a 20 year subscription about 10 or 15 years ago. sigh. The upside of that is that I'm not cutting down as many trees as before. Hell, I don't even buy the Sunday NY Times any more, something that was once a ritual. They can't seem to get the facts straight any more, either, and if the story is really important it now occupies 2 column inches on page 30 of the B section.

Trying something a bit stouter right now, a coin of BXX to beef up the Kendal's Kentucky. :lol:


----------



## gahdzila

mg: As if KK needs beefing up!

Our local paper certainly isn't the end-all-be-all....but it's the only place to keep track of the soap opera that is the Monroe City School Board. It's a travesty, really, that kids on that side of the river have such poor leadership. But it's entertaining to watch the circus unfold from my side of the river, and point and laugh. Finger pointing, arguments, committees formed to discuss formation of a sub committee for the purposes of setting ground rules for the formation of a steering committee (whose members will be chosen by separate committee, membership yet to be determined). The paper caught a great photo a few weeks ago - one member of the board was engaged in very serious debate, appeared to be shouting and pounding his fist on the table, while the member seated next to him was very obviously rolling his eyes :lol: There's a big hoopla currently about a racial slur by a friend of a school board member that was inadvertently recorded on an employee's voice mail. 

I'm sure garbage like this happens everywhere to some extent. But I really think the country would grind to a halt if everyone had it as bad as Louisianans do.


----------



## steinr1

gahdzila said:


> :anim_soapbox:
> 
> You know, one would think that in 2012, someone somewhere could design a plastic baggy to keep my newspaper dry in the rain. The ones they use around here are completely useless. But, hey....at least they're recycled! :banghead: I'd just as soon the paperboy skip my house when it's raining.
> 
> Then again, I guess I _could_ get my lazy arse out of the bed earlier so my paper isn't sitting in a puddle for 2 hours by the time I retrieve it
> 
> Or I could join the 21st century and read the news online.
> 
> But that's not the point, dammit! :lol: There's something visceral, something _real_ about holding a _real_ newspaper in your hands, clipping _real_ coupons, doing the crossword with a pencil.
> 
> Gentlemen have gotten home delivery of the newspaper for....how many years now?!? This water falling out of the sky thing is not a new phenomenon! Can't you yahoos figure out how to deliver a dry newspaper?
> 
> PA in the Legend....as I download the "e-newspaper" :rant:


Surely your man dries and irons the papers before setting them out for you? After he's drawn your bath. Nothing like a fresh, crisply pressed journal of a morning. If you're having trouble - simply have him beaten. The serving classes appreciate a strong hand; they know their limitations.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Surely your man dries and irons the papers before setting them out for you? After he's drawn your bath. Nothing like a fresh, crisply pressed journal of a morning. If you're having trouble - simply have him beaten. The serving classes appreciate a strong hand; they know their limitations.


Spoken like a man of stout tradition and resolve. :tu

The BXX is really in the form of a quasi dust, sprinkled on the top of the bowl, largely immolated in the charring light but still able to infuse the remainder of the load with hints of hot diesel fuel and a dirty BBQ grill. Not much additional nicotine hit at all, but the flavor is a bit more interesting.


----------



## gahdzila

steinr1 said:


> Surely your man dries and irons the papers before setting them out for you? After he's drawn your bath. Nothing like a fresh, crisply pressed journal of a morning. If you're having trouble - simply have him beaten. The serving classes appreciate a strong hand; they know their limitations.


Now now, Robert. Really, all that isn't necessary. Couldn't he at least stand outside in the rain and hold an umbrella over my paper for a couple of hours until I roll out of bed? :lol:


----------



## steinr1

gahdzila said:


> Now now, Robert. Really, all that isn't necessary. Couldn't he at least stand outside in the rain and hold an umbrella over my paper for a couple of hours until I roll out of bed? :lol:


Soft treatment like this will lead to trouble. It destroyed the Empire. Next you'll be allowing them the last Sunday afternoon in each month off work. Didn't we teach you Colonials anything?

(On the "serving classes" theme - I've got a fantastic book of "Household Management" from the 1920s. It has sage advice on choosing a wet-nurse. How to avoid the worst of the working or criminal classes.)


----------



## MarkC

steinr1 said:


> How to avoid the worst of the working or criminal classes.)


Tell them not to bother, their daughters are ours! GO NAVY!!


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Soft treatment like this will lead to trouble. It destroyed the Empire. Next you'll be allowing them the last Sunday afternoon in each month off work. *Didn't we teach you Colonials anything?*


How to grow and prepare export tobacco, but we're trying our best to forget that too. :tsk: Did they allow people to stay loyal to the king and just get an 18th Century version of a green card after the Revolutionary War? :dunno: If they forced everybody to be US citizens and told the rest to leave, that would have been a rather odd start for freedom. Dual citizenship?

I have to smoke a bowl of LGF to reflect on this. No sense looking it up if I can divine the answer floating in a cloud of smoke.


----------



## steinr1

MarkC said:


> Tell them not to bother, their daughters are ours! GO NAVY!!


Perhaps. But if you require seriously DIRTY - you can't beat the aristocracy. (Actually - you can. And they'll pay.) Generations of inbreeding works wonders.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Puffing on a bowl of McClelland's Grand Orientals Yenidje Highlander in a Caminetto Business 143.


Caminetto Business 143_DJ_12.16.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## steinr1

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Puffing on a bowl of McClelland's Grand Orientals Yenidje Highlander in a Caminetto Business 143.
> 
> 
> Caminetto Business 143_DJ_12.16.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


Not only do I forgive, but I actively endorse the slightly self-satisfied expression. That is a SERIOUSLY beautiful pipe.


----------



## steinr1

I've been inspired by DJ - Latakius Vituscan - to *actually smoke* one of my better pipes. A 19th Century Ropp Bussang Cherrywood figural. *My* face is very smug indeed.

Filled, of course, with Louisiana Flake.

View attachment 73893
View attachment 73894


----------



## AStateJB

Fantastic pipe, Robert! Your smugness is undeniably justified!


----------



## steinr1

AStateJB said:


> Fantastic pipe, Robert! Your smugness is undeniably justified!


Thanks, I was so pleased to snag this one on eBay. 9 days of sweating and 2 seconds of action. I collect Ropp pipes and I've never seen or heard of one like it. The pictures don't do it justice; the carving is museum quality. It's by far my best pipe and I only smoke it very rarely. Imaging dropping it! Finished the good hour plus of smoking from 2/3 of a bowl with one relight at the end, so it actually works well too.

And I'm still grinning smugly.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

steinr1 said:


> Not only do I forgive, but I actively endorse the slightly self-satisfied expression. That is a SERIOUSLY beautiful pipe.





steinr1 said:


> I've been inspired by DJ - Latakius Vituscan - to *actually smoke* one of my better pipes. A 19th Century Ropp Bussang Cherrywood figural. *My* face is very smug indeed.
> 
> Filled, of course, with Louisiana Flake.
> 
> View attachment 73893
> View attachment 73894


This looks like a very fine flake pipe, Robert! How does it smoke? Thank you for the kind words about the Caminetto. It's been with me for decades and ALWAYS provides a smoke that produces that self-satisfied look you observed!

DJ


----------



## freestoke

Smug free, fighting down envy, I'm going for some CH in a cob this morning. Still can't get over such a low price on those pipes on ebay. :tsk: The racks could be $1000 by themselves.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Mother Nature is unleashing her biggest storm of the season. Big winds are roaring around the Raven's Grove Smoking Den. A perfect time for a bowl of McClelland's Frog Morton Across the Pond in a Peterson's Mark Twain.


DJ_Pete_Mark Twain by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## MarkC

No kidding. I had to trot down to the corner store for some milk this morning and the wind caught me on a patch of ice. I was making good progress until I lost my balance...

A bowl of Opening Night to start.


----------



## freestoke

Patches of ice in Oregon? I didn't think it ever went below freezing in Oregon. A solid 12 hour rain ended here this morning and it's really rather nice out. In years past that would have been two feet of snow. Firing up some CH in the Darth Rader and heading for my second cup of coffee. Slept late this morning! :smile:


----------



## szyzk

Morning everyone!










Fired up a bowl of Lil' Brown Christmas blend in my Cornhill - by the way, Brian, I'm calling it the Cornhill now - and it's mighty tasty. A bright VA & slight smoke on the tongue, as well as another as-of-yet unidentified fruity note, plus a very satisfying aroma. If this doesn't get my ho-ho-humbug-behind into the Christmas spirit nothing will.

While contemplating the tobacco I'm also contemplating the purchase of this:










I don't necessarily need another Pete but I'm a sucker for funky colors & the Universal Monsters & great marketing - and the pipe box sleeve is great marketing if I've ever seen it.


----------



## Longer ash

wow that is a cool pipe......good morning pipers starting out with a bowl of spc Mississippi river


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Patches of ice in Oregon? I didn't think it ever went below freezing in Oregon.


You're thinking Western Oregon, with the Birkenstocks and all. This is Eastern Oregon, up in the mountains, with ice and snow. It never got over freezing yesterday, but it's supposed to hit 33 today. Dress appropriately!


----------



## AStateJB

That Pete Dracula looks sweet! I'll take one in the 999 shape please!


----------



## freestoke

That pipe will REALLY piss off the TabakNazis, Andrew! :tu Find a cluster of them in the park, fire that baby up and you might take out a few dying from cerebral hemorrhage. (Leave the getaway car running, though.) A little Nightcap in there and it becomes a deadly weapon. :mrgreen:

Refiring the Darth Rader with some KK.


----------



## ProbateGeek

MarkC said:


> You're thinking Western Oregon, with the Birkenstocks and all. This is Eastern Oregon, up in the mountains, with ice and snow. It never got over freezing yesterday, but it's supposed to hit 33 today. Dress appropriately!


FROM WESTERN OREGON, I'll report our first snowfall of the season. Nothing sticking, but made for a pretty morning commute.

1792 Flake, folded and stuffed. I think Robert had asked about the best method for handling 1792, and now I recall why I started fully rubbing out the well-dried flakes - I must have gone through a whole box of matches on the drive in. Smoked well, but too much trouble, and too slow a smoke.

Longing for a pair of Birkenstocks (with socks, of course),

Terry


----------



## Stonedog

Sunny and 50F with not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful day here in Atlanta.

Ashton Artisan Blend in the basket this morning and life is good.

If you guys keep talking about 1792 I'm going to have to break down and order some.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Longing for a pair of Birkenstocks (with socks, of course),
> 
> Terry


Had to look up Birkenstocks. Handsome footwear indeed!

I seem to have fallen back in time from the afternoon thread. :ask:


----------



## szyzk

AStateJB said:


> That Pete Dracula looks sweet! I'll take one in the 999 shape please!


This 999 is unsold for the moment. I hesitated and bought the Wessex that I've had my eye on, because the Dracula wasn't on my list until I opened the box - the Wessex has been on the list for a while now.

I'll let fate determine whether I shall own the Drac or not; if it's still sitting here once the calendar rolls to 2013, I'll buy it.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Had to look up Birkenstocks. Handsome footwear indeed!
> 
> I seem to have fallen back in time from the afternoon thread. :ask:


It seems to be acceptable in the Pacific Northwest to wear socks with one's sandals, particularly Birkenstocks. While I have no problem with it, some (especially those "visitors" from the East Coast) find it hilarious - kind of like wearing dark dress socks with your shorts. I admit to liking the sandal/sock combo (especially when it's rainy out), but only within the confines of my own home. At least until I reach mature codgerdom, at which point I won't give a sh*t.

:biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> It seems to be acceptable in the Pacific Northwest to wear socks with one's sandals, particularly Birkenstocks.


I have precisely one pair of sandals, wear restricted to the hottest days of summer, with short ankle socks and short pants only. Dashing, if I do say so myself. Bass Weejuns (no tassels, please), certain styles of Florsheim loafers (no elastic, either), various toney brands of boat shoes, and high end golf shoes do not require socks.


----------



## szyzk

ProbateGeek said:


> It seems to be acceptable in the Pacific Northwest to wear socks with one's sandals, particularly Birkenstocks. While I have no problem with it, some (especially those "visitors" from the East Coast) find it *hilarious*


Correction: we find it ridiculous.



ProbateGeek said:


> I admit to liking the sandal/sock combo (especially when it's rainy out), but only within the confines of my own home. *At least until I reach mature codgerdom, at which point I won't give a sh*t.*


And really, that's all that matters.

So, when does one _mature_ to codgerdom? An age? A state of mind? Can one accelerate the process?

On point: Working on my second bowl of Lil' Brown Christmas.


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> So, when does one _mature_ to codgerdom? An age? A state of mind? Can one accelerate the process?
> 
> On point: Working on my second bowl of Lil' Brown Christmas.


A brown xmas. I don't know. I'm pulling for green. Brown would imply some serious problems had set in around here. :spy:

I forgot to report a happy event from yesterday. The stork delivered my case of BJ Long regular pipe cleaners! :banana: Along with two 9mm adapters, one of which I've already lost. Doesn't matter, since they don't seem to work anyhow. Can't get the stem in the shank with the adapter attached on either the Szabo or Savinelli. Seems you need to file it down, fit it...bad as a new stem! :frown:


----------



## Dr. Plume

szyzk said:


> Correction:
> 
> So, when does one _mature_ to codgerdom? An age? A state of mind?


A state of mind to be sure. I believe at my rapidly declining rate of giving a s*** I shall reach I'll full codgerdom at the ripe old age of 29.


----------



## steinr1

Stonedog said:


> Sunny and 50F with not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful day here in Atlanta.
> 
> Ashton Artisan Blend in the basket this morning and life is good.
> 
> *If you guys keep talking about 1792 I'm going to have to break down and order some.*


There are more effective, but I doubt more pleasant tasting emetics. It's the cause of the closest I have come to losing my lunch to a pipe, cigar or any other form of nicotine. At least since first trying St. Bruno Flake. Odd thing is, for both of these, the first time was the worst. Maybe caution is increased and the danger consequently reduced.

@Terry - I think I'll rub out the next fill of 1792. The fold and stuff method did lead to a lot of relighting; not convinced about the drying being needed.

Haven't gotten to the source of the obsession with sandals and Birkenstocks in particular. Milans are clearly the tool of choice from their range. But socks? I'm ridiculous enough with the pipe and the snuff and all.


----------



## steinr1

szyzk said:


> While contemplating the tobacco I'm also contemplating the purchase of this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't necessarily need another Pete but I'm a sucker for funky colors & the Universal Monsters & great marketing - and the pipe box sleeve is great marketing if I've ever seen it.


Funky pipe? As Little Richard said "Prince? Prince - I had a pink Cadillac before you was *born*!" (It is nice though...)

View attachment 73942


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> @Terry - I think I'll rub out the next fill of 1792. The fold and stuff method did lead to a lot of relighting; not convinced about the drying being needed.


If you have no trouble with it simply rubbed out, let me know - I've been drying it so long that I can't recall smoking it any other way.


----------



## ProbateGeek

View attachment 73942
[/QUOTE]

I think I recall seeing one of these on an episode of Laugh-In, 1968.


----------



## Desertlifter

szyzk said:


> On point: Working on my second bowl of Lil' Brown Christmas.


How is it? I've actually not tried it yet. Quite enjoyed last year's blends.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

ProbateGeek said:


> Longing for a pair of Birkenstocks (with socks, of course)


On work days I wear shoes or boots. On my days, I wear sandals (Tiva's), or sandals with socks if it's cold.

Today I'mm off from work, so it's Teva's with wool socks as there is snow on the ground.

I'm off to the porch for a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake in a MM cob.


----------



## MarkC

If I'm not at work wearing black loafers, I'm either barefoot or wearing a pair of Vans. Outside of the tobacco realm, probably the only product I would ever endorse.


----------



## gahdzila

Crocs for me. Ugliest shoe ever conceived. But I work in health care, so they're actually the "in" thing to wear to work :thumb:

PA and 5Bs in a cob. Have a great day, gents!


----------



## freestoke

I'm wearing my fake-fleece-lined high top slippers, with the inside/outside sole, smoking the more bracing Kendal's Kentucky to follow up on the CH. p


----------



## Stonedog

I'm wearing 3 year old Clarks. My office was business casual for a long time and is down to jeans now. I just can't bring myself to wear tennis shoes to work so the Clarks remain. The soles are nearly worn through but they are very well made and I refuse to replace them.

Artisan's Blend again in the basket this morning. I've been smoking this pipe twice a day for two weeks straight and it seems to be suffering no ill effects. 

I'm in the mood to ramble, so I'll add that I've spotted a nice Il Ceppo on Pulver's site. It's a faux spigot with a nice sandblast and huge bowl. If it's still there after Christmas it will be mine.

And finally, I'm hoping my free bag of 5 Brothers shows up soon. I'd like to see just how strong this stuff is and how it will bolster some of my favorite blends.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> And finally, I'm hoping my free bag of 5 Brothers shows up soon. I'd like to see just how strong this stuff is and how it will bolster some of my favorite blends.


Interesting stuff, Five Brothers *Pipe Tobacco !* Compared to other drugstore blends, it's dynamite, but it's like American dart throwers playing the British Commonwealth crowd or American ping pong players going up against China when it runs into Brown Irish Twist or Tambo. It fires up like a stale cigarette emptied into your pipe, so mixed with other things it becomes a burn enhancer while simultaneously bolstering the nicotine content. I'd rate it somewhere in the Kendal's Kentucky range. Straight up, it's a very quick smoke, especially designed for the 10 minute smoke break with a Legend.

Speaking of which, I think I'll crank up another bowl of KK. p


----------



## freestoke

It doesn't matter who you are, or what you've done, or think you can do. There's a confrontation with destiny awaiting you. Somewhere, there is a chili you cannot eat."
- Daniel Pinkwater, "A Hot Time in Nairobi" 

With that in mind, I'm going to attempt a bowl of straight BXX after lunch. Right now it's some Anni Kake with a PPP topping. A little 2011 Holiday in there. p


----------



## mcgreggor57

Anni Kake in the cob. I haven't gotten around to jarring it yet and noticed the tin still sitting on the workbench. Simply a choice based on convenience.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> It doesn't matter who you are, or what you've done, or think you can do. There's a confrontation with destiny awaiting you. Somewhere, there is a chili you cannot eat."
> - Daniel Pinkwater, "A Hot Time in Nairobi"
> 
> With that in mind, I'm going to attempt a bowl of straight BXX after lunch. Right now it's some Anni Kake with a PPP topping. A little 2011 Holiday in there. p


Make sure you have 911 on speed dial and check in here oftern to let us know how you're doing.


----------



## steinr1

gahdzila said:


> Crocs for me. Ugliest shoe ever conceived. But I work in health care, so they're actually the "in" thing to wear to work :thumb:


OK... I seem to have wandered into a different forum to the one I was expecting, but I'll play along.

Clearly, this being England, I wear two-tone shoes with spats. Galoshes on wet days - which is, obviously, all the time. I find these go well with my wing-tip collar, frock coat, monocle and Topper. Umbrellas are issued at birth and must be carried at all times for identification. These are furled as tightly as sphincters must be clenched to avoid the furniture being sucked up in an anally-retentive frenzy. Although born with relatively straight teeth, I had them adjusted during childhood and avoid brushing as I find this reduces halitosis to non-lethal levels. My wife is ghastly - a pear-shaped, acid-tongued harridan and I may well be a closet homosexual.

In short, a typical English Gentleman. Pip! Pip!


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> OK... I seem to have wandered into a different forum to the one I was expecting, but I'll play along.
> 
> Clearly, this being England, I wear two-tone shoes with spats. Galoshes on wet days - which is, obviously, all the time. I find these go well with my wing-tip collar, frock coat, monocle and Topper. Umbrellas are issued at birth and must be carried at all times for identification. These are furled as tightly as sphincters must be clenched to avoid the furniture being sucked up in an anally-retentive frenzy. Although born with relatively straight teeth, I had them adjusted during childhood and avoid brushing as I find this reduces halitosis to non-lethal levels. My wife is ghastly - a pear-shaped, acid-tongued harridan and I may well be a closet homosexual.
> 
> In short, a typical English Gentleman. Pip! Pip!


Come on, Robert - tell us something we didn't already know...

p


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> In short, a typical English Gentleman. Pip! Pip!


You're probably from Iowa. You can adjust the teeth, spell all your -or words -our, marry an English woman, and maybe even fake the accent (or close enough for non-British ears), but your complexion probably lacks a proper English palor, your lips too thick and you doubtless can be tricked into revealing your true origin by thoughtlessly, reflexively, catching a small object thrown in your direction, say a ball or pipe lighter.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> You're probably from Iowa. You can adjust the teeth, spell all your -or words -our, marry an English woman, and maybe even fake the accent (or close enough for non-British ears), but your complexion probably lacks a proper English palor, your lips too thick and you doubtless can be tricked into revealing your true origin by thoughtlessly, reflexively, catching a small object thrown in your direction, say a ball or pipe lighter.


You're right, Jim, by jove! I think we've even caught him messing up the _-ise_ vs. _-ize_. That's a giveaway, for sure.


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> You're right, Jim, by jove! I think we've even caught him messing up the _-ise_ vs. _-ize_. That's a giveaway, for sure.


Damn. My cover is slipping. I'll soon be fully exposed as the slack-jawed yokel of my youth. 40 years of civilization wasted...


----------



## AStateJB

Morning, gents. My supervisor is putting off starting because he doesn't want to get out in the 35-50mph wind. That's perfectly ok with me! I'll sit in my warm work truck and puff on my last bit of SG Commonwealth, in my Big Ben Desert of course.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Morning gents had my first photo shoot with my meer for the great meer detective thread. Horrible lighting today but I think we got a few ok shots. Fully expect to have these on the site later today.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Damn. My cover is slipping. I'll soon be fully exposed as the slack-jawed yokel of my youth. 40 years of civilization wasted...


It will go no farther, Robert -- as long as you keep in line. Sorry, remain in queue. No...that doesn't translate well into English, does it? It's been a while since I was in the field. :spy: I miss the days when my service pipe had a poison dart capability for clandestinely taking out particularly annoying TabakNazis at restaurants and sporting events, but they only issue them to active agents now.

Speaking of smoking in public, I remember smoking in the balcony at the movie theatre in Sherringham (I can spell too, ya know). I'll fire up some Royal Yacht now and have a nostalgic revery about Woodbines and Jayne Mansfield.









"A packet of Wild Woodbine cigarettes. Five remain intact, whilst a sixth one is half smoked, by, it would seem, a female student. Having a *** behind the locker room isn't quite what it used to be."

I've always regretted losing the use of the word "***" for cigarette. Maybe not as much as the fine old English word "gay", though, which once had a meaning that cannot be expressed easily in English anymore. The language is less with its loss.


----------



## mcgreggor57

50 degrees this morning when I let the pups out and an anticipated inch of snow by this evening. A bowl of Billy Budd on the drive in to work. Today and tomorrow will be killers here with most everyone stepping on each other in a rush to start their Christmas vacation early. Meanwhile back at my desk, I have the exact same amount of work to do regardless of the calendar (although if the Mayan's are correct then I can cut out a lot of the workload). I actually enjoy working this time of year because so many people are out of the office that it's very quiet and peaceful.


----------



## AStateJB

Jayne was definitely a beauty! Her daughter Mariska's not too shabby either! 

And i completely agree with you about those 2 words, Jim. It seems before long every word will have some type of negative connotation or be considered faux pas...


----------



## freestoke

AStateJB said:


> Jayne was definitely a beauty! Her daughter Mariska's not too shabby either!
> 
> And i completely agree with you about those 2 words, Jim. It seems before long every word will have some type of negative connotation or be considered faux pas...


I thought we were losing "ball" there for a while, back during the Age of Aquarius. :tsk:

I'm having a little Anni Kake in the Darth Rader, trying to clear the rubble so I can take damage assessment photos of Dan's surprise attack launched from the US protectorate, the rogue state Republic of Texas. I can't believe they let these things through customs.


----------



## AStateJB

Well, the commonwealth is gone...










Time to fire up some HH Mature Virginia in the Trevi. Also looks like it's time to clean the Big Ben....


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Speaking of smoking in public, I remember *smoking in the balcony at the movie theatre* in Sherringham (I can spell too, ya know). I'll fire up some Royal Yacht now and have a nostalgic revery about Woodbines and Jayne Mansfield.
> 
> "A packet of Wild *Woodbine cigarettes*. Five remain intact, whilst a sixth one is half smoked, by, it would seem, a female student.


Smoking in cinemas and Woodbines... In a packet of 6. Don't see these anymore (6s), not even "Up North". Not my tool of choice when I was a cigarette smoker, but a nice occasional substitute. More of a Players Plain (Players Navy Cut) and Capstan Full Strength man. Players Weights if I was particularly impecunious (thinner and cheaper version of Players Plain). They used to sell these in tobacconists as "Singles". One cigarette and two Swan Vesta matches. You could front up as a schoolboy in uniform and demand "One Weight's Single, please". If you looked like it wouldn't immediately kill you, you were set. The good old days. (I sound like one of those old duffers... Wait! I *AM* one of those old duffers - how did that happen?)



> Having a *** behind the locker room isn't quite what it used to be."


It is at Eton. It's always been that way at Eton.



> I've always regretted losing the use of the word "***" for cigarette. Maybe not as much as the fine old English word "gay", though, which once had a meaning that cannot be expressed easily in English anymore. *The language is less with its loss.*


I agree. You should reclaim it. "Pipe smokers support ****" can be your battle cry. A British comedian (Richard Herring - funny man) had a campaign to reclaim the toothbrush moustache for comedy and break the association with Hitler. This is clearly similar.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> I'll fire up some Royal Yacht now and have a nostalgic revery about Woodbines and Jayne Mansfield.


Just came to me (via Jayne - Pneumatic is the usual term used). The perfect training film for understanding the British psyche. "Sir Henry at Rawlinson End". Viv Stanshall's (of _Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band_ fame) masterpiece and one of Trevor Howard's (the eponymous hero) greatest roles. Must see film...

(Slightly paraphrased)

"...he would throw himself naked on the lawn in a Northerly direction and, with those loathsome bluey Roman numerals tattooed about his private parts, would think about Jean Harlow *very hard* and, from the shadow cast, tell the time with remarkable accuracy..."

(My tag-line here is one of Sir Henry's. I've been thinking of updating with another one of his. "I never met a man I didn't mutilate" or maybe "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth forcing someone else to do it".)


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Smoking in cinemas and Woodbines... In a packet of 6. Don't see these anymore (6s), not even "Up North".


Had to look up "Weights"! 
Woodbines, Players...seems like there was another one, came in boxes of 10. (That was "*a* sixth" not "*the* sixth" cigarette. oke: Somehow I think the joke's on me here...somehow.) They had boxes of 5, free on the airplane, even in coach, back before The Fall of Western Civilization: Marlboro, Marlboro Light, Winston, Salem, Kent, Pall Mall, Old Gold, Tareyton...definitely don't see those any more, even in first class.



> It is at Eton. It's always been that way at Eton.
> 
> I agree. You should reclaim it. "Pipe smokers support ****" can be your battle cry. A British comedian (Richard Herring - funny man) had a campaign to reclaim the toothbrush moustache for comedy and break the association with Hitler. This is clearly similar.


"The party has been so fun and gay tonight! I think we need to send out for more booze and ****, though." I don't know if that will work or not.


----------



## Desertlifter

Having a rare lazy morning. REALLY lazy. Parked my arse on the couch and have been watching Haven on Syfy for....a while.

Soon to retire to my back patio and entertain my dogs while I enjoy a bowl of something Samuel Gawith. Haven't decided yet.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Had to look up "Weights"!
> Woodbines, Players...seems like there was another one, came in boxes of 10. (That was "*a* sixth" not "*the* sixth" cigarette. oke: Somehow I think the joke's on me here...somehow.) They had boxes of 5, free on the airplane, even in coach, back before The Fall of Western Civilization: Marlboro, Marlboro Light, Winston, Salem, Kent, Pall Mall, Old Gold, Tareyton...definitely don't see those any more, even in first class.
> 
> "The party has been so fun and gay tonight! I think we need to send out for more booze and ****, though." I don't know if that will work or not.


Nope, no poke intended here. **** really did come in packs of 6 (they like to stick together - reminds me of a fine bar song...). Can't remember if Woodbines did, but "6 Park Drive, please" was a common enough phrase. Probably "Up North". It's grim Up North...

I also remember shortly after after arriving in England being asked by a very small boy "Can I borrow a rubber, please." Borrow? He pointed to the end of my pencil and all was made clear.


----------



## Nachman

steinr1 said:


> OK... I seem to have wandered into a different forum to the one I was expecting, but I'll play along.
> 
> Clearly, this being England, I wear two-tone shoes with spats. Galoshes on wet days - which is, obviously, all the time. I find these go well with my wing-tip collar, frock coat, monocle and Topper. Umbrellas are issued at birth and must be carried at all times for identification. These are furled as tightly as sphincters must be clenched to avoid the furniture being sucked up in an anally-retentive frenzy. Although born with relatively straight teeth, I had them adjusted during childhood and avoid brushing as I find this reduces halitosis to non-lethal levels. My wife is ghastly - a pear-shaped, acid-tongued harridan and I may well be a closet homosexual.
> 
> In short, a typical English Gentleman. Pip! Pip!


Didn't know you were a Teddy boy.:mrgreen:


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> Didn't know you were a Teddy boy.:mrgreen:


Sadly, I could never hack those outrageous mutton-chops. Offenses against the Hirsute Practices Act and all. Those New Edwardians did have style, though. Still see a few hanging on to the style at the site of the old Ace Cafe in North London when there is a "gathering". Now then, where on earth could I find a Drape...


----------



## steinr1

Quick blast of Revor Plug to get the blood pumping.


----------



## houncer

Waiting for the arrival of the apocalypse by puffing some Peterson Holiday Season.


----------



## MarkC

Do you know what time it's supposed to start? I need to wash clothes, but I don't want to bother until we're sure...


----------



## houncer

MarkC said:


> Do you know what time it's supposed to start? I need to wash clothes, but I don't want to bother until we're sure...


Any time beyond my afternoon smoke would be convenient.


----------



## steinr1

houncer said:


> Waiting for the arrival of the apocalypse by puffing some Peterson Holiday Season.


And I bothered shaving this morning. Damn!


----------



## Stonedog

With all this hustle and bustle preparing for the end of the world, I had to slow things down with a little 3P.


----------



## freestoke

Only a few more hours and their going to miss it in Australia -- oh, they HAVE missed it! They never get the word and are always late, those Australians, probably won't join us in eternal bliss until the middle of next week. Smoking some of the PA56 that I'll be taking with me when Doomsday arrives. Hopefully it will hold off until the party is over tonight, and since the smart money is on midnight, Samoa time, there's still time to get the morning chores done.


----------



## steinr1

We are all safe now. Apparently 11:11 GMT was the danger time. I've just looked out the window at 1350 GMT and the world still appears to be there. A few red faces once again for the apocalypse merchants.

And to raise spirits further, here's Madge being as bonkers as usual. At least she's not ruining a film.

Madonna threatens to cancel OUTDOORS Chile show due to fans smoking | Mail Online


----------



## Stonedog

Well shoot, I was hoping a giant Nexus was going to hit us and pull us all into an eternal paradise. I'm sure only Star Trek fans will get the reference, but it would be my choice for an end-of-world event.

I'm also fighting the urge to walk out of the office and finish that bowl of 3P...


----------



## AStateJB

Happy Friday, gentlemen! I'm puffing on some Park Lane no.15. I love the flavor, but it always seems to bite me a little... Odd thing... This is the only lat blend I've had bite me, but it's not too bad so I'll continue to enjoy it occasionally.

Have a wonderful end of the world, everyone.


----------



## 36Bones

Stupid Mayans.......I had my bags all packed.....

It's bloody cold here. 27* but no wind. I have my tea kettle on to boil and a bowl of LNF ready to go in the Alpha Cremlin. Make it a good Friday. :tu


----------



## Dr. Plume

36Bones said:


> Stupid Mayans.......I had my bags all packed.....
> 
> It's bloody cold here. 27* but no wind. I have my tea kettle on to boil and a bowl of LNF ready to go in the Alpha Cremlin. Make it a good Friday. :tu


Cold no problem Paris has the solution hot wine everywhere. Mulled wine with spices that smell like the holidays add the vodka just before serving to bring that alcohol content back up! Just warms you from the inside out. Spent the morning at Notre Dame pics on the meer detective thread soon friend wanted to go to service and my wife tagged a long so I did to however I went to my own sanctuary the garden. I was almost all alone back there for the better part of an hour just puffing away and taking pics. 
This is the way I would have wanted the world to end. Ah well there's always a nuclear war somewhere done the line. Make it a great Friday!


----------



## Desertlifter

Dr. Plume said:


> Cold no problem Paris has the solution hot wine everywhere. Mulled wine with spices that smell like the holidays add the vodka just before serving to bring that alcohol content back up! Just warms you from the inside out. Spent the morning at Notre Dame pics on the meer detective thread soon friend wanted to go to service and my wife tagged a long so I did to however I went to my own sanctuary the garden. I was almost all alone back there for the better part of an hour just puffing away and taking pics.


That pic is SO full of win - great pipe, great scenery! It simply does NOT get much better than that. Thanks for sharing, Dave!


----------



## Desertlifter

And for my part - 

Kind of roughing it today.

SG Full VA Flake in my Stanwell. It's a hard life! ipe:


----------



## Dr. Plume

Desertlifter said:


> That pic is SO full of win - great pipe, great scenery! It simply does NOT get much better than that. Thanks for sharing, Dave!


I actually took some killer pics ill post in a bit for ya!


----------



## Dr. Plume

Desertlifter said:


> And for my part -
> 
> Kind of roughing it today.
> 
> SG Full VA Flake in my Stanwell. It's a hard life! ipe:


Hard life??? That's a great tobacco and a good pipe to boot. Gt your package check the bomb thread and thanks again!


----------



## 36Bones

Ah....to be in Paris. LNF was delicious as always.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> *That pic is SO full of win *- great pipe, great scenery! It simply does NOT get much better than that. Thanks for sharing, Dave!


Isn't it though!? All those nice buildings and cool gardens wasted on the French. sigh. Speaking of rude people, New York City was missing from a list of the 10 rudest cities in the world that I read recently, but was comforted to know that it still ranks #1 on another list of American cities.

And Robert, don't let your guard down just yet. That 11:11Z seems a bit precise, if you ask me. I think it's more likely set to sidereal time, time way out in the universe, coincident with the solstice (harmony of the spheres and all that). Just because God is an Englishman doesn't mean he won't give somebody who needs it a bit of the glory your kind has hogged for so long. I'm going with Midnight in Samoa. (Maybe some exotic fruit topping on Tambo?) You have to wait until it's Saturday everywhere to make it all work out. Patience, and if the end of world doesn't really happen, there's always next time.

I'm having some Royal Yacht.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Off work today - trying to put a BID dent in this tin of 1792 Flake, with my dad's Comoys bent bulldog is assisting. So far, so good... p


----------



## gahdzila

Well, we survived the late morning of November 11th of last year (11/11/11, 11:11). Looks like we're gonna survive the Mayan thing as well.

Great pic, Dave!

Live long and prosper, Jon


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Isn't it though!? All those nice buildings and cool gardens wasted on the French. sigh. Speaking of rude people, New York City was missing from a list of the 10 rudest cities in the world that I read recently, but was comforted to know that it still ranks #1 on another list of American cities.
> 
> And Robert, don't let your guard down just yet. That 11:11Z seems a bit precise, if you ask me. I think it's more likely set to sidereal time, time way out in the universe, coincident with the solstice (harmony of the spheres and all that). Just because God is an Englishman doesn't mean he won't give somebody who needs it a bit of the glory your kind has hogged for so long. I'm going with Midnight in Samoa. (Maybe some exotic fruit topping on Tambo?) You have to wait until it's Saturday everywhere to make it all work out. Patience, and if the end of world doesn't really happen, there's always next time.
> 
> I'm having some Royal Yacht.


The English own Time. We invented it.

(I seem to have lost my recent Zen buzz and reverted to anal retention. This is the Internet - invented by an Englishman - and I am required to espouse bigoted and conflicting views.)


----------



## Dr. Plume

Good morning world! That still exists.


----------



## AStateJB

So the world ended... AGAIN... And I'm still here. Maybe I'll catch a ride on the next comet.

But for now I'm doing another custom blend test smoke. It's another LOTR themed blend and was made for one of our forum dogs. 

Warg in my Savinelli churchwarden, accompanied by the wonderful musical stylings of the late Mr. Dave Brubeck.


----------



## AStateJB

Warg, wasn't bad, much more mellow and pleasant than its namesake, but it's missing something. Time to make a couple adjustments. Have a great day, fellas!


----------



## 36Bones

Up and at em this morning. Going to be a beautiful day. There is no wind and it's headed to 65*. I just satisfied a TAD order and a buddy and I are headed to the disc golf course in a few. It's going to be a great day. The daughter and son-in-law came in last night from Washington state for Christmas and we all survived the Apocalypse. 

Son-in-law is going for Shorcut to Mushrooms in the DG Viking and I'm going Frenchy’s Sunzabitches (I need to get my motor running) in the Savinelli Natural. Make it a great Saturday my friends. :tu


----------



## Desertlifter

Working at the patrol this morning at 0-dark hundred. Pipe is sitting in its bag. All alone. Poor pipe.


----------



## freestoke

The jet stream finally moved north, unfortunately. Not all that cold, in the 20s, but the 20-30 mph wind makes it chilly. Snow into the indefinite future. One of the features of Central NY living is that it snows at least once a day all winter, end of the world notwithstanding, either via lake effect or storm system.

As for time, yes, Greenwich Mean Time. No denying it, the Brits have the copyright. Today will be longer than yesterday! I'll load up the Darth Rader with CH and celebrate the revival of the sun. The yule fires worked! Damn clever, those Druids.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Puffing on a bowl of Greater Kansas City Pipe Club's Member's Choice RICH ORIENTAL, ltd. ed. 2011 in a Worobiec 500-4 and sucking down a couple of quarts of locally roasted Guatemalan high test.


worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> The jet stream finally moved north, unfortunately. Not all that cold, in the 20s, but the 20-30 mph wind makes it chilly. Snow into the indefinite future. One of the features of Central NY living is that it snows at least once a day all winter, end of the world notwithstanding, either via lake effect or storm system.
> 
> As for time, yes, Greenwich Mean Time. No denying it, the Brits have the copyright. Today will be longer than yesterday! I'll load up the Darth Rader with CH and celebrate the revival of the sun. *The yule fires worked! Damn clever, those Druids.*


Here are some of the idiots that you entrusted with this...

View attachment 74016


Idiots.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Puffing on a bowl of Greater Kansas City Pipe Club's Member's Choice RICH ORIENTAL, ltd. ed. 2011 in a Worobiec 500-4 and sucking down a couple of quarts of locally roasted Guatemalan high test.
> 
> 
> worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


Another classic pipe. Where do you get something like that and do I want to know how much it goes for?


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> View attachment 74016
> 
> 
> Idiots.


True. But great capes.

:tongue:


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> True. But great capes.
> 
> :tongue:


Who's the heathen in the pink jacket and jeans, wearing sunglasses? :spy: And the barefoot girl looks cold.

I didn't get to bed until almost 3 this morning, so I'm getting up again after a little nap. A cobecetic bowl of 5B in the Patriot. I'm posting on this thread in order to avoid talking to myself on the others.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Who's the heathen in the pink jacket and jeans, wearing sunglasses? :spy: And the barefoot girl looks cold.
> 
> I didn't get to bed until almost 3 this morning, so I'm getting up again after a little nap. A cobecetic bowl of 5B in the Patriot. *I'm posting on this thread in order to avoid talking to myself on the others.*


Someone's got to keep this thing going, and we appreciate it, Jim - we truly do.


----------



## freestoke

A dreary day. The snowfall is apparently now a permanent fixture. Most winters, it stops from time to time for a few hours, but since the solstice the snow has not hesitated for even a second. They're promising relief this afternoon and at least the wind has stopped; I HATE snowblowing in the wind, so that's a good thing.

Invoking the Force with a bowl of Carter Hall in the Darth Rader.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> A dreary day. The snowfall is apparently now a permanent fixture. Most winters, it stops from time to time for a few hours, but *since the solstice the snow has not hesitated for even a second*. They're promising relief this afternoon and at least the wind has stopped; I HATE snowblowing in the wind, so that's a good thing.
> 
> Invoking the Force with a bowl of Carter Hall.


Probably those idiot Druids are to blame.


----------



## freestoke

The snow stopped. I felt a moment of weightless, then the heavy thought of cranking up the snowblower hit me. :faint: Off we go, before the wind picks up! Packing a bowl of RY for afterwards.


----------



## 36Bones

Today is my 31st wedding anniversary. Nice day on tap for today, but Christmas they say, will be in the teens with snow flurries. Wife is ecstatic. I swear that woman is part penguin. ound: Enjoying a crisp but not cold morning and hot Tazo Awake tea with some C&D Haunted Bookshop in the bent CG. The H B is really starting to grow on me.


----------



## AStateJB

Visiting my sister in Springfield, MO for a couple days. It's not "warm" here, but it's warm enough I went out to smoker some Luxury Bullseye Flake in my pj pants and a t-shirt. Hard to believe Christmas is only 3 days away!


----------



## Dr. Plume

36Bones said:


> Today is my 31st wedding anniversary. Nice day on tap for today, but Christmas they say, will be in the teens with snow flurries. Wife is ecstatic. I swear that woman is part penguin. ound: Enjoying a crisp but not cold morning and hot Tazo Awake tea with some C&D Haunted Bookshop in the bent CG. The H B is really starting to grow on me.


Congrats! Enjoy it!


----------



## DanR

Congratulations on the anniversary, Hilman. 31 years is quite the accomplishment. Obviously you two are a perfect match!

The weather here in SAT is nice. Mid-60s, so I'm sitting outside in shorts and a t-shirt enjoying a bowl of Rattray Accountants Mixture and some black coffee. 

Funny, before I started smoking pipes, I liked cream and sugar in my coffee, but now I find that black coffee and a bowl of good tobacco go better together.


----------



## 36Bones

Thank you for the salutations. I've been a black coffee drinker since 1977 when I went into the Army. I would never pollute a drink as fine as that with sugar or anything. Yes, I'm talking to you, Frap-a-crap-a-chino. Tea on the other hand, is a different story. :wink:


----------



## freestoke

AStateJB said:


> Hard to believe Christmas is only 3 days away!


Let's see...the rest of today, Christmas Eve -- Christmas, proving once again that puff members, as constantly demonstrated through their tobacco trading debacles, can't do simple arithmetic. Better hope the stores are open today, Josh, you're running late. oke:

Having a bowl of RY in the TwoDot Canadian, reflecting on these idiots talking about the setting/rising sun starting to drift back southward. First, the sun isn't setting or rising, the horizon's moving up or down, and second, the sun doesn't drift, the Earth orbits. The Druids explained all this thousands of years ago.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Let's see...the rest of today, Christmas Eve -- Christmas, proving once again that puff members, as constantly demonstrated through their tobacco trading debacles, can't do simple arithmetic. Better hope the stores are open today, Josh, you're running late. oke:
> 
> Having a bowl of RY in the TwoDot Canadian, reflecting on these idiots talking about the setting/rising sun starting to drift back southward. First, the sun isn't setting or rising, the horizon's moving up or down, and second, the sun doesn't drift, the Earth orbits. *The Druids explained all this thousands of years ago.*


Huge difference between noticing that the sun "moves" in a cycle which is regular and can be used to predict the best planting times, etc. and explaining it in terms of the layout and mechanics of the solar system.

Next you'll be telling me that there is a basis for astrology in general. Poppycock! But then again, maybe that's just a typical Aries talking.


----------



## AStateJB

freestoke said:


> Let's see...the rest of today, Christmas Eve -- Christmas, proving once again that puff members, as constantly demonstrated through their tobacco trading debacles, can't do simple arithmetic. Better hope the stores are open today, Josh, you're running late. oke:


HA! Actually that post was a victim of my fat thumbs and "smart"phone... :lol:


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Huge difference between noticing that the sun "moves" in a cycle which is regular and can be used to predict the best planting times, etc. and explaining it in terms of the layout and mechanics of the solar system.


Obviously, everyone is indebted to the redoubtable Copernicus for taking Aristarchus of Samos' altogether exellent idea and running with it. I clearly overreached on that joke, Robert, but I was just trying to keep the Druid frisbee in the air. oke: Guess we'll have to move on to astrology jokes.

*A frog went to an astrologer and was told, "You will meet a beautiful young woman who will want to know everything about you. "

"That's great! Will I meet her at a party, or what? " the frog asked.

"No," said the astrologer, "next term in biology class."
*


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> *1*. I clearly overreached on that joke *2*. I was just trying to keep the Druid frisbee in the air. *3*. Guess we'll have to move on to astrology jokes.


In order:

Nope.
It's really not nice to mock the afflicted, is it?
Yes, please.

Astrology is great stuff. It gives you ice-breakers for chatting up women.

"You must be a Sagittarius." (Or whatever you choose - it's all bunk.)
"No?"
"Then you *must* be Pisces."
"No?"
"They you really must be Leo." (You're on a 25% chance now, don't push it further.)
"No? Wow that's odd - I was sure because your smile shows you..."

And so on with any drivel you care to make up. It doesn't matter. You've already posted yourself as a sensitive and caring New-Age Man.

Or a complete idiot. Either way - it might work.


----------



## Dr. Plume

steinr1 said:


> In order:
> 
> Nope.
> It's really not nice to mock the afflicted, is it?
> Yes, please.
> 
> Astrology is great stuff. It gives you ice-breakers for chatting up women.
> 
> "You must be a Sagittarius." (Or whatever you choose - it's all bunk.)
> "No?"
> "Then you *must* be Pisces."
> "No?"
> "They you really must be Leo." (You're on a 25% chance now, don't push it further.)
> "No? Wow that's odd - I was sure because your smile shows you..."
> 
> And so on with any drivel you care to make up. It doesn't matter. You've already posted yourself as a sensitive and caring New-Age Man.
> 
> Or a complete idiot. Either way - it might work.


Pickup lines have gotten worse since I got married.......


----------



## DSturg369

Big Congrats Hilman! :tu

For me, I'm just relaxing right now with PA in a cob and coffee. Will be finishing up the holiday shopping this evening so enhancing my calm right now.... The mega-storm that is pre-holiday Walmart is sure to be "interesting" to say the least.


----------



## steinr1

Dr. Plume said:


> Pickup lines have gotten worse since I got married.......


No-one should flatter themselves here. If a pick-up line works, it's because the other party has already made the decision.

"Eeeee, ye don't sweat much for a fat lass."

That's Yorkshire charm, that is.


----------



## Nachman

"Aye, and if thee play yer cards right, I'll let you buy me a few rounds." I am on another forum with a lot of Yorkshire lads and since my fourteenth great grandfather was Henry Tudor I'm not much welcome there.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> "Aye, and if thee play yer cards right, I'll let you buy me a few rounds." I am on another forum with a lot of Yorkshire lads and since my fourteenth great grandfather was Henry Tudor I'm not much welcome there.


"And when the light's behind thee, you don't look half that bad. Now get thy coat; you've pulled."

I hope our younger members are taking notes. This stuff is gold.


----------



## Nachman

For those not familiar with Yorkshire, the preceding dialogue was only a slightly egsaturated version of the typical Yorkshire pre-mating ritual.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

"You stink purty."

That's all I've ever needed... J/K, I said that to Kat once a couple years ago, and I wasn't sure if she was gonna laugh or get mad.


----------



## freestoke

Dr. Plume said:


> Pickup lines have gotten worse since I got married.......


Don't be too hard on yourself, Dave. You have to keep in practice, after all, and I'd imagine the French lines are EXTREMELY advanced.

I'm having an afternoon beer here on the morning thread, getting ready for some darts and more Dart Mix. A few brought beer to the party, so I'm having a left-over Guiness Black Lager.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Since it's my first pipe of the day, I'm posting it here. More 1792 Flake in a Savinelli Venezia billiard. Maybe two bowls, with coffee. I swear I may eventually stop buying other tobaccos - the 1792 is just the sweetest stuff to me.

Oh - might need some Royal Yacht occasionally. And some Irish Flake. Okay, maybe some Happy Brown Bogie. A little Kentucky Kendal now and again...

Uhm, on second thought.


----------



## MarkC

Well, fine; this is my first pipe of the _next _day, so I'll do the same. HOTW.


----------



## lostdog13

Afternoon here, but still morning in the States. Therefore I can still post in the morning thread . Started the day with C&D Chestnuts Roasting to celebrate Christmas Eve. This blend got thumbs up (ok, so we are all noobs). I definitely understand the name now, sweet up front and a dryness follows up. I can't wait to get to smoke this in a meer with a cup of coffee or a good Earl Grey.


----------



## MarkC

Finishing up with a bowl of Astleys No. 44. I definitely recommend this one for Virginia lovers; a darker, heavier taste than most Virginias, it really makes a nice nightcap. Particularly with a heavier than normal dose of nic from a Virginia. I can see why this is the one Astleys blend that is often sold out.


----------



## Madcaddyman

Good morning all, a fresh bole of Captain Black (Gold) with a shot of Baileys Irish cream in the coffee this Christmas eve morning, life is good!


----------



## freestoke

I noticed a jar of SWR, there in the back row, that hasn't been opened in a week or two, so I filled the Country Gentleman, Forever stem freshly swabbed out with alcohol. I also put a little PPP with BXX speckles in the bottom, to give it a big finish. Coffee! More coffee! p


----------



## gahdzila

The new-to-me DG Starfire 83 was restored by the previous owner. Restored a bit too much, actually. I think he must have done some grinding on the bit to remove teeth marks because it seems a bit thin. No worries there, I'll just put a piece of vinyl tubing on it like I do all my pipes. The point of my ramble is this - he reamed the bowl down to bare wood. The first bowl or two out of it were "meh"...but it's getting much better as I smoke it and get some cake in it. I think this guy is going to be a great addition to my rotation!


----------



## AStateJB

Good, Christmas Eve, morning gentlemen! I'm starting the day with some Smoker's Haven Cognac Mixture in my Big Ben and Bailey's Irish Cream in my coffee.


----------



## 36Bones

Santa help me, but Terry has mind controlling powers. 1792 is either addicting as hell or it's becoming my #1 favorite. Hot Twining tea and *cough* 1792 in the DG Regal #65. Make it the best Christmas eve ever my friends. :tu


----------



## 36Bones

gahdzila said:


> The new-to-me DG Starfire 83


She's a beauty Clifford.


----------



## freestoke

That sure is a fine looking pipe, Clifford! Looks like a Dunhill! :smile:

All this talk of 1792. I'm going to try to make amends with a bowl of RY after a Xmas Eve morning of drug store tabak. p And more coffee! The coffee is really going down well this morning. :cp


----------



## Madcaddyman

freestoke said:


> That sure is a fine looking pipe, Clifford! Looks like a Dunhill! :smile:
> 
> All this talk of 1792. I'm going to try to make amends with a bowl of RY after a Xmas Eve morning of drug store tabak. p And more coffee! The coffee is really going down well this morning. :cp


That's the spirit Jim!!


----------



## freestoke

Having some McClelland Holiday Spirit 2012 that Dan sent me the other day. Can't put my finger on the flavor...Xmas punch? Pecan pie? :dunno: Sure is good, though. :smile: Nice room note!


----------



## DanR

Morning Puffers - it is still morning isn't it?

Anyway, I just finished a bowl of GL Pease Stratford from 2005 (I think) with some black coffee. Time has treated it well.


----------



## ProbateGeek

36Bones said:


> Santa help me, but Terry has mind controlling powers. *1792 is either addicting as hell or it's becoming my #1 favorite. *Hot Twining tea and *cough* 1792 in the DG Regal #65. Make it the best Christmas eve ever my friends. :tu


I think both. And nice avi, Hilman.

Royal Yacht for me this morning, with some black coffee. And a good morning to you all.


----------



## Desertlifter

Up in the crawlspace doing some electrical work. No morning pipe for me - off to the snuff thread! 

Finished the evening last night (cognitive dissonance - night time smoking talk in the morning thread!) with a bowl of FVF. Damn but that stuff is good. I was enjoying it in a smallish enclosed (kind of) patio, so this was a rare moment when I could actually "get" my own room note.

Damned if I didn't almost smell as good as I look!


----------



## AStateJB

Desertlifter said:


> Damned if I didn't almost smell as good as I look!


With an endorsement like that I'm almost afraid to open the tin I just bought. :lol:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Desertlifter said:


> Damned if I didn't almost smell as good as I look!


Same here - my problem is, I smoke 1792 Flake. ainkiller:
Good thing I've got a heart of gold!


----------



## AStateJB

ProbateGeek said:


> Good thing I've got a heart of gold!


After popping open my tin of 1792 for a whiff, I am compelled to agree, Terry! "ainkiller:" is right!


----------



## ProbateGeek

AStateJB said:


> After popping open my tin of 1792 for a whiff, I am compelled to agree, Terry! "ainkiller:" is right!


:rofl:

Yeah, but wait till you taste it. . . yummy!


----------



## DanR

As a salute to Terry's love for 1792, I too loaded a bowl today. It was a big bowl and about knocked me for a loop. I survived though!

Now, it's Bob's Chocolate Flake as I sit by the fire pit enjoying the evening!


----------



## AStateJB

Alright, Terry, you got me! 1792 Flake with my morning coffee today. Thankfully it tastes much better than it smells. :lol: I may have to get another cob so I can dedicate my MM Washington.  This stuff is a beast to keep lit though!


----------



## gahdzila

After a breakfast of Easy Bake Oven cupcakes (she insisted), I'm escaping the madness for a moment - coffee and PA.


----------



## freestoke

Man, Audrey gave me a beautiful little circa 1960 or earlier meerschaum pipe with a hard leather case and I immediately broke it after I took it out of its case.  All I did is try to unscrew the stem and the shank shattered! Wow. out: I even held it by the shank to take the torque out of it. I'm going to try to glue it back together with Elmer's or something. Anybody have any ideas? It wasn't cracked or anything going in, pretty sure, so it's all my fault. I feel TERRIBLE! out: 

Right now, I have to smoke some PA56 to console myself.


----------



## 36Bones

We don't have any young ones with us, so everyone is still asleep. Enjoying some FMC in the '36 Kaywoodie and some Twining Pumpkin Spice Chai tea. It's bloody cold outside, 31* with 25-30 NNW wind. Stay warm my friends and Merry Christmas!


----------



## 36Bones

freestoke said:


> Having some McClelland Holiday Spirit 2012 that Dan sent me the other day. Can't put my finger on the flavor...Xmas punch? Pecan pie? :dunno: Sure is good, though. :smile: Nice room note!


Your right Jim, it's the pecan. I'm really surprised how pronounced it is. I'm going to order a 50g and cellar it for a couple of years and see how it turns out. Here were my thoughts on it.

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/321140-first-christmas-present.html


----------



## Desertlifter

24 degrees and snowing hard outside. On the bright side, I'm loading music and books onto my new portable hard drive. Laptop will be happy!


----------



## DanR

Merry Christmas Pipers. I thought I was going to have to make it through Christmas day with no Peterson Christmas blend (smoked my last bowl of 2011 last night) and surprise, Secret Pipe Santa brought me some 2012 blend. I'm smoking it now. It's different from last years blend. I like this one better. It's nuttier and smoother. A lovely festive aromatic!


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Man, Audrey gave me a beautiful little circa 1960 or earlier meerschaum pipe with a hard leather case and I immediately broke it after I took it out of its case.  All I did is try to unscrew the stem and the shank shattered! Wow. out: I even held it by the shank to take the torque out of it. I'm going to try to glue it back together with Elmer's or something. Anybody have any ideas? It wasn't cracked or anything going in, pretty sure, so it's all my fault. I feel TERRIBLE! out:
> 
> Right now, I have to smoke some PA56 to console myself.


Bummer! I've seen egg-white suggested as an adhesive for meerschaum. The issue, I think you will have is that the stem will need to be screwed in and this will probably tear it apart again if simply glued. My suggestion would be to reinforce the area with a band. Meerschaum is easy to work compared to briar so cutting this back won't be an issue. You need to find a tube of some suitable metal (silver would be nice if you have access to it and the ability to work it). I'm for copper pipe in these situations. Big range of diameters available if you can find a friendly plumber, not just the 2 or 3 standard sizes. Or hobby shop brass tubing. Make it too tight and heat before fitting to get a shrunk on interference fit. Once on, it won't shift and give some substance to the repair.

A professional repair can almost certainly be found. It may well be worth asking about this before trying to glue with anything. Once that is done, it may make a "real" repair much more difficult.

Good luck. I bet you're gutted...

(I did what sounds like exactly the same thing a couple of years ago. It was a pipe that I had no attachment to and of little value so I haven't as yet tried to repair it. My thought is that the metal screw-in part had oxidised and so increased in size and seized. Unscrewing, albeit what I thought was gently, popped the shank. IT'S NOT OUR FAULT!)


----------



## freestoke

Thanks, Robert! Not being particularly handy -- make that not handy at all -- I fear sheathings or linings may be beyond me, so I might go with egg white. Thanks for the exoneration! :smile:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Dr. Plume said:


> Another classic pipe. Where do you get something like that and do I want to know how much it goes for?


Hey Dave,

The 500-4 Worobiec is listed now for 473 Zolty. The easy conversion is to divide by three. Or use a currency converter...which comes to $153.

The Salon of Pipes Internet shop in Gdansk, Poland is where my wife bought three of the Worobiec pipes for me...

http://www.tabak.gdansk.pl/fkw.php#

She will contact them over the next few days to see what the best way to buy is, if they speak English and what shipping charges are. Polish is her first language so it's a breeze for her.

I'll let you know when she reports back to me.

The 500 series pipes are his high end ones. They are built to accept filters, but I just don't.

DJ


----------



## Dr. Plume

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Hey Dave,
> 
> The 500-4 Worobiec is listed now for 473 Zolty. The easy conversion is to divide by three. Or use a currency converter...which comes to $153.
> 
> The Salon of Pipes Internet shop in Gdansk, Poland is where my wife bought three of the Worobiec pipes for me...
> 
> http://www.tabak.gdansk.pl/fkw.php#
> 
> She will contact them over the next few days to see what the best way to buy is, if they speak English and what shipping charges are. Polish is her first language so it's a breeze for her.
> 
> I'll let you know when she reports back to me.
> 
> The 500 series pipes are his high end ones. They are built to accept filters, but I just don't.
> 
> DJ


They have some beautiful pipes to be sure and prices aren't bad. Thanks for the info.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Thanks, Robert! Not being particularly handy -- make that not handy at all -- I fear sheathings or linings may be beyond me, so I might go with egg white. Thanks for the exoneration! :smile:


What's the shape of the shank? If it's round, then this really shouldn't be difficult to do. If another shape, then things will be a bit more difficult; the tubing would have to be worked to the correct shape.

Or...

Glue temporarily with egg-white, then file in a groove and bind the shank on with copper wire. Just wrap around in the groove (two groves would be better) and twist tight and clip the ends. If similar to the one I broke, then you will need to get some strength into the repair. I don't think the egg-white glue will give that.

Or (if it is worth it) get a quote from a proper pipe repairer. Might not be that expensive.


----------



## Desertlifter

Dropped off the pup to get her plumbing yanked, now relaxing and watching some Barclay's Premier League (Man City v. Sunderland if you're curious).

All the Bjarne goodness in the Pipe Santa thread is kicking in my PAD symptoms....

Oh my - and P&C has a bjarne warden! Must......resist.....


----------



## ProbateGeek

Good morning, all. Actually feels good to get back to the office (what the hell is wrong with me?). :wink:

Bowl of Irish Flake followed by a bowl of 1792, both in the standby Country Gent. Missing the Pete this morning - maybe tonight. Need to pick up a tin or five of Irish Flake real soon.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> What's the shape of the shank? If it's round, then this really shouldn't be difficult to do. If another shape, then things will be a bit more difficult; the tubing would have to be worked to the correct shape.


I'm not sure what she paid for it, but hopefully not too much. I've pretty much decided to go with Elmer's -- and she's going to do the mechanical magic. :lol: The idea of egg white seems so fragile somehow. Maybe not, but then what do I know. :dunno:

Settling in for the storm. Looks like big time snowblowing duty tomorrow. :faint: Had a couple of RYs in the Country Gentleman before striking out for some shopping chores with the SAP and the Legend. All cob all the time so far, but I think I'm going briar right now, with a TwoDot apple of KK. p And more coffee! :cp


----------



## 36Bones

Day started of rough. I went outside to a flat tire and 21* weather. Drove 26 miles into to town only to have the tire place screw up and not put on the right tires. :tape: I went and picked some hamburgers for the wife and I, yep, they got the order wrong. My only saving grace was getting to smoke Stonehaven in the Savinelli and drinking free coffee.


----------



## Dr. Plume

36Bones said:


> Day started of rough. I went outside to a flat tire and 21* weather. Drove 26 miles into to town only to have the tire place screw up and not put on the right tires. :tape: I went and picked some hamburgers for the wife and I, yep, they got the order wrong. My only saving grace was getting to smoke Stonehaven in the Savinelli and drinking free coffee.


Rough day but at lest you got some stone haven


----------



## freestoke

Why isn't the horizon moving down so we can see the sun this morning? :spy: Ah, it's winter, of course! By the dawn's early light, I see we only picked up maybe 8 inches, but I think the storm will wrap around for some lake effect later. Probably a foot by the time it's over, so not too bad at all! None of it will melt anytime soon though, so there will be no January golf this year. :lol: Having a bowl of CH in the Darth Vader to wake up, but I might have to put a coin of BXX in the next load. Second cup of coffee in progress. :cp


----------



## 36Bones

Still cold here. 26* as we speak. At least it's not windy. I have found _my_ tobacco nirvana. My beautiful bride gave me a 2oz. tin of SPC's Mississippi River. I don't know what it is about it, but it just **hit** me. :boxing: Perfect fit for my palate, just delicious. She hit this one off the planet. Move over 1792 we may have a contender for a new absolute #1. Just enjoyed my 7th bowl from the tin with some hot Tazo "Awake" tea. Can't afford a pound, but I did place an 8oz order from P&C.

Have a great day my friends. :tu


----------



## freestoke

Quite a bit more snow than it looked like. Might have been 8-9 inches on the cars, but deeper in the driveway. Took me an hour and a half! :faint: But the wind was just starting to come up, so I'm glad I got it done early. :smile: Having some CH with a BXX bracer, and I need some more coffee! :cp


----------



## AStateJB

Morning, gentlemen. It's a brisk 29° here this morning. We still have about 6" of snow left of the 10" we got Christmas night. I'm bundled up and ready to go sit in the garage for some 1792 Flake. *beep beep beep* Coffee's done!


----------



## mcgreggor57

Cold here as well but, alas, the threat of snow yesterday didn't pan out to more than a dusting on the vegetation. I'm still on my quest to finish my remaining samples before the New Year rolls around. This morning I grabbed another morsel left from the Modest Proposal and thoroughly enjoyed about 1/2 bowl of CBW. I really do enjoy this OTC and need to make it a point to always have a pouch on hand.


----------



## Desertlifter

Slept in till 0730 and now watching crappy movies while avoiding the inevitable trip to town and hence to the crawlspace for more fun. 80's build quality? No such thing, at least hereabouts. Wiring up there is terrible and goes beyond "this wouldn't pass inspection" and approaches "fix this before it burns down." While we are at it, let's leave all of the ducting for the bathroom fans and stove vent sitting on the insulation, shall we?

This warrants a break. St. James Flake should hit the spot - it seems that I am a bit poly-amorous and enjoy a good VaPer at least as well as I do a good English blend. Sacrilege, I know.


----------



## AStateJB

I keep noticing in the news feed on tobacco cellar "so and so puffed a bowl of blend x." how do you share that? I can't find an option for it anywhere...


----------



## freestoke

mcgreggor57 said:


> Cold here as well but, alas, *the threat of snow yesterday didn't pan out to more than a dusting on the vegetation*. I'm still on my quest to finish my remaining samples before the New Year rolls around. This morning I grabbed another morsel left from the Modest Proposal and thoroughly enjoyed about 1/2 bowl of CBW. I really do enjoy this OTC and need to make it a point to always have a pouch on hand.


I got your share, right here in my driveway, Gregg. I'll send it your way if you like. :smile:

Every time I see that CBW pop up, I remember I have my free sample on its way. :spy: Right now, it's a musketball of Louisiana Flake in the Darth Rader. And more coffee! :cp


----------



## mcgreggor57

AStateJB said:


> I keep noticing in the news feed on tobacco cellar "so and so puffed a bowl of blend x." how do you share that? I can't find an option for it anywhere...


Click on the little pipe icon next to what you're smoking from your cellar Josh.


freestoke said:


> I got your share, right here in my driveway, Gregg. I'll send it your way if you like. :smile:


Thanks, but I wouldn't want you to go to any trouble Jim. :wink:


----------



## AStateJB

mcgreggor57 said:


> Click on the little pipe icon next to what you're smoking from your cellar Josh.


Thanks, Gregg!


----------



## steinr1

Kick-start with Revor Plug, then off to the Post Office. Muhaha!


----------



## freestoke

Coffee and the Darth Rader consuming some Carter Hall. Another bleak December day, made even more dreary by the joy of the snowmobilers with this snow. About the only thing cheering me up is anticipating the snowmobile accident reports; I like to think of the whine of their engines in the air as social Darwinism at work.


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## AStateJB

Happy Friday, gentlemen! As soon as the coffee's done I'll be headed out to the garage to finish off the Peter Stokkebye Cube Cut from my sampler trade, in the Nording.












freestoke said:


> Coffee and the Darth Rader consuming some Carter Hall. Another bleak December day, made even more dreary by the joy of the snowmobilers with this snow. About the only thing cheering me up is anticipating the snowmobile accident reports; I like to think of the whine of their engines in the air as social Darwinism at work.


Jim, you ok? You sound somewhat... "grinchy" this morning...


----------



## lostdog13

Snowed last night, so didn't walk to work for the first time in a while. Had a nice relaxing day with mostly admin (translated means the sky didn't fall today) stuff, validated my records for the upcoming board (just 90 more days of holding my breath), and enjoyed a bowl of Chestnuts Roasting with some twinnings black (sweetened with honey). I am really digging this C&D blend, and have my fingers crossed they will release another one next year.


----------



## freestoke

AStateJB said:


> Jim, you ok? You sound somewhat... "grinchy" this morning...


:lol: Listening to snowmobile engines at 3 in the morning is annoying. Being one of the economic engines of the region, snowmobiling is totally unpoliced. Crimes committed on snowmobiles, like driving them on the golf course and destroying the greens and tees are not crimes when committed by snowmobilers and driving them through the neighborhood streets at 70 mph before the plows come out is encouraged as demonstrations of pride in community. The smell of these disgusting 2 cycle engines is just awful when the wind stops. Some days, the field across from the Nice N Easy where they gas up is draped in smog worthy of Los Angeles during an inversion. Cross country skiers can pretty much forget about using the park down the road and snowmobilers are always eager to destroy cross country ski trails wherever they can find them. Children using the hill in the park for tubing and snowboarding are frequently playing in an environment as toxic as downtown Beijing.

Don't get me started on snowmobiles. :lol:


----------



## AStateJB

Oh wow! I completely understand now! Snowmobiles are fun, but that is ridiculous! Resume "grinching" my friend. :yo: :lol:


----------



## lostdog13

freestoke said:


> :lol: Listening to snowmobile engines at 3 in the morning is annoying. Being one of the economic engines of the region, snowmobiling is totally unpoliced. Crimes committed on snowmobiles, like driving them on the golf course and destroying the greens and tees are not crimes when committed by snowmobilers and driving them through the neighborhood streets at 70 mph before the plows come out is encouraged as demonstrations of pride in community. The smell of these disgusting 2 cycle engines is just awful when the wind stops. Some days, the field across from the Nice N Easy where they gas up is draped in smog worthy of Los Angeles during an inversion. Cross country skiers can pretty much forget about using the park down the road and snowmobilers are always eager to destroy cross country ski trails wherever they can find them. Children using the hill in the park for tubing and snowboarding are frequently playing in an environment as toxic as downtown Beijing.
> 
> Don't get me started on snowmobiles. :lol:


so you are looking into purchasing your fourth snowmobile you say?


----------



## szyzk

Krumble Kake. Glorious, glorious Krumble Kake. No better way to start the morning.


----------



## steinr1

steinr1 said:


> Kick-start with Revor Plug, then off to the Post Office. Muhaha!


Afternoon here, but so it goes with our global community...

Peterson Special 2012 Reserve (have I mentioned that this is highly recommended?) in a Barling meerschaum. I'll get back to some Louisiana Flake now, in some Ropp pipe or other. There are plenty...

The "Horrid Pipe" is off and running...


----------



## 36Bones

Freezing rain and 27*. An outside smoker just can't catch a break, at least my deck is covered, but it does need to be replaced. I found the lone dry spot. Drinking some Eight O'clock coffee, black and Mississippi River in the baby Kaywoodie. 

Have a great Friday!

Has anyone heard from Kevin Keith at all? All of my attempts to contact him have gone unanswered, it's going on 2 months now. I'm beginning to get a tad worried about him. I pray that he's okay and just taking a break. ray:


----------



## freestoke

36Bones said:


> Freezing rain and 27*.
> Has anyone heard from Kevin Keith at all? All of my attempts to contact him have gone unanswered, it's going on 2 months now. I'm beginning to get a tad worried about him. I pray that he's okay and just taking a break. ray:


I'm already "friends" with him, but maybe somebody could "friend" him, which might generate a regular email to him if nobody has gone that route yet.

Discovered a layer of spillage in the bottom of the RY jar. I had taken the entire paper cup of tobacco out of the can and put it in a squat Mason jar and during the course of smoking it I spilled some underneath the paper. Just enough for a smoke in the Prince Edward-worthy TwoDot apple. (Yeah, he'd of had a FourDot, but...)


----------



## 36Bones

The last time I talked to Kevin, we were going to setup a meeting someday. His daughter goes to college near me. I wish I would of asked him for his email address.


----------



## freestoke

More snow today, maybe 6 inches by tomorrow across the area, meaning 8-10 in my driveway. (I always get a lot more than Rome proper, a couple of miles down the road.) Smoking some CH in the Darth Rader while watching the white crap fall out of the sky.


----------



## szyzk

Snowing here, too. Looks like a few inches fell overnight.

Debating whether I should shovel the front of our shop or light up this bowl of Capstan & hope that a kind soul will come along and shovel for me.

Who am I kidding? I can't test fate like that. Shoveling it is, with the Capstan later as a reward for a job well done.


----------



## 36Bones

No snow here but 24* and foggy. Fixing to head into town and grab some groceries. I have a bowl of Virginia Woods loaded into the bent CG, and I'm waiting for the tea kettle to bowl, so I can hit the road with some Tazo to go. It looks like our type of winter is finally here. Highs in the low 40's and nights into the 20's all through next week, starting with possible freezing rain on Monday. _LOVELY! _


----------



## AStateJB

No snow for us last night, or at least none that stuck. We do have a nice thin layer of re frozen stuff now though. I think I'll just stay home and smoke this Carter Hall/Black Irish Twist.


----------



## freestoke

A second load of laundry ready to head into the dryer. Gotta have another pipe! The Darthish load of very lightly packed CH clenched for over an hour as I did various chores! :shock: The thing just doesn't look that big! :dunno:


----------



## AStateJB

Sounds like my Trevi. You can tell by looking it's not a small pipe, but it doesn't look like an hour and a half bowl...


----------



## freestoke

AStateJB said:


> Sounds like my Trevi. You can tell by looking it's not a small pipe, but it doesn't look like an hour and a half bowl...


The stem is a great one for clenching and the pipe itself is light, so it was good for puttering around this morning. (Thanks, Dan! :smile Right now, I'm running another load through it from the PPP. Got some BXX, a few scraps of RY, LF, and KK, so it's got some Vitamin N content. And the capacity of the Darth Rader is cleaning the plate up pretty fast! p I'm undercoffeed. :cp


----------



## szyzk

So much for the bowl of Capstan. It's still loaded & ready to go, but I've now had to shovel twice (with a third time by 12:30/13:00 I'm guessing), the store is quite busy for a Saturday, we've still got some work left over from yesterday...


----------



## freestoke

Reminds me of something from The Book of the Eskimo, by Peter Freuchen. He got a job running a trading post in Labrador(?), and the first time it snowed (you can imagine), he told the Eskimo working for him to "shovel the entryway". This made no sense to the Eskimo at all, but he set to work. Freuchen forgot about him and some time later went out to see how he was doing. He had shoveled a virtual tunnel that ran off into the distance and was still shoveling away. 

Here in Rome, before they tore down one of the most picturesque downtown areas in New York, demolishing old Italian and Polish markets, a bank whose marble and wood carved interior would have been a major tourist attraction these days (and worth more than all of downtown Rome all by itself, after they finished ruining it), along with old restaurants and quaint shops, back then the streets were heated outside the bigger stores and markets, so they always remained free of snow. Of course, that would be prohibitively expensive to do these days, but it was cool back in the 70s. As nearly as I can tell, the people of Rome want to reduce the city to a treeless wilderness with cheap prefabricated structures. Where all that neat stuff once stood we now have a reconstructed Fort Stanwix and a strip mall, with colorful enterprises like JC Penny and Staples. They don't refer to the local newspaper as the Rome Daily Senile for nothing.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

This morning it's McClelland's Frog Morton Across the Pond in a Pete Mark Twain.


DJ_Pete_Mark Twain_Rusticated_11.11.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> Here in Rome, before they tore down one of the most picturesque downtown areas in New York, demolishing old Italian and Polish markets, a bank whose marble and wood carved interior would have been a major tourist attraction these days (and worth more than all of downtown Rome all by itself, after they finished ruining it), along with old restaurants and quaint shops, back then the streets were heated outside the bigger stores and markets, so they always remained free of snow. Of course, that would be prohibitively expensive to do these days, but it was cool back in the 70s. As nearly as I can tell, the people of Rome want to reduce the city to a treeless wilderness with cheap prefabricated structures. Where all that neat stuff once stood we now have a reconstructed Fort Stanwix and a strip mall, with colorful enterprises like JC Penny and Staples. They don't refer to the local newspaper as the Rome Daily Senile for nothing.


Sounds like you could move here and not miss a beat - although we aren't hip enough to have a Staples.

We do have some nice things here. We have a very nice "historical" district thanks to the now-ancient influx of money from the timber, oil and iron industries, and there are attempts to get our downtown back to a functioning status. It's actually quite lovely in the summertime - or at least it is in front of our store, which overlooks the Flatiron building (a near exact replica of the real thing), our new downtown fountain, one of the many bridges that span the Allegheny river, and a small park. It would be even more lovely if the construction/renovation (six years and counting!) was completed.


----------



## freestoke

Good morning, everybody! No snow last night! :banana: Having a Darthish load of Carter Hall this morning and some coffee. Gotta grind some Columbian in a bit.


----------



## 36Bones

Up and at 'em. A bowl of Mississippi River in the Savinelli and some French Roast, black. It might actually break 50 today. Hooray!!!


----------



## freestoke

36Bones said:


> It might actually break 50 today. Hooray!!!


We're looking at a high of 21. Hopefully. :lol: Really glad I got this driveway done yesterday, finishing after dark. Wasn't nearly as cold. :smile: Gotta do another one in Oriskany today, though. :faint: But then, I need the exercise this time of year. Without the snow, I'd probably turn into a vegetable.

*Coneheads* is on the tube and looking up the spelling of "Prymatt" I noticed that IMDB gives this a 5.1 rating. :spy: Shirley, they jest. :tsk: This movie is easily a 7.3. Smoking some more PPP in the Country Gentleman, pondering yet more evidence that we are downbreeding.


----------



## AStateJB

Well, I'm up, but I'm not feeling very "at'em"... Went to a party with my motorcycle club last night and didn't get home till 2:30ish. Coffee! Must have coffee! 

On the way home last night I had my wife choose what kind of blend to smoke this morning. She chose latakia. Then I listed my open lat blends and she chose Blue Mountain. Great morning lat! Either she's just really lucky or she's been paying attention. :lol:


----------



## gahdzila

PA/5Bs, coffee. Finishing up the SWR Aro now. I plan to have a lazy day today :thumb:


----------



## freestoke

The sun's out! :shock: A quick snow rake deployment and the car windshields are ready to warm up and be completely clear without scrubbing. :smile: Cold out there with that wind, windchill of 6. 

A bowl of LF as I prepare Terry's sample. And I got me some Columbiano cafe. :cp


----------



## steinr1

AStateJB said:


> Went to a party with my *motorcycle* club last night and didn't get home till 2:30ish.


What bike? I'm a Laverdisti myself. (and a few others...)


----------



## AStateJB

steinr1 said:


> What bike? I'm a Laverdisti myself. (and a few others...)


I have a Honda CBR600RR.


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> What bike? I'm a Laverdisti myself. (and a few others...)


Ah Laverda. Such a sad story, that. Purchased by Aprilia, killed by Vespa.

Yes, I know that Vespa is better put Piaggio, but it didn't have the same cachet.

Grew up on anything that I could find with two wheels, from Bultaco and Montessa to Jawa and Yamaha.

Now I putt around on a Yamaha YZF600R - grew up racing Yamahas. Enjoyed some long distance rallying before marriage caught me. No iron butt, but did a mess saddle sore 1000s and a couple of bun burner golds (1500 miles in 1 day). Good times.


----------



## AStateJB

1500 miles in one day??? YOUCH!!! The most I've done in a day is ~400 and on my bike that's MORE than enough!


----------



## steinr1

Desertlifter said:


> Ah Laverda. Such a sad story, that. Purchased by Aprilia, killed by Vespa.
> 
> Yes, I know that Vespa is better put Piaggio, but it didn't have the same cachet.
> 
> Grew up on anything that I could find with two wheels, from Bultaco and Montessa to Jawa and Yamaha.
> 
> Now I putt around on a Yamaha YZF600R - grew up racing Yamahas. Enjoyed some long distance rallying before marriage caught me. No iron butt, but did a mess saddle sore 1000s and a couple of bun burner golds (1500 miles in 1 day). Good times.


Dear, oh, dear. I would be dead if I tried to ride my Laverda (actually one of the old type - 750 SF1; in ORANGE, obviously...) 1500 miles in a day. The "Blender" would pulverise my kidneys. I don't think I've ever ridden more than about 600 miles in a day on any bike. You tend to fall off the UK if you go much further. Marriage and kids do limit the fun in this arena. I've been toying with attaching a cart to my old BMW R90S, but that seems a bit of a shame.

YZF600R? Hardly a bike you "putt around on"...

(Just noticed. Vespa? Piaggio? My hand is already reaching for a monkey wrench to lay one up the side of those Mod bastards heads...)


----------



## steinr1

AStateJB said:


> 1500 miles in one day??? YOUCH!!! The most I've done in a day is ~400 and on my bike that's MORE than enough!


US roads -many long and relatively straight - make this more of a prospect, I think. But European roads? I think not...


----------



## AStateJB

steinr1 said:


> US roads -many long and relatively straight - make this more of a prospect, I think. But European roads? I think not...


I avoid the straight roads whenever possible. I'd rather do 400 twisty miles than 200 straight miles. For one thing, twisties are so much more fun! For another, I feel less fatigued after riding curves because I'm not sitting flat on my butt the entire time or resting weight on my wrists the entire time.


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> US roads -many long and relatively straight - make this more of a prospect, I think. But European roads? I think not...


Most of my first 1k ride was through mountain passes - back roads to Pullman, then the mountains and wonderful twistys of Idaho to St. Regis Montana (even took some gravel logging roads - great fun on a sportbike....) and then back to the valley. Longest ride was 20 hours with only a couple 30 minute rest stops.


----------



## steinr1

AStateJB said:


> I avoid the straight roads whenever possible. I'd rather do 400 twisty miles than 200 straight miles. For one thing, twisties are so much more fun! For another, I feel less fatigued after riding curves because I'm not sitting flat on my butt the entire time or resting weight on my wrists the entire time.


Couldn't agree more. Here's a little road for you to drool over. The Splugen Pass linking Switzerland and Italy. I rode this one about 20 years ago on my BMW R90S. Not the ideal tool for it, but fun, fun, fun!

View attachment 74175


Not my photo - didn't have too much time spare to take any... This thing just goes on and on like this. There are some much hairier sections with massive effing vertical drops at the point of the hairpins with no guard rails. Everyone should do this road at least once. I fear I may be too old and fat to try again.

About halfway up I decided that my passenger was too damn heavy (He's known as "Lump".) and traded him for my friend's wife who was in a car (what a waste of a road). She was instructed to put on her highest heels and shortest skirt which she duly did. I was able to pull a full gear higher. The Italian border guards at the top of the pass were VERY friendly but seemed rather uninterested in our passports...


----------



## AStateJB

Oh, what a road! Be right back, have to go calculate cost of round trip airfare for me and the bike and plenty of replacement knee pucks for my leathers! :lol:

That looks like an incredible ride!


----------



## Desertlifter

AStateJB said:


> Oh, what a road! Be right back, have to go calculate cost of round trip airfare for me and the bike and plenty of replacement knee pucks for my leathers! :lol:
> 
> That looks like an incredible ride!


Ditto that - beautiful! I did that one back in '87, but in a Citroen. Not nearly as much fun as well.....anything.


----------



## steinr1

Desertlifter said:


> Ditto that - beautiful! I did that one back in '87, but in a Citroen. Not nearly as much fun as well.....anything.


Did you notice how the road surface quality crapped out as soon as you hit Italy?


----------



## AStateJB

steinr1 said:


> Did you notice how the road surface quality crapped out as soon as you hit Italy?


Sounds like one of our state highways. One county resurfaced its portion with beautiful, high grade, super grippy asphalt. The bordering county to the north hasn't resurfaced their section in years and when they did they went with the cheap solution, chip seal (i.e. tar and pea gravel) which actual grips pretty well for as long as it holds (not long), but doesn't fix bumps, dips, or chatter.


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> Did you notice how the road surface quality crapped out as soon as you hit Italy?


LOL - that's how I knew I hit the border!

This is the spiral highway - one of my favorite play roads. Not my group - please ignore the crappy lines and poor lane discipline.


----------



## AStateJB

Awesome section of highway, but you're not kidding about the lines and lane discipline. These guys didn't get within 50 feet of an apex and didn't seem to care that there might be opposing traffic...


----------



## MarkC

Desertlifter said:


> LOL - that's how I knew I hit the border!
> 
> This is the spiral highway - one of my favorite play roads. Not my group - please ignore the crappy lines and poor lane discipline.


Wow. That looks local. But then you aren't that far away from me, so I guess it would. Makes me miss my Yamaha 650 Maxim, but at my age, maybe memories are a better idea... :lol:


----------



## steinr1

Desertlifter said:


> This is the spiral highway - one of my favorite play roads.


That is a fun looking road. Where the hell are the other vehicles?


----------



## AStateJB

I never got around to that Blue Mountain yesterday... The wife woke up just a few minutes after me (as opposed to an hour :lol: ), for a change. Since we thought I'd be leaving to go out of town today and be out of town for a week I skipped my pipe to spend time with her. Turns out I'm STILL not working.  It's going to be a rough month! Time for coffee and Blue Mountain (in the Big Ben)!


----------



## freestoke

Watching all this motorcycle riding is making my butt tired this morning. Having a second quick bowl of CH in the Darth Rader and trying to pour enough coffee in me to regain consciousness. So, is it harder to ride a motorcycle for 1000 miles or a bicycle for 100? I did a "century" on the Raleigh International once, from Decatur to Lake Lanier and back. I definitely should have built up to that ride a little more gradually. :lol: I was doing an easy 10-20 miles a day around Atlanta, but that 100+ back and forth to Lake Lanier was like a weekend jogger out for a marathon. :faint: But hey, when you're young and strong...I survived it! :smile:


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> So, is it harder to ride a motorcycle for 1000 miles or a bicycle for 100?


The correct answer is C) Spending 10 minutes in the car with my mother-in-law.


----------



## AStateJB

I couldn't say, Jim... I've never done either. I can't imagine doing 1000 on my motorcycle though! Not on what passes for a "seat" at the Honda factory! I realize it's a race bike made legal for the highway, but I've sat on concrete park benches that weren't as brutal!


----------



## Wiseguy1982

MM965 in my trusty Omega.


----------



## steinr1

AStateJB said:


> I couldn't say, Jim... I've never done either. I can't imagine doing 1000 on my motorcycle though! Not on what passes for a "seat" at the Honda factory! I realize it's a race bike made legal for the highway, but I've sat on concrete park benches that weren't as brutal!


An old 600/6 BMW I had came with a buttoned leather King/Queen seat. Like riding a sofa. London to Edinburgh (about 400 miles) was a doddle on many occasions. Not the fastest bike in the world (although just over 5 hours on one of the Scottish trips ain't bad...), but perhaps the most comfortable.

(Since we've had internal combustion engines for well over 100 years, aren't bicycles just for 15 year olds and the Amish?)


----------



## 36Bones

Misting and 47*. Forecast calls for light rain all day. It's warming up a little before another cold front blows through tonight. Mississippi River in the DG Regal #65. This pipe loves the River. I have some hot Tazo "Chai" tea to go along with it. Have a great New Years Eve! Don't over due it. :smile:

All this motorcycle talk makes me want to post a pic of mine. A 08 Honda Shadow Spirit 750.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> (Since we've had internal combustion engines for well over 100 years, aren't bicycles just for 15 year olds and the Amish?)


They're good for getting around town cheap. When I was studying classical guitar in Atlanta, I lived off savings and what I could win at the dart board. Lasted almost two years before I had to go to work again, but if I'd had to support a car habit I'd have wasted a lot of time finding parking spaces and getting stuck in traffic, not to mention draining my resources and ending my "early retirement" early. Plus, I once found a sucker to bet me that I couldn't beat him going from George's Delicatessen in Decatur to Georgia State University, good for an extra $10. :lol: (A car has NO CHANCE against a real rider. :evil And not many 15 year old kids could have afforded my bicycle, either -- I've still got it. :smile: Plus, you have understand that I was something of a jock, Robert. No talking sense about such matters to a jock.

A friend of mine had a BMW, back in the early 70s. Quiet and smooth riding. Best motorcycle I ever rode, actually, not that I've ridden many, but it was almost silent. Very civilized. I've wondered ever since why motorcycle riders aren't required to have quieter machines like his. Annoying. And what's with all the engine revving? :dunno:

Some Louisiana Flake in the FourDot pot. Very satisfying. :smile:


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> That is a fun looking road. Where the hell are the other vehicles?


There often aren't any. While this road - once a part of a wagon trail - is near to a town, said town is near nothing. Hah!

A "nice" modern highway circumvents this twisty-gasm, and folks who are actually going somewhere tend to take that route. There are a couple of ranches that have their edit onto the Spiral Highway, but one almost never sees their traffic. It does provide some level of pucker-ness as this means that someone's gravel drive spills out onto the road when you are either dragging a knee or hard on the throttle.

Granger in a cob this morning, Lord help me.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> A friend of mine had a BMW, back in the early 70s. Quiet and smooth riding. Best motorcycle I ever rode, actually, not that I've ridden many, but it was almost silent. Very civilized. I've wondered ever since why motorcycle riders aren't required to have quieter machines like his. Annoying. And what's with all the engine revving?


My 600/6 was extremely smooth and quite quiet. The R90S? Nope. Conan the Bavarian is LOUD. My Laverda SF1 sets off car alarms as it passes. My "Harley Davidson" (actually an Aermacchi 350 Sprint) is so loud that I got complaints from a friend's neighbour one night (I was simply trying to drive it up his stairs - and succeeded) - and he's deaf. Loud bikes are cool.


----------



## steinr1

Good morning and Happy New Year!

A little Revor Plug to get things started.


----------



## Dr. Plume

I'm thinking Irish oak this morning.


----------



## Dr. Plume

This time tomorrow ill be doing my smoking in the UK YAY people that speak English! Albeit weird English but hey I won't complain too much


----------



## steinr1

Dr. Plume said:


> This time tomorrow ill be doing my smoking in the UK YAY people that speak English! Albeit weird English but hey I won't complain too much


The sun once more having risen on this fair outreach of our terraqueous globe and the glass at an equal point on its diurnal journey, I will have attempted the verisimilitude of honest toil for semi part of the breve that is the working day. 'Tis an ill wind that blows mankind to yoke his mortal gifts to put money in thy purse.

(This time tomorrow I'll have been at work half the day. Bugger.)


----------



## Dr. Plume

Y U gotta be like dat? With ya speech so fancy.


----------



## freestoke

G' mornin', y'all! Just a little light lake effect this morning, so no snow removal on the horizon. :banana: Never did get around to that New Year's Eve pipe, since we got back after midnight. Right now, I'm starting the first day of the year with some PA56 in the 4Dot and some fresh ground Columbian. :smile:

"The sun once more having risen on this fair outreach of our terraqueous globe..." You stayed up past your bedtime again, didn't you Robert? :nono:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> G' mornin', y'all! Just a little light lake effect this morning, so no snow removal on the horizon. :banana: Never did get around to that New Year's Eve pipe, since we got back after midnight. Right now, I'm starting the first day of the year with some PA56 in the 4Dot and some fresh ground Columbian. :smile:
> 
> "The sun once more having risen on this fair outreach of our terraqueous globe..." *You stayed up past your bedtime again, didn't you Robert?* :nono:


Actually, I crashed early in front of the TV, up at 0600 and was able to make breakfast for the family before getting both Melville and Shakespeare into those two sentences. Quite pleased with them although I'm not sure about the "glass" part...


----------



## 36Bones

Oh man does my head hurt. I drank_ WAY _ too much beer. Going to spend the day with the daughter, before they leave in the morning. Wife made her traditional New Years day breakfast, waffles, brauts, and eggs. Bundled up and enjoying some coffee with the son-in-law. He with LNF and I with some 1792 in my baby Kaywoodie. Have a great 1st my friends.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Actually, I crashed early in front of the TV, up at 0600 and was able to make breakfast for the family before getting both Melville and Shakespeare into those two sentences. Quite pleased with them although I'm not sure about the "glass" part...


Ah, Melville's jaunty prose. :tu I meandered into a Melville while reviewing Billy Budd (Foretopman) a while back:

*
I do not dislike this tobacco. I find it full flavored with a solid vitamin D component, biteless, easy burning, with a room note that would appeal to an anti-social individual who just wants to be left alone, to think dark thoughts and possibly write a dreary, depressing novella about cruelty and injustice, in ponderous, unending sentences that drive one to thoughts of suicide, merely to bring them to an end, that the next malevolent thought unfolding might suddenly make us feel the hopelessness of good in the face of the juggernaut of evil that continues, comma after comma, couched in grammatical convulsions that would make any reader shudder.
*

A cheery New Year's Day unfolds. :smile: I even see a patch of blue sky! :shock: No sun, but there is hope. Off to make some pinto beans. I love pinto beans. Here's your cooking tip for the day. Wash the beans, put them in a big pan and cover them with water. Add half a minced onion. Boil. Add water as necessary. Done. The soaking, boiling, draining thing absolutely RUINS the beans. Follow the package instructions to your peril.







.


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning all and Happy New Year.

No pipe this morning thanks to a heavy rain. On a brighter note I'm happy to report the local Kroger carries pouches of Carter Hall now. I picked up a pouch yesterday but haven't been able to try it yet. The aroma in pouch is nice (nicer than PA) and I'm anxious for this rain to let up long enough to try it.


----------



## jobes2007

Smoked a little Nightcap last night, probably smoking some more this morning. 2013 - THE YEAR OF NIGHTCAP


----------



## lostdog13

jobes2007 said:


> Smoked a little Nightcap last night, probably smoking some more this morning. 2013 - THE YEAR OF THE *LOSTDOG*


had to fix that one for you


----------



## Dr. Plume

lostdog13 said:


> had to fix that one for you


Psshhh!


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Ah, Melville's jaunty prose. :tu I meandered into a Melville while reviewing Billy Budd (Foretopman) a while back:
> 
> *
> I do not dislike this tobacco. I find it full flavored with a solid vitamin D component, biteless, easy burning, with a room note that would appeal to an anti-social individual who just wants to be left alone, to think dark thoughts and possibly write a dreary, depressing novella about cruelty and injustice, in ponderous, unending sentences that drive one to thoughts of suicide, merely to bring them to an end, that the next malevolent thought unfolding might suddenly make us feel the hopelessness of good in the face of the juggernaut of evil that continues, comma after comma, couched in grammatical convulsions that would make any reader shudder.
> *
> 
> A cheery New Year's Day unfolds. :smile: I even see a patch of blue sky! :shock: No sun, but there is hope. Off to make some pinto beans. I love pinto beans. Here's your cooking tip for the day. Wash the beans, put them in a big pan and cover them with water. Add half a minced onion. Boil. Add water as necessary. Done. The soaking, boiling, draining thing absolutely RUINS the beans. Follow the package instructions to your peril.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


Damn! You use your tongue sweeter than a $6 whore.


----------



## Dr. Plume

steinr1 said:


> Damn! You use your tongue sweeter than a $6 whore.


If I am not mistaken a nice blazing saddles reference. Well done.


----------



## steinr1

Dr. Plume said:


> If I am not mistaken a nice blazing saddles reference. Well done.


Perhaps... Although I'm not 100% on the price quoted. Given inflation, I'd say the OP was a good $6 value.

Razzum!


----------



## AStateJB

Stonedog said:


> Good morning all and Happy New Year.
> 
> No pipe this morning thanks to a heavy rain. On a brighter note I'm happy to report the local Kroger carries pouches of Carter Hall now. I picked up a pouch yesterday but haven't been able to try it yet. The aroma in pouch is nice (nicer than PA) and I'm anxious for this rain to let up long enough to try it.


Nor for me, as I woke up entirely too late and now must prepare for a very early dinner with the in-laws. (Bad day to wake up too late for a pipe!) I seriously debated a splash of whiskey in my coffee! :lol:

On an unrelated topic: Jon, is the address in your profile correct?


----------



## ProbateGeek

Starting the day, and the new year, off with a bowl of 1792 Flake - what I predict will be the puff tobacco of 2013. At least for me, anyway. 
:yo:

Cold and clear this morning in my little corner of the Pacific Northwest - like this tobacco, glorious!


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Perhaps... Although I'm not 100% on the price quoted. Given inflation, I'd say the OP was a good $6 value.
> 
> Razzum!


I'm definitely going to have to raise my rates. :frown:

Heading into white vortex with the Diplomat of KK. Darts ahoy!


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> I'm definitely going to have to raise my rates. :frown:
> 
> Heading into white vortex with the Diplomat of KK. Darts ahoy!


Astounding the lines these things can head down. Reassessing your own value as a prostitute...


----------



## Stonedog

AStateJB said:


> Nor for me, as I woke up entirely too late and now must prepare for a very early dinner with the in-laws. (Bad day to wake up too late for a pipe!) I seriously debated a splash of whiskey in my coffee! :lol:
> 
> On an unrelated topic: Jon, is the address in your profile correct?


Yes, it is my office address although I've not been in since the week before Christmas. Tomorrow will be my first day back. There aren't too many reasons for someone to ask that...


----------



## MarkC

Don't be so suspicious; he's probably just updating his Christmas card list...


----------



## AStateJB

Stonedog said:


> Yes, it is my office address although I've not been in since the week before Christmas. Tomorrow will be my first day back. There aren't too many reasons for someone to ask that...


I thought it looked like an office address. I mean... Um... Huh? What were we talking about? Look at the time. Gotta get ready for work. 

Park Lane no.15 in the Big Ben for me this morning.


----------



## Stonedog

AStateJB said:


> I thought it looked like an office address. I mean... Um... Huh? What were we talking about? Look at the time. Gotta get ready for work.
> 
> Park Lane no.15 in the Big Ben for me this morning.


And here I was hoping for a nice quiet start to the new year...

EDIT: The office mail guy doesn't know me by "StoneDog" and I'd prefer to keep it that way.  I've changed the bomb address to include my full name, FWIW.

My first commute of 2013 included CH in the CG and a cup of coffee courtesy of the Keurig machine Santa left for us. 'Twas a fine way to get things going.


----------



## AStateJB

Stonedog said:


> EDIT: The office mail guy doesn't know me by "StoneDog" and I'd prefer to keep it that way.  I've changed the bomb address to include my full name, FWIW.


:doh: Sorry, Jon...


----------



## freestoke

An ugly-looking band of lake effect just descended into the area. :tsk: This is all Clifford's fault, asking about where to put the snow. If this keeps up and we don't get a thaw, there will be nowhere to put the snow, Clifford. Happy now? :frown: It's 13 stinking degrees. The next possibility of getting above freezing is next Tuesday, with a projected high of a balmy 34. :rant:

I need something stronger this morning...KK fits the bill, in the 4Dot. The fresh-groun Columbian tastes pretty good. :cp. (And why can't this spell-checker deal with "Columbian"? :ask


----------



## Stonedog

AStateJB said:


> :doh: Sorry, Jon...


No worries, that's what I get for using my office address instead of my home address.

Now that the wife has actually given me a pipe (Savinelli 403 churchwarden) my pipe hobby is acceptable enough that I can change my profile over to my home address.


----------



## 36Bones

Well back to work. i have a deadline to meet. Man, the holidays go by so fast. Took the daughter and son-in-law to the airport, as they head back. Wife is really sad today and I have to admit, it was really nice having them here. Started the day with some Mississippi River in the Alpha Cremlin and some hot Bigelow Earl Grey tea.


----------



## AStateJB

Stonedog said:


> Now that the wife has actually given me a pipe (Savinelli 403 churchwarden) my pipe hobby is acceptable enough that I can change my profile over to my home address.


:woohoo: :tu


----------



## Desertlifter

Good morning gentlemen!

Feeling like having a lat-bomb this morning, and I just happen to have this Lagonda lying about.

Good morning Mr. Saucer......meet Mr. Pease....


----------



## freestoke

Simple freestoke met a weed bloke, while posting on the net.
Said simple freestoke to the weed bloke, "I ain't smoked nothin' yet."
Said the weed bloke to simple freestoke, "That's a lie, and you know it."

I confess. I'm almost done with a Darth Rader full of Carter Hall after starting with some KK.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Feels like Monday. 1792 (what else) in a Savinelli Venizia billiard. Lots of tea on the long drive in. 
Morning all.


----------



## szyzk

Somebody get me more of this - stat!


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> Somebody get me more of this - stat!


I had some of that, courtesy of you a while back. Very nice! :tu (At least I remember it being you who sent it...)

Think I'll have some LF to round out the morning. Haven't dried it out, so I'll need the Country Gentleman. p And more Columbiano. :cp


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> I had some of that, courtesy of you a while back. Very nice! :tu (At least I remember it being you who sent it...)


Your memory serves you well! Glad you enjoyed it.

Let's assume that I'll be in the mood for a second bowl of Cap once this one is finished. And another cup of coffee.


----------



## mcgreggor57

Long lost 1/2 pouch of Prince Albert surfaced from a forgotten jacket. Still relatively moist and smoked all the way down from the initial light in my Country Gentleman.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> An ugly-looking band of lake effect just descended into the area. :tsk: This is all Clifford's fault, asking about where to put the snow. If this keeps up and we don't get a thaw, there will be nowhere to put the snow, Clifford. Happy now? :frown: It's 13 stinking degrees. The next possibility of getting above freezing is next Tuesday, with a projected high of a balmy 34. :rant:
> 
> I need something stronger this morning...KK fits the bill, in the 4Dot. The fresh-groun Columbian tastes pretty good. :cp. (And why can't this spell-checker deal with "Columbian"? :ask


No snow here! The house next to me is still vacant, Jim. Though I think Terry is looking at it rather closely, as crawfish season is coming up :lol:



szyzk said:


> stat!


After working in healthcare for 15 years, I still have no idea as to the origins of this term. And I still cringe every time I hear it. It's completely lost its effect at my work, as it seems sometimes that _everything_ is ordered stat. Some coworkers and I have proposed a new system of priorities as follows:

*routine* - leave it for the next shift
*now* - somewhat important....I'll get to it when I finish lunch
*stat* - slightly more important...perhaps I'll take care of this and finish lunch later...or perhaps not
*R. F. N.* - top priority, drop everything (think about it a little, and you should be able to figure out what it stands for).

Unfortunately, management hasn't adopted this system yet, though I can't imagine why :lol:

Speaking of work, today is the first day after a 4 day holiday weekend. A day that just plain sucks at my job. I'm glad to have the day off :mrgreen:

PA/5Bs with my morning coffee. Now enjoying some Old Joe Krantz in the Irish Seconds bent billiard now.


----------



## ProbateGeek

gahdzila said:


> No snow here! The house next to me is still vacant, Jim. Though I think Terry is looking at it rather closely, as crawfish season is coming up :lol:


:tea:


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> After working in healthcare for 15 years, I still have no idea as to the origins of this term [stat]. And I still cringe every time I hear it.


It goes along with all those Latin medical terms --_ statim_ is Latin for "immediately". I actually remember this from high school. :shock: (It's always ominous when old people start remembering stuff. )

I'm always worried about the swamp pixies, Clifford, but thanks for the offer! I'll have an Old Mil for you later. :beerchug:


----------



## szyzk

gahdzila said:


> After working in healthcare for 15 years, I still have no idea as to the origins of this term. And I still cringe every time I hear it. It's completely lost its effect at my work, as it seems sometimes that _everything_ is ordered stat. Some coworkers and I have proposed a new system of priorities as follows:
> 
> *routine* - leave it for the next shift
> *now* - somewhat important....I'll get to it when I finish lunch
> *stat* - slightly more important...perhaps I'll take care of this and finish lunch later...or perhaps not
> *R. F. N.* - top priority, drop everything (think about it a little, and you should be able to figure out what it stands for).


Hmmm...

I'm going to use your system, then:

routine - Shovel
now - Schedule installation with new ISP for work
stat - Find more Capstan (it would be hypocritical for me to elevate this to R.F.N.)
R.F.N. - Put fire to a bowl of Irish Flake


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> It goes along with all those Latin medical terms --_ statim_ is Latin for "immediately"


My college should be doing a _massive_ facepalm right now. I've actually never heard that _at all._ Naturally, I figured out what it meant along the way, or someone at some point told me "stat means _do it right freaking now!_", but one would think I would have heard the origin along with the definition at some point in my education.


----------



## freestoke

gahdzila said:


> *My college should be doing a massive facepalm right now*. I've actually never heard that _at all._ Naturally, I figured out what it meant along the way, or someone at some point told me "stat means _do it right freaking now!_", but one would think I would have heard the origin along with the definition at some point in my education.


:lol: Sue. Then tell them you'll settle for a pound of Brown Irish Twish.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> :lol: Sue. Then tell them you'll settle for a pound of Brown Irish Twish.


:biglaugh:


----------



## steinr1

A bit of Revor Plug to kickstart the day...


----------



## Stonedog

Carter Hall in my trusty basket pipe. I wish I would've tried this OTC a long time ago...

I was going to try my sample of Balrog or maybe Smaug but I don't know how much vitamin N is lurking in either and didn't want to risk it.


----------



## 36Bones

The weather dude says snow is moving in for this afternoon and tomorrow. 26* atm. It sure doesn't feel like 26, it feels warmer than that. Enjoying some LNF in the Diplomat with some hot Irish Breakfast tea. The baby Kaywoodie is all loaded for the all-important after breakfast bowl with 1792 to get the day really rolling.


----------



## Desertlifter

Warmed up to 27 today, thanks to the snow. Meh.

FM Cellar in the saucer. Oddly enough this is the first time that I've tried it as I've "gifted" it to so many people.


----------



## MarkC

Hasn't snowed here in a week. Hasn't got over freezing in a week, either. Even Smedley, my cat with the thickest winter fur I've ever seen, has decided one trip out a night is enough.

Warming up with a bowl of Wessex Brown Virginia Flake before heading to bed. I don't know how you normal people can take those weird hours! :lol:


----------



## gahdzila

37 here. But it's nice out, relatively speaking, and doesn't feel quite that cold. I hate winters here. It seems to get cloudy and dark and dreary sometime in mid-December, and the sun doesn't come out until March. But there's a sliver of sunshine today, and no wind.

I've got the Savinelli Capri out performing breakfast duties today. PA/5Bs followed by Granger.


----------



## KBibbs

30 out and feeling it. Hardly any frost on the rooftops though, so a rather dull cold, as it is freezing out (just below actually), but no pretty white on the roofs. Not fair.
Nothing to smoke until after work. Guess I'll just have some pipe dreams in the meantime, sigh. Somebody else will have to smoke something good for me in the meantime. I'm sure no one will mind...


----------



## freestoke

I got some KK going for you, KB. Had to run to Utica this morning, so out the door I went -- without a lighter or matches. sigh. Gotta catch up on nicotine and coffee! :cp


----------



## MarkC

gahdzila said:


> I hate winters here. It seems to get cloudy and dark and dreary sometime in mid-December, and the sun doesn't come out until March.


I lived in Pineville for a couple of years before beating a hasty retreat to the west coast, and you know what I hated about Louisiana winters? The bugs are still around! Here, they have the decency to die in the winter! (Nice side effect: I haven't had to buy anything for fleas for the cats since I moved here. Nice!)


----------



## Desertlifter

MarkC said:


> I lived in Pineville for a couple of years before beating a hasty retreat to the west coast, and you know what I hated about Louisiana winters? The bugs are still around! Here, they have the decency to die in the winter! (Nice side effect: I haven't had to buy anything for fleas for the cats since I moved here. Nice!)


Um...yeah. PSA for those who don't know: LaGrande is downright purty. It's nice down there!


----------



## gahdzila

MarkC said:


> I lived in Pineville for a couple of years before beating a hasty retreat to the west coast, and you know what I hated about Louisiana winters? The bugs are still around! Here, they have the decency to die in the winter! (Nice side effect: I haven't had to buy anything for fleas for the cats since I moved here. Nice!)


No kidding?!? I've been through there a bazillion times, but never spent any serious amount of time there. There's a restaurant there called Tunk's that serves some sort of fish baked in a brown paper bag. Fantastic stuff.

Living in the city (errr....relatively speaking, anyway), bugs aren't bad. The fogger truck drives right by my house periodically.


----------



## steinr1

Revor Plug for the morning kick.


----------



## freestoke

A gentle start to the morning with some PA, fresh from the tub. I refilled my jar this morning after running out of Carter Hall yesterday and the 4Dot is back on its regular feed.

Seems like Saturday. Guess I need more coffee. :cp


----------



## 36Bones

We actually got snow and I have the pics to prove it. :wink: Enjoying some Mississippi River in the Savinelli Natural and taking snow pics before it's all gone.


----------



## luckybro2

steinr1 said:


> Revor Plug for the morning kick.


Me too. I thought I was the only one smoking this stuff.


----------



## Stonedog

Carter Hall this morning.

I survived (no, _enjoyed_) my encounter with Smaug last night. This weekend I will battle the mighty Balrog.


----------



## steinr1

luckybro2 said:


> Me too. I thought I was the only one smoking this stuff.


A quality tobacco enjoyed throughout the world! :lol: I thought this was rather difficult to come by in the US. Better let Andrew (szyzk) know where you get it...


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

A large mug of Ethiopian coffee and a bowl of McClelland's 3 Oaks Syrian in a Caminetto Business 143 is making for a very fine morning!


Caminetto Business 143_DJ_12.16.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

Louisiana Flake (courtesy of Jim) in my dad's Comoys bent bulldog. I can see why LF is a favorite of some. I need another 3 or 4 bowls to make up my mind - certainly good, but not yet stellar.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Louisiana Flake (courtesy of Jim) in my dad's Comoys bent bulldog. I can see why LF is a favorite of some. I need another 3 or 4 bowls to make up my mind - certainly good, but not yet stellar.


Different stokes for different blokes. :smile: Definitely one of mine, although I have many. Think I'll burn a little in the 4Dot. p


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Different stokes for different blokes. :smile: Definitely one of mine, although I have many. Think I'll burn a little in the 4Dot. p


As will I, in my ancient Barling. Probably would have happened in any case, but I'll blame you...


----------



## scopawl

This morning (afternoon here, now) I had a bowlful of Penzance in my MM Legend. Thanks again to MiamiMikePA who I did my Newbie Sampler with, I'm still trying to work through all the samples he gave me!


----------



## houncer

I went with Butternut Burley this morning. It has been a looooong time since I smoked some of this and a long time since smoking any aromatic. I used to love this stuff but this morning it just tasted like artificial flavoring. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day.


----------



## MarkC

Didn't smoke much today; just wasn't in the mood. But I finally managed to load a bowl of EMP.


----------



## steinr1

Black Bogie rope with an added splash of Lamb's Navy Rum. Does this improve it? Not really...


----------



## szyzk

Warrior Plug, with fresh coffee ready in a matter of minutes.


----------



## luckybro2

I mixed Blue Mountain with some Pirate Kake to give it even more latakia.


----------



## freestoke

The sun's out, which is confusing me. So's the weather report -- looks like a thaw starting Tuesday! :spy: .........:banana:

Think I'll celebrate with a Darth Rader of Anni Kake and some Columbian fresh grind.


----------



## 36Bones

I took a trip down the Mississippi River in my Alpha Cremlin. Snow yesterday and today it's supposed to be 52*. :noidea: It sounds like everyone's weather has gone crazy.


----------



## szyzk

Thoughts on Dunhill Flake, anyone?

I need another open tin like I need a hole in the head, but we brought in a few sleeves of this and I'm tired of walking past it and wondering what's inside. If it's worth losing for a few years, though, I think I'll take some home.


----------



## freestoke

DF is one of the "four star" VAs on tabakrevs, along with FVF. A very nice straight Va, a little milder and less oily than FVF. Looks a bit like OGS. Of course it's going to get a 4* rating, coming from Dunhill (sort of) and having no real "faults". An excellent but ordinary Va. I think you have to be a super taster or something to taste that it's better than GH&Co. Scotch Flake. Or maybe it isn't. :lol: 

I'll be off for darts after lunch. Audrey has been beating me up unmercifully. sigh. Me. Top 16 in the National Unicorn/Natural Light tournament in 1980. sigh. No respect. out:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> DF is one of the "four star" VAs on tabakrevs, along with FVF. A very nice straight Va, a little milder and less oily than FVF. Looks a bit like OGS. Of course it's going to get a 4* rating, coming from Dunhill (sort of) and having no real "faults". An excellent but ordinary Va. I think you have to be a super taster or something to taste that it's better than GH&Co. Scotch Flake. Or maybe it isn't. :lol:
> 
> I'll be off for darts after lunch. Audrey has been beating me up unmercifully. sigh. Me. Top 16 in the National Unicorn/Natural Light tournament in 1980. sigh. No respect. out:


Agreed. A good, solid, straight Va flake of "Dunhill Quality". This also answers my question on FVF. Not sure that I'll go for some. I smoke a fair amount of Rattrays Old Gowrie and Brown Clunee - I'm not sure that it is worth the effort for me to assess yet another similar blend. HotW, however, seems to generate a lot of interest...

Opinions appreciated on this last tobacco...


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Agreed. A good, solid, straight Va flake of "Dunhill Quality". This also answers my question on FVF. Not sure that I'll go for some. I smoke a fair amount of Rattrays Old Gowrie and Brown Clunee - I'm not sure that it is worth the effort for me to assess yet another similar blend. HotW, however, seems to generate a lot of interest...
> 
> Opinions appreciated on this last tobacco...


It was the monthly review tobacco early last year and this was my take on it. (Rereading it, I see that I felt that lighting it was more than ordinarily important.  I'm just telling you this so that you'll know that I know that I felt that it was important then and that perhaps it wasn't all that important anyhow. I felt it was important to tell you. Actually, I think I left in a rewrite. )

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...o-review-rattrays-hal-o-wynd.html#post3506687


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> DF is one of the "four star" VAs on tabakrevs, along with FVF. A very nice straight Va, a little milder and less oily than FVF. Looks a bit like OGS. Of course it's going to get a 4* rating, coming from Dunhill (sort of) and having no real "faults". An excellent but ordinary Va. I think you have to be a super taster or something to taste that it's better than GH&Co. Scotch Flake. Or maybe it isn't. :lol:


Thanks for the info. With a large shipment of FVF arriving I think I'll hold off on the DF. Worst case scenario is that I let the store do the aging for me and I'll purchase a few tins of DF at a later date when the other VAs are OOS again.


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...o-review-rattrays-hal-o-wynd.html#post3506687


That's almost word-for-word my thoughts on HOTW, although I think I like it a little more than you, Jim. I tend to keep an open container around at all times; it's not something I get the urge to smoke often, but I haven't found a better tobacco for when I'm in the mood for HOTW if that makes any sense. At some point I want to see what aging does to the blend, but I can't seem to remember if I put a tin down for that purpose.


----------



## freestoke

szyzk said:


> That's almost word-for-word my thoughts on HOTW...


Yeah. I plagiarized your review that went up first. :lol: Might be the next up perique after I empty the LGF jar.

Discovered an almost-empty bag under the detritus -- Stonehaven! :shock: Just enough for a half fill of the Mayfair, a little stale, but not all bad. p Just about to set forth to the dart surround, where I can subject myself to the torments of the Frankendartrix. :faint: sheesh. Last time out she started with 7 marks at cricket, no warmups.  And finished the game with four bulls, leaving my rally in the dust. :faint: I think I'm taking her on a tour of the Dallas dart circuit. Texas gamesmen NEVER believe women can EVER beat them at anything. Knew a waitress there who made more shooting pool in bars than she did waiting tables. "What's going on? She can't be that lucky!" (Well, she wasn't lucky. She was just a LOT better than you, *******. :biglaugh


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> Yeah. I plagiarized your review that went up first. :lol: Might be the next up perique after I empty the LGF jar.
> 
> Discovered an almost-empty bag under the detritus -- Stonehaven! :shock: Just enough for a half fill of the Mayfair, a little stale, but not all bad. p Just about to set forth to the dart surround, where I can subject myself to the torments of the Frankendartrix. :faint: sheesh. Last time out she started with 7 *marks* at *cricket*, no warmups.  And finished the game with four *bulls*, leaving my rally in the dust. :faint: I think I'm taking her on a tour of the Dallas dart circuit. Texas gamesmen NEVER believe women can EVER beat them at anything. Knew a waitress there who made more shooting pool in bars than she did waiting tables. "What's going on? She can't be that lucky!" (Well, she wasn't lucky. She was just a LOT better than you, *******. :biglaugh


Hey, check it out! Thanks to you I read my review - which I forgot I wrote - and in it I see that I mentioned cellaring some HOTW. Mystery solved!

*Marks* are something you received in school, *cricket* is a sport popular in Europe (also a well-dressed, talking cold-blooded insect), and *bulls* are male cattle. _Dart terminology is confusing._ :hmm:


----------



## steinr1

szyzk said:


> Hey, check it out! Thanks to you I read my review - which I forgot I wrote - and in it I see that I mentioned cellaring some HOTW. Mystery solved!
> 
> *Marks* are something you received in school, *cricket* is a sport popular in Europe (also a well-dressed, talking cold-blooded insect), and *bulls* are male cattle. _Dart terminology is confusing._ :hmm:


I've been known to be on the ockey, trying to get three in a bed.


----------



## szyzk

steinr1 said:


> I've been known to be on the ockey, trying to get three in a bed.


Is that French?


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> I've been known to be on the ockey, trying to get three in a bed.


Yo Roberto! :yo We gotta toss a few! :fencing: I invented a dart game a couple of years ago. I call it "Chili Dip", because it's a golf game -- sort of.

*
First Dart

This represents the tee shot and scores higher than the second dart. (The ball is a on tee, so you can hit it farther.) The scoring pie is divided into four areas: Treble being promoted to a Quadruple, Double to a Triple, SmallPie double and BigPie a single.

Second Dart

One can think of this as the approach shot. The scoring returns to normal "01" values, with Treble, Double and Single as normal.

Third Dart

The last dart is aimed at the number of the hole being played, 1-18, scoring according to the total of the first two darts (Treble, Double, Smallpie, Bigpie, Miss). (It works out as a pretty little matrix, but the formatting screws it up.)

2-Dart Total: T D S B Miss
______________________________________
0 - 37: -1 +0 +1 +2 +3
38 - 56: -2 -1 + 0 +1 +2
57 - 98: -3 -2 -1 +0 +1
99 - 131: -4 -3 -2 -1 +0
132 +: -5 -4 -3 -2 -1

Obviously, we could dispatch with the negative numbers, but that would be less golfy. Equally obvious, you can't go -5 on a single hole or 40 under par for a round in real golf, but the spirit of the scoring stays the same. The two-dart ranges make playing the game as frustrating as the real thing! Notice that a Small 18 (36 points) first dart and a single 20 does not quite reach to the third row of the matrix, sort of like coming up just a tad short of the green. Equal emphasis is placed on the 19 and 20 pies, but you have to hit one or the other of them or wind up maddenly a point or three short on the level ranges.

I've noticed a few strategies. Let's say you have 36 points after the first dart -- don't throw at the 20. The 1 is the only pie that doesn't get you to the next level, so stay away from it. With 50 points, throw at the 8, since everything from the 19 to 12 will get to the next level and save a shot. Things like that seem to come up a lot and usually occur to me after I miss by a point or three, much like wondering why I tried that stupid shot out of the trees. *


----------



## freestoke

Putting a little 5B in with the PA to start the day with some nicotine. The copious chamber of the Darth Rader is delivering the goods. p Really need the coffee this morning, too. p It's above freezing! :shock: The thaw is under weigh! :dance:


----------



## 36Bones

It's going to be a gorgeous afternoon. 27* atm, headed to 54* they say. Bundled up and enjoyed a bowl of Anni Kake in the '36 Kaywoodie and some hot Tazo "Awake" tea. Make it a great Sunday my friends. :tu


----------



## freestoke

PPP in the Diplomat. What the hell is in here!? :ask: It's really good! :shock: Like monkeys randomly reproducing Shakespeare, I guess. 

Says it's 35* out there! Fantastic!


----------



## 36Bones

freestoke said:


> Like monkeys randomly reproducing Shakespeare, I guess.


Thanks, Jim. I just blew hot tea out of my nose. *couch, gag, cough*


----------



## freestoke

I'm crushed, crushed I tell you, that nobody likes my dart game. out: Honest, it plays really well! I've played it with a few "serious" darters and they all like it a lot. I may be "picky", but there aren't that many good dart games, cricket, x01, 51 Fives, and a couple others. I think this is a "good" dart game, in that there's not a lot of luck involved and you have to hit what you're throwing at. There's even a bit of strategy in it. 

Might even get to throw a few today, but the turkey dinner might suck up all the time. Right now I'm sucking up more of this PPP in the Diplomat.


----------



## 36Bones

freestoke said:


> I'm crushed, crushed I tell you, that nobody likes my dart game. out: Honest, it plays really well! I've played it with a few "serious" darters and they all like it a lot. I may be "picky", but there aren't that many good dart games, cricket, x01, 51 Fives, and a couple others. I think this is a "good" dart game, in that there's not a lot of luck involved and you have to hit what you're throwing at. There's even a bit of strategy in it.
> 
> Might even get to throw a few today, but the turkey dinner might suck up all the time. Right now I'm sucking up more of this PPP in the Diplomat.


The only time I played darts, I was in the Army. Drunk darts at that.....really dunk darts....I still have two hole scars on my hand.


----------



## freestoke

36Bones said:


> The only time I played darts, I was in the Army. Drunk darts at that.....really dunk darts....I still have two hole scars on my hand.


I learned darts in a pub in West Runton, Norfolk, England, when I was 11. The fishermen would drag their boats up on the shore and walk right up to pub. The North Sea was right out back. I went in one day to get a coke, they were throwing darts, and the next thing I knew I was in the game. :lol: The place had FANTASTIC fish and chips. Best I ever had, with the fish straight from the boats to the kitchen with a transport of a like a hundred feet. I'll bet they used lard for the frying, all but illegal nowadays, like about anything that tastes good (or used to). With all the dietary restrictions for dinner today, I won't be making my white globs of death, instead I'l keep the mashed potatoes simple.

Back to the PPP!


----------



## trenschler

freestoke said:


> I'm crushed, crushed I tell you, that nobody likes my dart game. out: Honest, it plays really well! I've played it with a few "serious" darters and they all like it a lot. I may be "picky", but there aren't that many good dart games, cricket, x01, 51 Fives, and a couple others. I think this is a "good" dart game, in that there's not a lot of luck involved and you have to hit what you're throwing at. There's even a bit of strategy in it.
> 
> Might even get to throw a few today, but the turkey dinner might suck up all the time. Right now I'm sucking up more of this PPP in the Diplomat.


Actually, I like the sound of it a lot. Just too complex for my poor under-caffeinated brain to grasp without a dart board in front of my face right now.


----------



## freestoke

trenschler said:


> Actually, I like the sound of it a lot. Just too complex for my poor under-caffeinated brain to grasp without a dart board in front of my face right now.


You need to write the matrix on the board, which is a pain, but I have the bottom of the chalkboard with it on there that I never erase. The big difference is that first dart, since the pies are divided into four instead of three scoring areas. The second and third darts are "normal", with only the third dart needing to hit the hole you're playing. It is a little complicated at first, but it really isn't hard once you get the idea. It "resembles" golf, it really does. It has the nice feature that it's over in a limited number of darts, barring extra holes for a tie. The betting is very interesting, because you can play Nassaus and other golf games, with automatic presses two down and all that. And you can play "match play" or "stroke play", too!

Another thing to note a big pie single 20 followed by a treble is 80 points, while a treble 20 followed by any single is 100 points. That first dart really matters, just like a tee shot. Playing the first hole or fifth holes, DON'T throw treble 20, because a stray dart can be like getting behind a tree limb, covering up the treble for the third dart. Likewise, don't throw at the 19 on the third or seventh holes.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

It hasn't gotten above sixteen or seventeen degrees F in weeks.

In two months it will be below zero over night, but mid to high fortys in the afternoons. That's fine smoking weather in the afternoon, but right now I can't stay out long enough to properly enjoy a pipe. Especially at night. Ten or twenty deg below zero and I'm wanting a smoke really bad, prep a bowl and it smells wonderful, step outside and I'm back inside half-frozen in five minutes.

I love it here, and I love the weather too, but dressing for outdoor weather isn't comfortable for pipe smoking during the frigid part of winter.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> You need to write the matrix on the board, which is a pain, but I have the bottom of the chalkboard with it on there that I never erase. The big difference is that first dart, since the pies are divided into four instead of three scoring areas. The second and third darts are "normal", with only the third dart needing to hit the hole you're playing. It is a little complicated at first, but it really isn't hard once you get the idea. It "resembles" golf, it really does. It has the nice feature that it's over in a limited number of darts, barring extra holes for a tie. The betting is very interesting, because you can play Nassaus and other golf games, with automatic presses two down and all that. And you can play "match play" or "stroke play", too!
> 
> Another thing to note a big pie single 20 followed by a treble is 80 points, while a treble 20 followed by any single is 100 points. That first dart really matters, just like a tee shot. Playing the first hole or fifth holes, DON'T throw treble 20, because a stray dart can be like getting behind a tree limb, covering up the treble for the third dart. Likewise, don't throw at the 19 on the third or seventh holes.


I think I've got it. It's perfectly simple. If you're not getting your hair cut, you don't have to move your brother's clothes down to the lower peg. You simply collect his note before lunch, after you've done your scripture prep, when you've written your letter home, before rest, move your own clothes onto the lower peg, greet the visitors, and report to Mr. Viney that you've had your chit signed.

Right?


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> I think I've got it. It's perfectly simple. If you're not getting your hair cut, you don't have to move your brother's clothes down to the lower peg. You simply collect his note before lunch, after you've done your scripture prep, when you've written your letter home, before rest, move your own clothes onto the lower peg, greet the visitors, and report to Mr. Viney that you've had your chit signed.
> 
> Right?


You get the hang of things quickly for a Limey, Robert! :tu Best played on Swan Upping Day, of course, but you probably figured that out immediately.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> You get the hang of things quickly for a Limey, Robert! :tu Best played on Swan Upping Day, of course, but you probably figured that out immediately.


I feel it to be more suited to Yak Shaving Day.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> I feel it to be more suited to Yak Shaving Day.


England being the home of darts, I defer to your judgment. :smile:

I've been pipeless since two. :frown: However, the snuff bullets loaded with Elmo's Reserve and English Rose are pulling me through. :drama:


----------



## Stonedog

steinr1 said:


> I feel it to be more suited to Yak Shaving Day.


I have no idea what Swan Upping Day is, but I do get the Yak Shaving Day reference and I'm even more confused... 

Artisan Blend in my Savinelli CW this morning. I had about 3/4 of a bowl left over from Saturday and was curious if the much longer CW would add or detract from the pipe smoking experience while commuting. I think I actually prefer it though I'd only do this in stop and go traffic where 2-handed driving is not strictly required.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> I have no idea what Swan Upping Day is, but I do get the Yak Shaving Day reference and I'm even more confused...


Sorry, Jon. Robert made fun of my game and, being quasi-British myself, I resorted to being silly. Robert, being even more British, virtually a Limey really, responded with more silliness. It's a cultural thing. Swan Upping Day is the third most important of the British holidays, Boxing Day and Guy Fawkes Day holding down one and two.

I'm going to try to wake up with some PA, but it probably won't get the job done, so I'm relying on the Columbian freshground. p


----------



## freestoke

Come on! All you people are at work, so where are all the posts? I can see y'all not wasting time on your days off, but this is a work day! Let's get posting!

I'm working on one of the new bent Mizzous from the MM cob grab bag. Teensy! Does really well with a small calibre musketball, though. Probably the smallest pipe I've ever smoked anything legal in. :hippie:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Sorry, Jon. Robert made fun of my game and, being quasi-British myself, I resorted to being silly. Robert, being even more British, virtually a Limey really, responded with more silliness. It's a cultural thing. Swan Upping Day is the third most important of the British holidays, *Boxing Day and Guy Fawkes Day holding down one and two*.
> 
> I'm going to try to wake up with some PA, but it probably won't get the job done, so I'm relying on the Columbian freshground. p


What about The Glorious Twelfth?


----------



## Dr. Plume

Didn't smoke today here is my post Jim! Hoping to smoke a bowl of fm in the lattice meer later


----------



## szyzk

freestoke said:


> Come on! All you people are at work, so where are all the posts? I can see y'all not wasting time on your days off, but this is a work day! Let's get posting!


Sheesh, Jim. HOTW. There, ya happy?


----------



## ProbateGeek

Solely to appease Jim (we do that at times for the old folks): Peterson's Irish Flake in a Country Gent. Splendid for a Monday morning commute.


----------



## 36Bones

Okay, the days of full-time working are hitting me with a big deja vu. I took this part time gig thinking it would be a great way to knock and keep the rust off of my tiny engineering brain, but instead, I'm buried under a deadline that I'm going to have a hard time making. Curse you, Holidays! Damn it though, I'm having a blast. Please forgive me, if I go dormant on my posting, but I'm freaking out here a little. ound: Started the day with my new #1 blend, Mississippi River in the DG Viking and some hot Chai tea. (Several cups.)


----------



## freestoke

I returned to my old dart grip last night and things returned to normal. The spasms at the oche have ended! :banana: 

Had a PA-triot this morning. :smile:


----------



## Stonedog

Attempting to avoid Jim's ire: CH in my favorite pipe this morning!


----------



## freestoke

No demerits today, Jon. :lol:

More PA in the 4Dot.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

King tides, big winds, rain, snow in the mountains...great winter weather here on the Olympic Peninsula! Watching daylight appear and smoking a bowl of Frog Morton Across the Pond in a Castello Sea Rock 33. A great day!


Castello SeaRock 33_10.01.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht in a MM Great Dane Egg. This pipe - I dunno. I think it was about as green as a cob can be, and at times tastes of corn. Burnt corn. 
This morning was one of those times. It will get some time off after today, mainly for spite.


----------



## MarkC

Latakius Vituscan said:


> King tides, big winds, rain, snow in the mountains...great winter weather here on the Olympic Peninsula! Watching daylight appear and smoking a bowl of Frog Morton Across the Pond in a Castello Sea Rock 33. A great day!
> 
> 
> Castello SeaRock 33_10.01.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


No need to label that one; it's got Sea Rock written all over it! :lol:


----------



## 36Bones

ProbateGeek said:


> MM Great Dane Egg. This pipe - I dunno. I think it was about as green as a cob can be, and at times tastes of corn. Burnt corn.
> This morning was one of those times. It will get some time off after today, mainly for spite.


Is that one of the newer ones that they just started making again, Terry? It might be why.


----------



## ProbateGeek

36Bones said:


> Is that one of the newer ones that they just started making again, Terry? It might be why.


Not sure - this one:










Purchased well over a year ago, surely - the Country Gent I got with it purrs.


----------



## DanR

Latakius Vituscan said:


> King tides, big winds, rain, snow in the mountains...great winter weather here on the Olympic Peninsula! Watching daylight appear and smoking a bowl of Frog Morton Across the Pond in a Castello Sea Rock 33. A great day!
> 
> 
> Castello SeaRock 33_10.01.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


I really love your pipe collection, DJ. Every time I see one of your posts, I get jealous - and add a new pipe to the wishlist!


----------



## ProbateGeek

DanR said:


> I really love your pipe collection, DJ. Every time I see one of your posts, I get jealous - and add a new pipe to the wishlist!


Dan, I don't think DJ actually _smokes _his pipes - they're immaculately clean, and always such beauties. I think he just takes them out once in a while, polishes them lovingly with his special pipe cloth, does a quick photo shoot, posts the pic, then gently places each one back in its place, eyeing his collection with pensive satisfaction.

He probably has a half dozen rim-darkened cobs and a few old dusty Dr. Grabows he uses to really smoke tobacco. :biggrin:


----------



## Stonedog

Lane 1Q this morning, just to see what it's like. I figured I'm almost two years into this hobby so I might as well try what is supposed to be one of the best selling pipe tobaccos in the world. It was pleasant enough and the pouch aroma reminds me of walking into a Tinderbox in the 80's. I just wish it had a little more strength.


----------



## Chris0673

Was planning on smoking after dinner (morning for you guys...evening for me) but then realized I had let one of my soldiers borrow my lighter. SOB told me he'd give it right back. Just spent 2 hours tracking him down! If it was just a cheapo I wouldn't have bothered...but this was my nice Zippo that someone here gifted me! Was told to f*** off when I read him the riot act for not returning it! I think he's still doing push-ups! lol

Never did get to smoke. And it was definitely a Frog Morton day too!


----------



## freestoke

Reporting in with my third bowl of PA in the Country Gentleman.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Because I'm under a commute time crunch, I condensed my 3 bowls of PA into 1 bowl of 1792 Flake. 
With a fresh cup o' joe, I'm ready for action.


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> Dan, I don't think DJ actually _smokes _his pipes - they're immaculately clean, and always such beauties. *I think he just takes them out once in a while, polishes them lovingly with his special pipe cloth, does a quick photo shoot, posts the pic, then gently places each one back in its place, eyeing his collection with pensive satisfaction.*
> 
> He probably has a half dozen rim-darkened cobs and a few old dusty Dr. Grabows he uses to really smoke tobacco. :biggrin:


And that's wrong in what way?

Black Bogie Aromatic alternating with Davidoff Red (time permitting) throughout the day so far. A bowl of BBA (See? I can make up acronyms too.) prepared for immediate consumption. Louisiana Flake is on the cards for later.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> And that's wrong in what way?


Cruelty. Like dangling the fruit over Tantalus' head.

I'm thinkin' Lou'siana Flake in this nifty little Mizzou.


----------



## DanR

ProbateGeek said:


> Dan, I don't think DJ actually _smokes _his pipes - they're immaculately clean, and always such beauties. I think he just takes them out once in a while, polishes them lovingly with his special pipe cloth, does a quick photo shoot, posts the pic, then gently places each one back in its place, eyeing his collection with pensive satisfaction.
> 
> He probably has a half dozen rim-darkened cobs and a few old dusty Dr. Grabows he uses to really smoke tobacco. :biggrin:


Hmm, I suspect you might be right. They look to good to be true! :lol:

Not really morning anymore, but since I'm here already, GL Pease Laurel Heights in the dunny.


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Cruelty. Like dangling the fruit over Tantalus' head.


Am I the only person that has to google an explanation for everything Jim posts??? ound:


----------



## Nachman

DanR said:


> Am I the only person that has to google an explanation for everything Jim posts??? ound:


Most of us just catch the high spots and go on.


----------



## houncer

DanR said:


> Am I the only person that has to google an explanation for everything Jim posts??? ound:


lol....I just googled Tantalus.


----------



## steinr1

houncer said:


> lol....I just googled Tantalus.


Also a boxed decanter which locks so that the servants can see the Brandy, but not get at it.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

DanR said:


> Am I the only person that has to google an explanation for everything Jim posts??? ound:


My first time around at the university was for horticulture, but my second was for english/history. So, yeah, I get most of what Jim says when he references the Classics.

I still think the phrases I learned whilst studying Horticulture have more oomph than anything the Classics have to offer. (And my time in the Infantry, even more so!)


----------



## Desertlifter

houncer said:


> lol....I just googled Tantalus.


As did Agamemnon, for some value of just. And googled, for that matter.


----------



## DanR

Oh man, I can't tell you how much better you guys are making me feel tonight! :thumb:

Off to see the Spurs whoop up on the Lakers. I hope I'll get a chance to smoke something later tonight.


----------



## Dr. Plume

Jim's comments are the best.


----------



## MarkC

DanR said:


> Am I the only person that has to google an explanation for everything Jim posts??? ound:


Nah, I just ignore them.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Nachman said:


> Most of us just catch the high spots and go on.


I dunno, Nick - I think most of us just go on.

:biggrin:


----------



## houncer

Finishing up the last bit of FM Cellar that didn't end up in my cellar. I am smoking it out of the pipe I carved last month. The pipe looks like hell but seems to smoke fairly nice. I also have a cup of coffee and I am waiting for Jim's next google-worthy post.


----------



## Stonedog

Is it me or are we seeing a higher rate of users that are no longer community members?

Wessex BVF in the CG this morning. I enjoyed it so much I had to extend the commute by about 20 minutes.


----------



## freestoke

Having a little PA in the 4Dot, working on the daily pop quiz. Open your browsers and turn to page html.









Man, sunny today! The "January thaw" has arrived. :banana:


----------



## gahdzila

Stonedog said:


> Is it me or are we seeing a higher rate of users that are no longer community members?


It's not just you. There was a big mess on the cigar side. To be brutally honest, you probably don't want to hear about it.

I skipped the morning PA in favor of some Sutliff Academy. I just got an order in, and snagstangl destroyed my mailbox...thus, I am completely out of mason jars and am now making a concerted effort to finish off open jars. Buying more mason jars is completely out of the question, because it would only encourage even more TAD


----------



## ProbateGeek

gahdzila said:


> It's not just you. There was a big mess on the cigar side. To be brutally honest, you probably don't want to hear about it.


Almost all my buddies on the cigar side seem to have gotten themselves banned - sad days over there.


gahdzila said:


> ...thus, I am completely out of mason jars and am now making a concerted effort to finish off open jars. Buying more mason jars is completely out of the question, because it would only encourage even more TAD


I going to have to pick up another case of jars - I've only got three empty ones at the moment, and am in dire need.










But I'm not complainin'...


----------



## MarkC

Smoking a bowl of HOTW when I should be in bed.


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning all. This morning I tried a bowl of SG Chocolate Flake in my Edward's Bulldog.

I'm trying to figure out how to get the most out of this flake. Maybe I need to let it dry a little more, but all I get is a sort of barnyard earthiness with a bit of sharpness here and there.


----------



## 36Bones

Early morning blood work and visit to the doctor, then the day is mine to do as I wish. Have a bowl of LNF loaded into the Diplomat ready to fire up once the lab work is done. I hate fasting before doing blood work. :frusty:


----------



## 36Bones

Stonedog said:


> Good morning all. This morning I tried a bowl of SG Chocolate Flake in my Edward's Bulldog.
> 
> I'm trying to figure out how to get the most out of this flake. Maybe I need to let it dry a little more, but all I get is a sort of barnyard earthiness with a bit of sharpness here and there.


Jon, I seem to get more out chocolate flake if I smoke in a bigger bowl. Not much of an answer, but I seem to enjoy it more that way.


----------



## houncer

Stonedog said:


> Good morning all. This morning I tried a bowl of SG Chocolate Flake in my Edward's Bulldog.
> 
> I'm trying to figure out how to get the most out of this flake. Maybe I need to let it dry a little more, but all I get is a sort of barnyard earthiness with a bit of sharpness here and there.


Jon, I was happy to receive some SG Chocolate Flake this past Christmas because I really loved the chocolate flavor in McClelland Holiday Spirit 2012. I've only had the chance to smoke two flakes out of my tin but I am getting the same flavor that you are. I have to REALLY stretch to taste anything chocolate. I let my flakes dry for 45 minutes.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Good morning all. This morning I tried a bowl of SG Chocolate Flake in my Edward's Bulldog.
> 
> I'm trying to figure out how to get the most out of this flake. Maybe I need to let it dry a little more, but all I get is a sort of barnyard earthiness with a bit of sharpness here and there.


Chocolate Flake is the poster child of wet SG tobaccos, judging from mine, definitely needing drying out to keep it lit. Not my favorite of their line, to be sure. Now if you want chocolate, the most chocolate tobacco I've run into yet is GH&Co. Scotch Flake Aromatic. Smells just like a Whitman's Sampler and smokes like a dream.

Yesterday or night before last, I matched the volume in a fading jar of PA with 5B and that's been mostly what I've smoked since and what I'm smoking now, in the 4Dot.


----------



## Desertlifter

Morning gentlemen.

C&D Balkan 081 in my saucer. Smells lat bomb-ish. Details to follow.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Chocolate Flake is the poster child of wet SG tobaccos, judging from mine, definitely needing drying out to keep it lit. Not my favorite of their line, to be sure. Now if you want chocolate, the most chocolate tobacco I've run into yet is *GH&Co. Scotch Flake Aromatic*. Smells just like a Whitman's Sampler and smokes like a dream.
> 
> Yesterday or night before last, I matched the volume in a fading jar of PA with 5B and that's been mostly what I've smoked since and what I'm smoking now, in the 4Dot.


Maybe I've missed it, but who sells this wonderful blend?


----------



## freestoke

Watching *It Came From Outer Space* this morning, one of those old "pipe smokin' flicks", smokin' some LF in the Diplomat. I'm not sure but what this isn't the best of the lot from the '50s sci-fi flicks. Great premise and the best looking of all the '50s sci-fi ladies, Barbara Rush!


----------



## houncer

Stonedog said:


> Maybe I've missed it, but who sells this wonderful blend?


I already checked with Pipes & Cigars Jon, they have it in bulk!


----------



## freestoke

houncer said:


> I already checked with Pipes & Cigars Jon, they have it in bulk!


Mine same from smokingpipes -- by accident!

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/297207-gh-co-scotch-flake-aromatic.html


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm happy to say that my two ounces of Sam Gawith Mayor's Chocolate Flake is gone!

I only have a pound and a half of the Gawith, Hoggarth, and Co Bob's Chocolate Flake. I might wanna stock up on more as I've been gifted about a half ounce of some that's only 8 months old, but is noticably better.

I just had a small bent bulldog of Bob's Chocolate Flake on the porch. I smoked it wet, fresh from the jar for maximum flavour. Smash and stuff packing style.

It was divine... I haven't got to smoke much in the past several weeks because it has been so cold. It's not yet ten in the morning and the temp is almost up to the freezing point. Balmy! Balmy, I say!


----------



## freestoke

Think I'll be hitting the Dart Mix in an hour or two, so I'm smoking basic PA/5B in the 4Dot, to lay a base.

BTW, anybody with a facebook account? If enough of you guys "like" us, we could win free Mukluks!

January 2013 Couples Photo Contest | Facebook

You could also give Audrey a nudge on this one, if you haven't already. :smile:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...39296706.64060.138840939582197&type=3&theater

And thanks for the "likes" so far! :yo:


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Mine same from smokingpipes -- by accident!
> 
> http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/297207-gh-co-scotch-flake-aromatic.html


Ah yes, and I'd even commented in the thread... I must be losing it. If there is a floral/soapy lakeland essence I may have to keep looking. Maybe I'll stick with the Two Friends chocolate blend.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Ah yes, and I'd even commented in the thread... I must be losing it. If there is a floral/soapy lakeland essence I may have to keep looking. Maybe I'll stick with the Two Friends chocolate blend.


I don't remember talking about the "Lakeland" effect either! :dunno: I'm not sure there's any there at all, actually. But it still smells like a candy bar.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> I don't remember talking about the "Lakeland" effect either! :dunno: I'm not sure there's any there at all, actually. But it still smells like a candy bar.


I think I'd rather smoke something that smells like a candy bar than smells like it came from a barnyard (referring to SG Chocolate Flake). You've convinced me to try it.


----------



## gahdzila

freestoke said:


> Think I'll be hitting the Dart Mix in an hour or two, so I'm smoking basic PA/5B in the 4Dot, to lay a base.
> 
> BTW, anybody with a facebook account? If enough of you guys "like" us, we could win free Mukluks!
> 
> January 2013 Couples Photo Contest | Facebook
> 
> You could also give Audrey a nudge on this one, if you haven't already. :smile:
> 
> January 2013 Women's Photo Contest | Facebook
> 
> And thanks for the "likes" so far! :yo:


Done and done :thumb:


----------



## 36Bones

Weather was nice for one day, 72* yesterday. We're about to get hit with two cold fronts this evening. I better get in a few bowls today. :wink: Starting this morning with Mississippi River in the bent CG and some hot Earl Grey tea. Make it a great Saturday.


----------



## freestoke

Some KK in the Diplomat for me this morning. Gonna be nice today! :smile:


----------



## trenschler

Smoker's Haven 20th Anniversary in the Tim West - looks to be 60 and nice until the rain sets in here today


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

ProbateGeek said:


> Dan, I don't think DJ actually _smokes _his pipes - they're immaculately clean, and always such beauties. I think he just takes them out once in a while, polishes them lovingly with his special pipe cloth, does a quick photo shoot, posts the pic, then gently places each one back in its place, eyeing his collection with pensive satisfaction.
> 
> He probably has a half dozen rim-darkened cobs and a few old dusty Dr. Grabows he uses to really smoke tobacco. :biggrin:


BUSTED!

Close! I've carved an old, burned out MM and lined that Dr. G I found at the landfill with the shell. I smoke only shredded brown bags from a high-end, local, gourmet grocery store. Very cost effective.



steinr1 said:


> And that's wrong in what way?
> 
> Black Bogie Aromatic alternating with Davidoff Red (time permitting) throughout the day so far. A bowl of BBA (See? I can make up acronyms too.) prepared for immediate consumption. Louisiana Flake is on the cards for later.


Thanks Robert!



freestoke said:


> Cruelty. Like dangling the fruit over Tantalus' head.
> 
> I'm thinkin' Lou'siana Flake in this nifty little Mizzou.


Hit that nail right on the head, Jim! Love the weed from Izmir!



DanR said:


> Hmm, I suspect you might be right. They look to good to be true! :lol:
> 
> Not really morning anymore, but since I'm here already, GL Pease Laurel Heights in the dunny.


Don't forget...photographs never, ever lie!:evil:



DanR said:


> Am I the only person that has to google an explanation for everything Jim posts??? ound:


Jim regularly raises the level of literacy in my world! Reminds me of my ag instructor at Saunemin High School in Illinois. John R. Bartley would come into the room every morning with a friendly, knowing smirk on his face and say: "Good morning scholars. Today I will bring you out of the darkness of ignorance, into the glorious sunshine of wisdom, knowledge and brotherly love!"

Today's mythical pipe and tobacco: C&D Star of the East in a Peterson's Mark Twain.


Peterson Mark Twain_DJ by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## freestoke

Latakius Vituscan said:


> BUSTED!
> .
> .
> .
> Today's mythical pipe and tobacco: C&D Star of the East in a Peterson's Mark Twain.
> 
> 
> Peterson Mark Twain_DJ by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


The jig is up, Latakius. I see CHAR on that pipe! You PROMISED not to smoke them. :nono:

Ya know, we who toil away with our inferior smoking implements could stand this effrontery, were it not for LK's self-satisfaction, evident in this series of photos. sigh. I'm moving on to a Mizzou of PA/5B. Still...homage is due to the Caesar of the Morning Thread. :hail: Nice pipe, LK. :tu


----------



## freestoke

Chore-driven this morning, just mindlessly stuffing PA/5B into the nearest pipe at hand. Got the Darth Rader burning right now. p


----------



## 36Bones

Just enjoyed a nice bowl of 1792 and black Irish Roast coffee to get the brain juices flowing. Time to hit it! Make it a great Monday. :tu


----------



## ProbateGeek

SWR.

Why?


----------



## freestoke

Watching this preposterous nonsense on The Golf Channel. Talk about overproduction! Holy holograph, Dr. Gabor, Rory McIlroy's switching over to Nike golf equipment! You'd think they'd found a wormhole into a parallel universe. Yep, McIlroy striding onstage through a fog emanating from the transport device, straight from the Fifth Dimension. :tsk: Golf has long since lost all its dignity.

Smoking a mix of LF,PA and 5B, finishing up some scraps.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> SWR.
> 
> Why?


Because you can and it's there.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Because you can and it's there.


I could, and now it ain't.

:tongue:


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning Puff,

I enjoyed some CH this morning with some interesting latakia notes from ghosts of bowls past. Without delving into politics, I'm waiting some some trepidation to see today's announcements about how our rights are about to be infringed. Perhaps I should find a more suitable forum to discuss and may do that later today.

I'm also pondering my upcoming trip to Sydney. I'll be there for two weeks at the end of February and it sounds like I can only take 50g of baccy with me.


----------



## freestoke

I DGTed some Anni Kake from last night, then filled the Diplomat with KK a while ago. Think I'm heading for some LGF in a bigger pipe next. And more coffee! :cp


----------



## MarkC

Smoking a bowl of Opening Night with a cup of tea trying to figure out why I'm up and about this early...


----------



## Stonedog

Something is definitely not right here on Puff. Nobody (not even Jim?!) posted in this thread yesterday?

CH in my favorite pipe _yesterday_ morning.

Wessex BVF in my CG this morning.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Something is definitely not right here on Puff. Nobody (not even Jim?!) posted in this thread yesterday?
> 
> CH in my favorite pipe _yesterday_ morning.
> 
> Wessex BVF in my CG this morning.


It's Dale's thread! Not my responsibility!

The skosh of PA/5B is in the living room, so I went with KK in the 4Dot out of laziness. Can't say I'm sorry, though. p And more coffee! :cp


----------



## Whip-Poor-Whill

Probably about to smoke a quick bowl out of my cob. It snowed all day yesterday, so school is delayed for three hours today, So I may have time for a bowl out of my sav . . .


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> It's Dale's thread! Not my responsibility!


Speaking of Dale, has he been around lately?

Right now I'm 'smoking' bacon and eggs...


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Speaking of Dale, has he been around lately?
> /QUOTE]
> 
> I noticed him posting on the bomb threads a week or so ago, so he's around here someplace I think.
> 
> Finishing up that jar of PA with the 5B admixture. The FourDot pot needs to be smoked more often! A superior pipe. :tu


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just had a bowl of HV in my new Petersons Belgique.

I'm not much of a Petersons fan, their pipes tend to look bulgy and clunky to me, but this Belgique is slender and sexy. And ithas a small bowl, which I like. It's smoked wonderful from the first bowl last night.


----------



## steinr1

Stonedog said:


> Something is definitely not right here on Puff. *Nobody (not even Jim?!) posted in this thread yesterday*?
> 
> CH in my favorite pipe _yesterday_ morning.
> 
> Wessex BVF in my CG this morning.


We're probably just a bunch of lazy buggers who don't get out of bed during the morning. I'd post more often on this thread but the timezone difference would confuse and just make people sleepy. That, and I normally have nothing interesting to say. How often does anyone need to hear "Louisiana Flake in a Ropp Billiard."

Just off to post "Louisiana Flake in a Ropp Billiard" on the evening smoke thread.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> How often does anyone need to hear "Louisiana Flake in a Ropp Billiard."


I'll see your LF in a Ropp and raise you 25 PAs in the 4Dot. p


----------



## freestoke

Since I was scolded yesterday for not showing up for work on this thread, I'm forced to post twice in a row. PA/5B/4Dot. (Since Robert's not checking in, I'm guessing it's an LF/Ropp for him. oke A little Columbian freshground in the cup. :cp


----------



## houncer

I've been sick the past few days so I haven't had a chance to puff anything lately. I did open my baccy drawer last night and it smelled great (how does smell escape mason jars?!?!). Just a few more days now....


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Since I was scolded yesterday for not showing up for work on this thread, I'm forced to post twice in a row. PA/5B/4Dot. (Since Robert's not checking in, *I'm guessing it's an LF/Ropp for him*. oke A little Columbian freshground in the cup. :cp


Technically, it wasn't.

Smoked from 00:03z to 00:56z (Sad, ain't I?) Check. A bowl of LF. Check. But in my ancient *Barling*.

It was a "perfect" bowl as well. Cool, slow and without a single relight. Down to the very last shreds; just a few flecks of black in the gray ash. Hardly tamped it down too, left it to itself - maybe that's the key. The Barling is made of very old briar (1899 Hallmarks, the briar will have been growing long before the Civil War [your one...]) and has finally rebuilt the right amount of cake to work properly.

Slept in late and have only had snuff since then so nothing else in this particular sitrep. Better go and report that. Damn, you guys are strict.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> The Barling is made of very old briar (1899 Hallmarks, the briar will have been growing long before the Civil War [your one...]) and has finally rebuilt the right amount of cake to work properly.


A pipe of some gravitas, Robert. "Barling" Gravelly. Reminds me of a chess quote: When I am white, I win because I am white. When I am black, I win because I am BOGOLYUBOV!" :fencing:

More PA in the 4Dot, sans 5B. Doncha hate it when they correct you with, "That's *The War Between the States*."? I tried it once, got puzzled looks until somebody said, "Oh...you mean the Civil War." :lol:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> A pipe of some gravitas, Robert. "Barling" Gravelly. Reminds me of a chess quote: When I am white, I win because I am white. When I am black, I win because I am BOGOLYUBOV!" :fencing:
> 
> More PA in the 4Dot, sans 5B. Doncha hate it when they correct you with, "That's *The War Between the States*."? I tried it once, got puzzled looks until somebody said, "Oh...you mean the Civil War." :lol:


We don't really keep track of minor skirmishes in former colonies. oke:


----------



## Nachman

Some Rattray's Accountants Mixture in a Eriksen Bulldog. This is not a mixture I smoke a lot, but when it is cold I like it. It is sort of like a hearty comfort food for the pipe.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

What a fine morning! Cheated death again. Quite a humbling virus nailed me down late Monday. I was able to use the phone and cancel my appointment with the Neptune Society yesterday. This morning I'm puffin' on a bowl of 2009 GL Pease Westminster in a Savinelli bulldog I've had for decades. Great to be above ground and back in the Ravens Grove Pipe Smokers Den with that and a steaming mug of Sumatra coffee.


Savinelli Bulldog_1.18.2013 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## freestoke

Latakius Vituscan said:


> What a fine morning! Cheated death again.


Outstanding victory, Latakius, as well the pipe! Luckily, I ordered *Bobby Fischer Teaches You How to Beat Death* from Mad Magazine back in the 60s or 70s, so I don't worry about such things any more.

Having a bowl of Reiner LGF in the TwoDot apple. p


----------



## Desertlifter

Today's nic intake shall be of the dried powdery type in the morning and perhaps a rolled up bunch of pipe tobacco with a paper band later - birthday party for my youngest boy at my mom in-law's.

This is in my case not all bad, as my mum in law is a hoot.


----------



## houncer

Working on my old Buick this morning with some Squadron Leader in my Peterson Bulldog. Happy Sunday!


----------



## Chris0673

Sitting here in my own home (NOT in a damn tent!!!) enjoying some real Dunkin Donuts coffee and contemplating which pipe/baccy combination is going to work for me this morning. It's the little things that you miss in Afghanistan! lol


----------



## freestoke

Chris0673 said:


> Sitting here in my own home (NOT in a damn tent!!!) enjoying some real Dunkin Donuts coffee and contemplating which pipe/baccy combination is going to work for me this morning. It's the little things that you miss in Afghanistan! lol


Welcome home, Chris! :yo: Quite the list of tobaccos you've secured and a nice problem to contemplate!

Went straight for the Reiner LGF this morning. Been burning nothing but PA and 5B the past few days it seems. The Columbian is good and strong this morning...I put in an extra half scoop last night. p


----------



## Chris0673

Thanks Jim! We are going to do a little geocaching at the park today so I think it's going to be a Frog Morton morning, a Balkan Supreme afternoon, and definitely a Longbottom Leaf evening when I break in my new Gandalf pipe.


----------



## freestoke

Sounds good, Chris! (Had to look up geocaching. :mrgreen 

Winter has come. Twenty mph plus winds, snow...yep. Central NY in January. :faint: I'm having some PA in the Country Gentleman, pondering doing something useful.


----------



## Desertlifter

Walnut in a cob. Working at the patrol this morning. Yay me.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Thanks, Jim! I'm doing a search for Bobby's book now!

McClleand's Grand Orientals Yenidje Highlander in an old Sav bulldog.


----------



## freestoke

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Thanks, Jim! I'm doing a search for Bobby's book now!
> 
> McClleand's Grand Orientals Yenidje Highlander in an old Sav bulldog.


It was a National Lampoon, not a Mad Magazine. They chopped in Bobby's face instead of Max von Sydow's in this pic:










Might be really hard to locate. :lol:


----------



## TTecheTTe

Out before dawn with the dog and C&D Old Joe Krantz; just enjoyed Bow-legged Bear while unfortunately watching the Flyers lose to Buffalo.


----------



## TTecheTTe

houncer said:


> Working on my old Buick this morning with some Squadron Leader in my Peterson Bulldog. Happy Sunday!


Braggart . Can't wait to get my paws on a tin so until then I have to settle for some 1792 Flake.


----------



## Stonedog

Morning All,

OGS in my new Leonessa this morning. Not must to report other than fold-n-stuff may not be the best way to load this cone shaped bowl. Too much open space towards the top and all that...


----------



## freestoke

Reiner LGF again this morning. The 4Dot smokes this pretty well, too. p And lots of coffee this morning. Bracing weather in store the next week, and I anticipate a little driveway aerobics in the near future. :faint:


----------



## Chris0673

Some plum kake in my Country Gentlemen as I partake of some wonderful coffee from that most venerable of coffee shops...Dunkin Donuts. Preparing to get my Jeep fixed, inspected, and tagged today. Lots of work...just might require lots of tobacco! :mrgreen:


----------



## freestoke

Man. Newport News! Wish I were in Hilton Village right now, Chris! (I grew up on Stratford Road. :smile But I'm not. :frown: Only a stinking 5*F out there right now, but at least the sun is shining. Need to clean off the cars so they'll warm up! Just finished a bowl of LF in the FourDot apple. p And fresh ground Columbian. :cp


----------



## ProbateGeek

Irish Flake in the 4Dot bent volcano - for some reason Kendal Kentucky smokes much better in this one than the Irish Flake. Which is okay by me.


----------



## Stonedog

I'm sticking with OGS all week in an experiment to see if focusing on one lightweight but well respected VaPer will help me find deeper pleasure in it.

I find the opposite is true with latakia-rich blends but so far OGS is slowly yielding a deeper and more interesting flavor.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Irish Flake in the 4Dot bent volcano - for some reason Kendal Kentucky smokes much better in this one than the Irish Flake. Which is okay by me.


Pipes are odd that way. It has to have something to do with bowl size/geometry versus the tobacco type/cut. PA burns better in the 4Dot than in the Darth Rader, but CH burns better in the Darth Rader than in the 4Dot. :dunno:


----------



## MarkC

More Christmas Cheer; seems like I need to finish this tin before the end of the month-it's like still having the tree sitting in your living room...


----------



## freestoke

Starting with some straight KK this morning, in the 4Dot. Another sunny day, with the weather bug clocking in at a brisk -14*F. Hey, that's only 11 degrees colder than forecast, so they hit it pretty close. Actually, that's the weather bug at the base. The sun has warmed things up since the last weather hack, so I think it's more like -5 at the moment.


----------



## freestoke

Out here all alone, trying to keep Dale's thread alive. :faint: Having a musketball of KK in the 4Dot for a moderate nicotine boost. Heading for The Dome this afternoon, at the Turning Stone Casino, to strike a few at their indoor golf facility. We won some free passes in a scramble last year, so the time has come to use them. I'm thinking they might even have a simulator there, so maybe I'll play a practice round at Augusta National -- I've heard rumors that I'm being invited to play this year and LadBrokes has me at even odds with McIlroy if they do. :tu


----------



## Stonedog

Jim, I was going to post about more OGS yesterday, but I couldn't convince myself that anyone gave a crap. 

No pipes for me this morning as I'm working from home (so no commute) and it's too damn cold outside. 

On the bright side we just signed the re-finance papers. We will save about $150/month AND will pay it off 5 years sooner. Just shows how powerful those rates are.


----------



## ProbateGeek

I'm with you, Jim - the thread lives. KK for me as well this morning, in the Savinelli Oscar Lucite. I must remember to use this one as a flake pipe, though - it only seems to smoke well when the bowl has some air space.


----------



## freestoke

Hi Terry! Hi Jon! :wave: I let the Erinmore flake dry a tad to much and it wouldn't musketball worth a damn. Wound up with a ram and jam into the FourDot apple, but no harm done, apparently. p Goes well with English Rose. :drama:


----------



## MarkC

Puffing on a bowl of Opening Night. For some reason, I've got my sleep hours all screwed up...I've actually been going to bed while it's still dark!


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Hi Terry! Hi Jon! :wave: I let the Erinmore flake dry a tad to much and it wouldn't musketball worth a damn. Wound up with a *ram and jam* into the FourDot apple, but no harm done, apparently. p Goes well with English Rose. :drama:


Jim that sounds down right vulgar.


----------



## Desertlifter

This week has been spectacularly crappy at work, in addition to which I've wholly lacked pipe time.

Working at the patrol tomorrow - plenty of time then.


----------



## freestoke

Hope you have some pipe time today, Brian! I'm working on a mix of PA and Rum Twist at the moment, a heavy dose of nicotine to gird my loins for the snowblowing in a while. It's warming up the next couple of days, so I need to clear things out so it will melt instead of turning into an impassable mass of frozen ruts afterward. Hey, I haven't done any of that for over a week! :tu


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Having a bowl of McClelland's Frog Morton Across the Pond in a Castello Le Catene 55 and a steaming mug of Sumatra.


Castello_55_9154 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> Hope you have some pipe time today, Brian! I'm working on a mix of PA and Rum Twist at the moment, a heavy dose of nicotine to gird my loins for the snowblowing in a while. It's warming up the next couple of days, so I need to clear things out so it will melt instead of turning into an impassable mass of frozen ruts afterward. Hey, I haven't done any of that for over a week! :tu


Thanks - started the day with fold and stuff delivered Erinmore Flake in my Stanwell. Tomorrow I shall revisit it rubbed out in a cob. Nice tobacco, and I smell like juicy fruit!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Desertlifter said:


> Thanks - started the day with fold and stuff delivered Erinmore Flake in my Stanwell. Tomorrow I shall revisit it rubbed out in a cob. Nice tobacco, and I smell like juicy fruit!


"Ah, Juicy Fruit..."


----------



## freestoke

The PPP is full of weirdness, Rum Twist, Anni Kake, PA, Reiner LGF...and English Rose snuff. Decided to put a pinch of Metropolitaine on there to bring up the moisture level and turn it into a little aromatic for a prelunch pick-me-up. p Wow! :shock: This is pretty damn good!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just had a bit of Bob's Chocolate Flake in a Falcon on the porch.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Back to the 1792 Flake in the Savinelli billiard/lovat. Been almost 2 weeks since I had any - would have preferred the Royal Yacht again this morning. 
Uh oh...


----------



## Desertlifter

ProbateGeek said:


> Back to the 1792 Flake in the Savinelli billiard/lovat. Been almost 2 weeks since I had any - would have preferred the Royal Yacht again this morning.
> Uh oh...


----------



## freestoke

:rofl: Good shot, Brian! :lol:

A late start for me this morning, but I'll try to get up to speed with a 4Dot of PA/SRTwist. Freshground Columbiano this morning. :smile:


----------



## Stonedog

I enjoyed a bowl Carter Hall this morning while contemplating what to take on my trip down to Sydney. I've got a tin of Solani 633 that I haven't opened yet. I'm half way considering taking it. Trying a new blend in a new city might add to the sense of adventure?


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> :rofl: Good shot, Brian! :lol:


Yes, Brian is one for the clever retort, but in my defense the bulk 1792 I have now just doesn't seem as "glorious" as the tinned I'm used to. 
So, I ask, who's cheated whom here?


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Yes, Brian is one for the clever retort, but in my defense the bulk 1792 I have now just doesn't seem as "glorious" as the tinned I'm used to.
> So, I ask, who's cheated whom here?


*Ennerdale *is much better from the tin, too. (And when I bought my last tins, it was cheaper than bulk. :ask Had a straight up PA in the 4Dot and not much since. Looks like it could push 60* today! :shock: Unluckily, it will be pouring rain, so no golf. :lol:


----------



## Derrick_Y

Woke up this morning to a huge shift in temp here in Ontario. Yesterday we saw temps almost hit 16c this morning we are -7 and snow squall warnings. Loaded up that carmello sav with princes street mixture that I found finally.

Not sure if it the new pipe or the tobacco not aging well but. Enjoyed this far more last summer


----------



## houncer

Nice to see you again on here Derrick! This morning, after a couple weeks off due to colds, I had some Black Shag in the Savinelli Miele.


----------



## freestoke

A mix of PA and Sweet Rum Twist this morning in the 4Dot. An excellent start to a fiercely windy day.


----------



## Desertlifter

ProbateGeek said:


> Yes, Brian is one for the clever retort, but in my defense the bulk 1792 I have now just doesn't seem as "glorious" as the tinned I'm used to.
> So, I ask, who's cheated whom here?


"Retort" having a dual meaning on a pipe thread, of course.....

This is really interesting, actually. One common thought I see is that tins/jars might not age as well/as much since they don't breathe. In this case, just the opposite seems to be happening.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> "Retort" having a dual meaning on a pipe thread, of course.....
> 
> This is really interesting, actually. One common thought I see is that tins/jars might not age as well/as much since they don't breathe. In this case, just the opposite seems to be happening.


With Ennerdale and Bob's Chocolate (and possibly 1792), I think it's a matter of the "essence" evaporating, not aging per se. PA doesn't have this problem. p Accompanying the PA, I have some fresh ground Columbian in the cup, as I look out on about 4" of snow. Supposed to snow until the end of next week, but nothing "serious" in the works. That means I'll be plowing a few times, possibly, but it's FEBRUARY! How bad can it be from here? :smile: Looks like we won't have to drag snow off the roof this year! :banana:


----------



## Derrick_Y

I too woke to about 8" of white stuff covering the driveway and car. Kinda sad considering Wednesday was warm and we had 0 snow left. Luckily I lent my snowblower to my Dad so have an hour or so to kill before he gets back with it, sounds like a good time to load up the jeantet bulldog with some Butternut Burly and watch the snow continue to fall.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Early Morning Pipe with a pinch of Syrian Latakia in a Worobiec 500-4.


worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

GL Pease Odyssey in a Peterson's Mark Twain.


DJ_Pete_Mark Twain by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## DanR

What a beautiful day here in San Antonio. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it's about 70 degrees out, and I'm enjoying some GL Pease Sextant in the Dunhill Billiard with black coffee on the side. Good morning, Gents!


----------



## freestoke

Watching *Groundhog Day*, so I see no conflict posting on the morning thread after noon. :smile: I think Bill Murray makes a mistake early on, when he gets Nancy Taylor's name in the restaurant and the Lincoln High/Mrs. Walsh info from her. Succeeding in picking her up, he bobbles the ball by using Andie McDowell's name (whatever her character is), then on the following days starts working on Andie. He should have stuck with Nancy, if you ask me. Better looking, pleasant personality, positive outlook on life...as opposed to "World Peace" snoot McDowell. Surely there's a better catch in town than either of them! Bill shows very little forethought in this movie. He's going to be REAL sorry he got hooked on McDowell after a while, who's character will almost certainly turn into a judgmental harpy in a couple of years, when Murray gets over his "nice" phase.

Just finished some KK, suddenly realizing that I've played a little game of tobacco alphabet tag: PA->AK->KK. p


----------



## Salty

Not quite morning, but my first bowl of the day. I just went to get pipe cleaners. Really I did. But, I ended up with a 100g tin of MB Dark Twist. Sublime.


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Watching *Groundhog Day*, so I see no conflict posting on the morning thread after noon. :smile: I think Bill Murray makes a mistake early on, when he gets Nancy Taylor's name in the restaurant and the Lincoln High/Mrs. Walsh info from her. Succeeding in picking her up, he bobbles the ball by using Andie McDowell's name (whatever her character is), then on the following days starts working on Andie. He should have stuck with Nancy, if you ask me. Better looking, pleasant personality, positive outlook on life...as opposed to "World Peace" snoot McDowell. Surely there's a better catch in town than either of them! Bill shows very little forethought in this movie. He's going to be REAL sorry he got hooked on McDowell after a while, who's character will almost certainly turn into a judgmental harpy in a couple of years, when Murray gets over his "nice" phase.
> 
> Just finished some KK, suddenly realizing that I've played a little game of tobacco alphabet tag: PA->AK->KK. p


Lol, I was watching the same thing earlier. Felt like groundhog day here, as I've seen the movie umpteen times already. Agreed with you on the girl choice, but I guess once he succeeded in "landing" Nancy, he needed a more challenging target and world peace girl proved to be just that!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

HV in a MM spool on the deck at work.


----------



## Hambone1

Was outside watching the world go by, beautiful morning. Some Boswell Christmas Cookie in my basket pipe. It was delightful!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Guess I missed the morning, but some Royal Yacht in the Stanwell Antique. I hope to go pick up an iPhone this week, 'cause DJ's picture quality is putting most of us to shame.


----------



## Derrick_Y

ProbateGeek said:


> Guess I missed the morning, but some Royal Yacht in the Stanwell Antique. I hope to go pick up an iPhone this week, 'cause DJ's picture quality is putting most of us to shame.


Nokia 920 if you want a phone with real camera qualities.

llBean with EMP for me this AM


----------



## splattttttt

Sweet Oriental Orlik blend is how I like to start off off my days on an early sunny warm day. Too bad there aren't a full calender's worth of them. Though Peerique blends are how I supplent between cigars. With the latter being a rarety... When time allows, a way more pleasureable way to pass the time away. Cobs you say... I can't leave my cobs alone for too long.


----------



## freestoke

Some KK in the 4Dot, because the PA is in another room and I didn't feel like getting up to find it. p Quite satisfactory, though, on a cold and sunny 3* morning. Another week before we get some warm days approaching 30, but not too bad. And how about Phil Nippleson, eh? Playing him some golf this week, that's for sure!


----------



## houncer

Loaded the Miele with some LNF. Maybe I will get a second bowl in tonight during the big game. Not a football fan so it shouldn't be hard to sneak away for a while.


----------



## freestoke

Derrick_Y said:


> Nokia 920 if you want a phone with real camera qualities.


I don't have a phone that takes pictures or connects to the internet, so I am not speaking from experience, but after talking to a guy showing me some Android apps, I was curious. This is the first thing I ran into:

*Here are my 5 top reasons not to buy it, even on sale at $40 on Amazon:

it's bulky,
heavy,
overheats,
has a short battery life,
and takes blurry pictures.
*

:dunno:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Bob's Chocolate flake in my Falcon.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

GL Pease Odyssey in a Castello Le Catene 55 and a hot steamer Salvador coffee.

My photographer, Spaghetti Eddie, came into the Pipe Smoker's Den this morning. I snapped a photo of him trying to sneak up and snatch my pipe. He loves Odyssey and doesn't mind puffin' on an Italian pipe. Good thing he will only drink tea and single-malt. That means my coffee is safe from him.

He's really an 18 pound turkey in disguise.


Eddie_MAC_Pipe by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


Castello LeCatene 55_10.12.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## dakrido

Hi all,
I took a break from smoking since the first of october last year,
but will pack a pipe one morning soon...
I'm in France where it's evening now, but i'm sure there's pipers users that are watching the sun rise somewhere...


----------



## freestoke

Rigging for lake effect this morning. Not all that bad, really, just 6" or so. Hey, it's February and there's not even a foot of snow on the ground! :smile: Actually, we need the snow for water in the spring, so I'm glad to see it -- especially since I don't have to go anywhere today. :lol:

Having a bowl of PA to start off, mulling over how stupid headline writers are. How do these people manage to screw up a mere handful of words so often? I just read, "Report Pinpoints Major Obstacle behind Election Day Fiasco" and began to enter a state of personality disintegration, dizzy with confusion. An obstacle *behind* a fiasco? Ordinarily, one thinks of obstacles being pushed aside, *left* behind, overcome, etc. Having them *behind* us would ordinarily to be a positive development, so what is that headline saying? True, there is "the power *behind* the throne", "*behind* every great man is a great woman" and all that, but they are not *obstacles.* :tsk: It took us a couple of millennia to get all these nifty words into English -- and now nobody even knows what they mean any more. (Spelczecher doesn't recognize the plural of "millennium", for example. :lol .

A great day for morning keyboard mussitations, drinking coffee and puffing away. :cp p :typing:


----------



## Desertlifter

Morning is far astern, but this morning I enjoyed a bowl of Dan Tobacco's Devil's Holiday. Had a hankering for an aro, and this stuff is good.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Enjoying a steaming mug of fresh roasted/brewed Sumatra along with a bowl of GL Pease Abingdon in a Peterson's Sherlock Holmes.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Lots of good strong coffee after a couple of bowls of PA/Irish Flake mix in my "new" Dr. Grabow Royal Duke pear (unsmoked pipe from the early '70s by my estimate).










I'm awake now.


----------



## freestoke

A little late to the thread, but I've been busy taking care of business on the NST. Scott, the YoungCurmudgeon is being served. Having been forced by circumstances beyond my control ( http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...ewbie-sampler-trade-pipes-91.html#post3800108 ) to open a few containers, I'm relaxing on the Royal Yacht, admiring the sun and the warmer temps from my keyboard. Looks like we'll unload a bit of this fresh snow come the weekend, but with rain, which is good. (Hope the temps drop back quickly and don't go too high, though. )

And some fresh ground Columbian! :cp


----------



## Desertlifter

Waitaminute - aren't you in Vancouver? What's that bright stuff on your left shoulder?



ProbateGeek said:


> Lots of good strong coffee after a couple of bowls of PA/Irish Flake mix in my "new" Dr. Grabow Royal Duke pear (unsmoked pipe from the early '70s by my estimate).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm awake now.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Desertlifter said:


> Waitaminute - aren't you in Vancouver? What's that bright stuff on your left shoulder?


Probably the cop's flashlight - he no doubt suspected me of driving into Oregon with my legalised Washington weed still burning.


----------



## MarkC

I can see it happening...


----------



## freestoke

Just finished my wake up bowl of RY in the TwoDot apple. My morning 4Dot was in the living room and I didn't feel like going to get it. Decided to up the ante since I had a pipe that needed something a little more hefty than PA in it. p Ground Columbian again this morning! :cp


----------



## freestoke

I hate to follow up my own post on a thread. :tsk: Like talking to myself, but I just had an epiphany! Why are PGA golfers so stupid now? When I was in high school, golf was the "smart" guy's sport every much as the "rich" guy's sport. It was also the gambler/hustler sport, something not really possible in team sports and not very widespread in other singles sports like tennis or track, and you have to be at least sneaky to do that well. It was also a game where the golfers almost never got scholarships of any kind to play for a college team, much less the full blown deals given to footballers and hoopers. Only a handful of schools did much for the golfers, schools like the University of Houston and Oklahoma State, big jock schools to start with. When I went to UVa, there were only six athletic scholarships period! :shock: In other words, professors weren't going to hold their noses and give a player a C so he could stay on the eligible player roster, so the golfers coming out of the college ranks onto the tour were actually students. Add to that, that there were not that many crip majors in the '60s and schools used to take pride in thinning the ranks of the student body, golfers who graduated actually had educations. I honestly don't believe that Tiger Woods would have made it into Stanford in 1961, no matter how many amateur titles he had. (And he was no amateur! Cobra was paying his father hundreds of thousands of dollars for Tiger to play their driver -- and tell everyone how much he loved it. Yeah. Some amateur. :tsk

Anyhow, if you ever wonder how professional golf got filled with so many boring personalities (not all, but a LOT of dull people out there these days), it's because they were able to go to college and be trained to play well, in a time when anybody with a decent amateur record can get into some college or another on a golf scholarship, and even good schools will let stupid people slide to benefit their sports programs. At least that's my current hypothesis. :mrgreen:

Smoking some PA now, after a couple bowls of RY. In a cob. p


----------



## scopawl

Had a bowl of Presbyterian Mixture again this morning. I'm still trying to decide how highly I rate this one... I don't dislike it by any stretch, but it seems to be a bit... uninspiring, I suppose.
Oh well, onwards and sideways!


----------



## freestoke

Another bowl of Royal Yacht, planning how to prepare for being locked into the house by the coming storm tomorrow. Looks like a foot, so no big deal, but the driving will be bad.


----------



## splattttttt

Trying my best to avoid cliché 'ism here, but have any of you tried Hearth and Home's Daybreak blend yet? 
General concessions vary excessively IMO when compared to Dunhill's EMP, considering Daybreak was released as a direct substitute.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in my Peterson Belgique driving up the mountain to work this morning.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

HH Vintage Syrian in a Pete Mark Twain. A very strange atmospheric phenomena here this morning...a clear sky.


Peterson Mark Twain_DJ by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## splattttttt

love the photos there DJ


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht in the 4Dot for this morning's commute.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Royal Yacht in the 4Dot for this morning's commute.


Strange to say, me too, except without the commute.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

EMP with a touch of Latakia added in a a Castello Le Catene 55 and a steaming mug of El Salvador coffee. A very fine start to the morning.


Castello Le Catene 55 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## freestoke

G'mornin', Latakius! Picked up this Darth Vader from yesterday and am finishing whatever is in it...I think it's Royal Yacht. p Tastes pretty good with the DGT. 

I think the snow's starting to "coalesce" now. eep:


----------



## RupturedDuck

I'm having a spot of Dan Tobacco's The Mellow Mallard. Im kind of craving a mellow English, but I've got quite a few tins of VAs open, and I am finishing a few of them prior to opening something new. I'm smoking it from a Pipeworks 3/4 bent I've had for a little bit.

Hope you are all well!

RD


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just had some H&H Stogie in a MM cob out on the deck at work after the hottub inspector left.


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> I just had some H&H Stogie in a MM cob out on the deck at work after the hottub inspector left.


From which I am going to infer that you have a hot-tub at work and I'm in the wrong job.


----------



## splattttttt

Keep'em comin* DJ*, each one a master piece... EMP you say? Goody for you!


----------



## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> From which I am going to infer that you have a hot-tub at work and I'm in the wrong job.


Word! LOL


----------



## El wedo del milagro

steinr1 said:


> From which I am going to infer that you have a hot-tub at work and I'm in the wrong job.


I work in a tiny ski resort town in Northern New Mexico/Southern Rockies.

Yep, we have a NICE hottub. Folks really need it after a day on the slopes.


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> I work in a tiny ski resort town in Northern New Mexico/Southern Rockies.
> 
> Yep, we have a NICE hottub. Folks really need it after a day on the slopes.


I work in a grey office building in one of the crappier parts of London. Fascist!


----------



## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> I work in a grey office building in one of the crappier parts of London. Fascist!


yeah? But you probably make a fortune LOL


----------



## El wedo del milagro

steinr1 said:


> I work in a grey office building in one of the crappier parts of London. Fascist!


If I was a facist I suspect I'd have alot more money and power. Such is life.

On the up side, I get to see alot of cool things and have a quality lifestyle... like today as I was driving down the mountain to go home to my village, I was puffing another bowl of H&H Stogie in my MM cob and I saw a flock of wild big horn sheep grazing on the side of the highway. I pulled over on the side of the road and finished my bowl while watching the wildlife.


----------



## splattttttt

sounds so rewarding. Such experiences were common before I plunged deeply into matrimony. Not that that is all that bad, but puling over the side 'o the road to pause on life is but a distant memory for me. Excellent!


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> I work in a grey office building in one of the crappier parts of London. Fascist!


Well then - at least from the crappier parts of London you can get to some pretty cool places!


----------



## MarkC

I'm enjoying a bowl of Hamborger Veermaster. Funny, I wouldn't have opened one of these for myself, but since I was doing the NPS trade, I figured I'd send some, and now that it's open...


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I'm enjoying a bowl of Hamborger Veermaster. Funny, I wouldn't have opened one of these for myself, but since I was doing the NPS trade, I figured I'd send some, and now that it's open...


:lol: I did the same thing this week with Royal Yacht, which I'm now enjoying in the overgrown Falcon. p And regular canned coffee -- still good! :cp


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had some Bob's Chocolate Flake in my Falcon on the way to work this morning.


----------



## freestoke

"Picked up this Darth Vader from yesterday..." I meant the Darth RADER!  I'll have to do that again this morning and get that right! Again, the Royal Yacht. p

Driveway's done! :banana: Rather nice out there and only about 8", so no big deal. Pretty normal snowfall for around here. Wonder how they did in Boston. Haven't gotten to the "real" news yet this morning.


----------



## houncer

I was away for work for a few days but came home to my bag of Penzance. I never tried it before and I am very happy I bought the 8oz bag as it is turning out to be a very smooth, enjoyable smoke.


----------



## DanR

houncer said:


> I was away for work for a few days but came home to my bag of Penzance. I never tried it before and I am very happy I bought the 8oz bag as it is turning out to be a very smooth, enjoyable smoke.


Definitely a good one. I haven't smoked any in a while, so mine has some age on it, and now I'm craving it. Might need to make that my evening smoke.

Enjoying some Reiner Long Golden Flake. In the monthly reviews this one got mixed results, but I love it. A great tobacco any time of day...


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

London Mixture with a pinch of Latakia in a gourd/meerschaum calabash and a steaming mug of Sumatra Mandheling coffee.


FullPipe_324_e by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Enjoying some Reiner Long Golden Flake. In the monthly reviews this one got mixed results, but I love it. A great tobacco any time of day...


One of my favorites, for sure! :tu A little more RY for me this morning -- in the Darth Rader! :tu


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Bobs Chocolate Flake in my dedicated Hilson Dublin.


----------



## houncer

Last week I was in Philadelphia and visited Holt's Cigar Company. I bought a tin of Blue Mountain and a blend called Holt's 101. I don't really know why I bought the Holt's 101 since it is aromatic but I tried some today. It is Cavendish with a vanilla topping. Nothing to really rave about but it was pretty enjoyable and smoked all the way down to fine white ash. I let it air for 40 minutes.


----------



## freestoke

Wow, two posts since I was here last! :spy: Having a PA/4Dot, which I haven't fired up in almost a week. Good coffee this morning, too, and a warm day on tap to lower the snow levels. (Not that they are deep at all.)


----------



## TTecheTTe

C&D Old Joe Kranz in MM Diplomat Apple. With last of my Kauai coffee, strong and black.


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> C&D Old Joe Kranz in MM Diplomat Apple. With last of my Kauai coffee, strong and black.


Turning up the volume a little myself, with some Royal Yacht in the big Falcon. Been smoking this pipe a lot the past couple of weeks -- I think it's just because it's there and I've been to lazy to put it back in the rack. Smokes nice, but I don't like the way a Falcon "finishes" much. The bottom of the bowl isn't designed for burning down to nothing but ash, really. I'd even be afraid of messing it up if I did. Maybe not, but I don't know a lot about how these Falcons behave.


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> Turning up the volume a little myself, with some Royal Yacht in the big Falcon. Been smoking this pipe a lot the past couple of weeks -- I think it's just because it's there and I've been to lazy to put it back in the rack. Smokes nice, but I don't like the way a Falcon "finishes" much. The bottom of the bowl isn't designed for burning down to nothing but ash, really. I'd even be afraid of messing it up if I did. Maybe not, but I don't know a lot about how these Falcons behave.


RY! That's what I forgot, again. Remembered that I forgot Tambolaka, after my order was confirmed and too late to add. RY RY RY RY.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of London Mixture while driving up the mountain to work this morning. It was in my latakia Falcon.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Good morn, all, and say hello to my new little friends: Stoks Lux Bullseye Flake in an Orlik (second bowl).


----------



## freestoke

More PA, this time in the Darth Rader, the pipe with the large capacity chamber in a normal size bowl. It's like putting 10 lbs of shit in a 5 lb bag, as the saying goes -- except in this case it works! :dunno:


----------



## TTecheTTe

Lady FMOTT - sublime!


----------



## freestoke

Gotta grind some Columbian to go with my next bowl, scheduled for 9:25 after the coffee is brewing. First bowl was -- tada! -- some PA in the 4Dot. Cold but sunny, looking at a high in the teens today. Snow predicted every day from now until July 4th, aka summertime around here, but not much accumulation.


----------



## mturnmm

I haven't smoked a pipe in a while...so this morning with my grocery store blend of coffee I'm smoking some Mixture 965! I just pulled the trigger on some McCelland's 5-15 2 50g tins for 27 and some change. Apparently it was some tobacco they kinda forgot about for anywhere from 5 to 15 years....all the proceeds are going to the Chicago pipe show. I got it from Pipes and Cigars dot com.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in my Hilson bent bulldog on the drive up the mountain to work this morning.


----------



## TTecheTTe

My first bowls of SG Squadron Leader, and it is all that I expected it to be and far more! This was my first choice when selecting my first pipe tabaccos, but could not obtain any until now and it was well worth the wait. With a name of SL, and blended in honor of those courageous WWII fighter pilots, I expected this to be a very manly smoke and doubted I would much enjoy it. However, the burley blend promised a good amont of nicotine so I was going to choke it down.

Well, this is so good I could eat it! Popping the tin greeted me with an intoxicating aroma, which commanded my nose to enter the tin and suck it in - for several minutes, and repeatedly over the several hours that I could bear before loading a bowl. Easy light. Soon, voluminous clouds of thick, fragrant smoke was being produced. Usually, I can not enjoy the aroma of a good smoke while I am smoking, as I can while being in the presence of one smoking a fine tabacco. Not with this baccy, as the aroma was most pleasurable and I not only enjoyed its wonderful taste, but also the deliciously fragrant aroma as though I was in the presence of another smoker. Incrediably surprising, satisfying and enjoyable smoke.


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> Usually, I can not enjoy the aroma of a good smoke while I am smoking, as I can while being in the presence of one smoking a fine tabacco.


I don't notice it as much until I leave the room and return. I do, however, notice *Ennerdale*, even in a strong wind outside -- which is where I'm allowed to smoke it. ainkiller: Actually, I wouldn't smoke it inside in any case. :nono: Right now, the somewhat neutral scent of PA is filling the room. Cleaned the stem on my my 4Dot yesterday, and it's a LOT nicer! I'm such a slob. :tsk: It had gotten truly gross, being smoked two or three times a day, mostly clenching. Coffee tastes great this morning, even though it's not the good Columbiano. :cp


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> I don't notice it as much until I leave the room and return. I do, however, notice *Ennerdale*, even in a strong wind outside -- which is where I'm allowed to smoke it. ainkiller: Actually, I wouldn't smoke it inside in any case. :nono: Right now, the somewhat neutral scent of PA is filling the room. Cleaned the stem on my my 4Dot yesterday, and it's a LOT nicer! I'm such a slob. :tsk: It had gotten truly gross, being smoked two or three times a day, mostly clenching. Coffee tastes great this morning, even though it's not the good Columbiano. :cp


Sacrilege, say I! Ennerdale has a lovely room note. Which I why I am enjoying SWR.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Too busy - just popping in to say hi. This post will to suffice for today:

1792 this morning, and more for the commute home. In the Comoys bent bulldog.
Tom Buck today - don't you know it.
Just won a new Earl of Essex 'Apple' off the ebay - I'm digging those apples.
Will have a cigar with my brother-in-law tonight, probably another 601 Serie Green Oscuro; he'll opt for something milder.

My in-laws arrived Saturday, and will probably be here for 6 months. When relief is needed, I would appreciate each of you taking a turn at visiting me here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest to give me some much needed, non-Korean, company. :tongue:


----------



## freestoke

Guten Morgen, Damen und Herren! (I feel like I should get at least SOMETHING out of all those German classes.) A little Royal Yacht this morning -- actually, a lot of RY. The big Falcon holds a goodly load of tobacco.


----------



## Stonedog

Much like Terry, I can only pop in and wish everyone a good morning. Wessex BVF in my MM great dane egg this morning.

I'm buried trying to prepare a two week training class that I'll be giving when I'm down in Sydney. The words "wing it" come to mind...

But I'm happy to say I've got a big Savinelli 811 billiard on the way. A few ounces of GH Lousiana Flake and a few tins of Haddo's Delight and University Flake are on the way too. Some combination of these will end up in my suitcase this Friday.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

When relief is needed said:


> Come on up to Sequim for a few bowls, Terry! We'll step into the Raven's Grove Pipe Smoke's Den and smoke till we can't see across the room!
> 
> 
> Interior_P1050353 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr
> 
> This morning it's Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding in a Peterson's Mark Twain.
> 
> 
> Peterson Mark Twain_DJ by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Phred

Not much of a morning person, but as I'm "between engagements", as it were, I sometimes have the option of a morning pipe (weather permitting - I only smoke outdoors, or in a designated smoking lounge). Today appears to be one of those days... Think I'll go for some H&H Victorian Stroll in a MM Cob.


----------



## phinz

Finally feeling awake. Triple Play in a CAO meer. Getting ready for a marathon writing session.


----------



## Desertlifter

Cultivating a nice colony of Haemophilus influenzae, or perhaps it is Streptococcus pneumoniae. No pipe for me this morning - I'll give them a good cleaning instead.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Come on up to Sequim for a few bowls, Terry! We'll step into the Raven's Grove Pipe Smoke's Den and smoke till we can't see across the room!


I just may do that one of these days, DJ. I've been interested in Sequim for about a year now, and have yet to pay it a visit. However, I would think we'll have to smoke a few pounds of 1792 to not be able to make out that ORANGE wall across the room!

Oh, and "I get the chair!"

p


----------



## TTecheTTe

The french press is steeping for a little (oops, did I say that) Ca Phe' Sua Nong. Going to have a second bowl of 1792 with my Vietnamese coffee before I walk the dog.

Now, to catch up on a few comments....



ProbateGeek said:


> ...we'll have to smoke a few pounds of 1792...


Let's split a bulk order of one ton and count me in!



freestoke said:


> Guten Morgen, Damen und Herren! (I feel like I should get at least SOMETHING out of all those German classes.)...


and the Damen most appreciate it!



Desertlifter said:


> Sacrilege, say I! Ennerdale has a lovely room note. Which I why I am enjoying SWR.


Plus, "mama" lets me smoke inside! Thanks for confirming the pleasant room note, as it was my goal in this selection. "He who shall not be named" advised me that it was "acceptably feminine." It's a win-win, and I may have it tonight!


----------



## freestoke

A long day ahead. Two driveways to plow after that 1/2" "rainfall" yesterday. (Hint: A foot of snow per inch of rain.) I never badmouth the weather people though. They get it right just about all the time these days, and amazingly right at that. They really only missed because the temperature fell short by about 3 degrees, so even with the "miss" they were pretty close. But that's not the big job: I have to ferry four cats to the vet for their distemper shots. :faint: Why can't they just give me the stupid needles and stuff and let ME do it? :rant:

Just a plain ol' 4Dot/PA morning -- and I didn't grind any Columbian. Enjoying the Big Can Coffee anyhow. :cp


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Hope you can post a video of your feline wrangling, Jim! Be sure to wear your cat roper boots!

Smoking a bowl of GL Pease Samarra in a Worobiec 500-4.


worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

TTecheTTe said:


> . . . "He who shall not be named" advised me that it was "acceptably feminine."


I'm watchin' you, girl.

:wink:

Do have it tonight, and let us know what you think - if you like it, perhaps we could introduce you to the Barrister's Cut? :biggrin:


----------



## TTecheTTe

Happy IPSD - my first! In observance, I pledge to smoke only the pipe today (not one cigar!) and at least six different baccy's with at least two of them new.

Well, for my second and subsequent bowls this morning, I switched from the 1792 to Squadron Leader and was it ever great with that ca phe!



ProbateGeek said:


> I'm watchin' you, girl.
> Do have it tonight, and let us know what you think - if you like it, perhaps we could introduce you to the Barrister's Cut? :biggrin:


'lil 'ol me? Stalker! You must be paranoid. 

I did get that tin popped early, so I will hopefully be having a number of bowls starting 8-9pm tonight! :hungry: And, the aroma was amaaaazing!!

I meant to do it last night, but forgot again because "someone" wouldn't remind me.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Just a plain ol' 4Dot/PA morning --


----------



## TTecheTTe

ProbateGeek said:


>


LOL, I just sent off a trade to @RJpuffs, and tried to get Prince Albert (he did say "send anything") but couldn't! oke:

That's a real man, and it looks like he's smoking my pipe!


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

EMP in a Worobiec 500-4. Love the _National Joy Smoke_ ad in Popular Mechanics!


----------



## TTecheTTe

Ack, Ennerdale; it's supposed to be Bow-legged Bear! I thought I was being careful with my new briar. Well, I intended to be, at least. Guess I got into a bad habit being able to smoke anything and everything in my MM.

Still, it's hitting the spot and easing the migraine and asthma that the front has brought in. I really wanted some 1792 and more Ca Phe, but I'm out of sweet condensed milk and could't handle the flakes in my condition. The BLB was "instant" and other than the unexpected Ennerdale it is doing its job.


----------



## freestoke

Second deepest snow of the season last night, about 8". Hopefully the snowband didn't reach Oriskany, because I'm starting to get tired of driving the plow. :frown: The past two days have been quasi-brutal, with temps in the teens and a 15-20 mph wind. :faint: I'll be hitting the road with the SAP shortly. I think the SAP consists of KK, 1Q, and some flake scraps of various description from the paper plate. It's been better, for sure, but it's fine for driving through the snow. p


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


>


A "cinch". Don't hear this word much anymore, do you?


----------



## OnePyroTec

We woke up to about an inch of global warming on the ground this morning. :wink:


----------



## TTecheTTe

Attemping to clear my briar of Ennerdale with some straight Va, Mac Braren Vir #1 .

I had accidently dried out some out really well, but still getting a litte sizzle and dottle. :hmm:


----------



## steinr1

Brown Bogie Rum to kickstart the day.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Going to fire up some OJK in my "Ennerdale's Ghost" and see how it tastes...


----------



## freestoke

Some PA in the big Falcon, with a thick icing of Five Brothers magic starting powder. Stand back and shield your eyes...:flame:...okay, you can look now, the FB is done and the PA is burning nicely. Fresh ground Columbian this morning. :cp Gonna be halfway decent today!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht in the Stanwell Antique this morning.










Shifting from Earl Grey tea to black coffee, with a little Tom Buck on the side. Happy Friday, y'all!


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

GL Pease Odyssey in a Caminetto. A steaming mug of smoky Lapsang Suchong on the side.


Caminetto by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## TTecheTTe

Cafe' Cubano and 1792. Can't believe it's been about a week since I had a bowl, not even on IPSD! You know it's too long when you can't remember the last day you had the flake and it was't yesterday.


----------



## freestoke

Nearing the end of the RY jar, burning a bowl in the 4Dot diplomat. Good coffee this morning! :cp


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend in a Castello Le Catene 55. Sipping on a steaming mug of Toddy coffee...Dungeness Dark.


Castello_55_9154 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Early Morning Pipe (for late morning) in a Dr. Grabow Royalton with a cup of Piggly Wiggly Decaf. Livin' the good life. :bounce:


----------



## Nachman

I got a sample of 5Bros from STG so I fired up a big bowl of it this morning. It is perhaps a tad moister than the Tennessee version of yesteryear, but still quite dry. The flavour is excellent, Burley nuttiness, as long as you sip slowly. If you push it you get a little Burley bitterness, so smoke it slow. It hasn't changed much, still an excellent source of vitamin N.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

C&D Opening Night with a pinch of Syrian Latakia in a Worobiec 500-4.


worobiec_500-4 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## steinr1

I'm really enjoying more of the 1792 Flake (old school Cob Flake) in a small Ropp Canadian. I'm not sure I would smoke this all day long, but all morning seems to be fine.


----------



## TTecheTTe

1792 in a "new" little rusticated English Apple (don't know what as I have to get out my loupe). And this little Apple is dedicated to the one I L-L-Love - Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake (yeah, you know the tune, sing it with me)! Yes, he's such a fine gent I have to say his full name this morn, as I smoke my first bowl in his very own pipe.

This is my very first dedicated pipe, as the "Ennerdale Ghost," my first briar, was dedicated as such only by default from this pipe noob's carelessness.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

I have 6 hours of driving today for a 3-4 hour business meeting :banghead:
The car has been equipped with a Dr. Grawbow Color Duke, a briar Medico, and a tin of a SPS burley variety for the journey.


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> 1792 in a "new" little rusticated English Apple (don't know what as I have to get out my loupe).


I love apples. :tu Remember, an apple a day keeps the doctor away! p

Having some FVF in -- tada -- the TwoDot apple. :smile:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I work early morning to early afternoon usually, but today I'm on the night shift.

So I was able to sit in the sun on the porch this morning with a MM Danish Spool full of Sam's Flake and a mug of coffee.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Just back from a 4-day bout with the flu. I was, eventually, victorious - good to be back on puff.

One bowl of Royal Yacht in the Stanwell antique - from what little I could taste, in the interim my favorite tobacco has turned into stale, flavorless cardboard shavings. I heard of guys complaining about this phenomenon after a cold, but this is the first I've experienced it. When will my taste buds be fully recovered? Food tastes okay - why not tobacco?


----------



## freestoke

Just a conjecture, Terry, but if your illness involved evomitions, the hydrochloric acid from your stomach can likely do some tongue damage. 

More FVF for me, this time in the FourDot pot, possibly my best smoker. I don't smoke it nearly enough, for sure.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Just a conjecture, Terry, but if your illness involved evomitions, *the hydrochloric acid from your stomach can likely do some tongue damage.*
> 
> More FVF for me, this time in the FourDot pot, possibly my best smoker. I don't smoke it nearly enough, for sure.


Surely no worse than a hastily smoked aromatic...


----------



## steinr1

Last of the French Virginia/Kentucky/Curly Cut/Perique blend - actually not that bad, but I am pleased to free up this jar after about two years of occupation.

Some Warrior Plug afterward, I think.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Tobias Lutz said:


> I have 6 hours of driving today for a 3-4 hour business meeting :banghead:
> The car has been equipped with a Dr. Grawbow Color Duke, a briar Medico, and a tin of a SPS burley variety for the journey.


Hope your stock proved adequate, and that you had a good day!

Firing up OJK and giving it a try in the "Ennerdale Ghost". Time to make some coffee; think I'm going to drip some cafe' cubano.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A little birdy gave me a PA sample in an attempt to indoctrinate me into the Order of the Prince smoking fraternity arty:

I'll be burning that in a non-descript briar.

*Mari*I had enough tobacco, but my patience with driving that far rather than using Webex for a meeting ran out before I got home


----------



## freestoke

Just finishing up a bowl of Old Dark Fired. (Thanks, Mike!) Great stuff! I really, really like this. Perfect nicotine hit for a morning pipe, fabulous tobacco flavor, burns great. There is nothing wrong with this at all. p The 1975 (?) rusticated Sasieni Canadian doesn't get near enough play time. 

I had intended to review this for the monthly review (late ), but then realized I should have been smoking 1792! Wondering how I could have made such a mistake, I went back to the polls and discovered that it wasn't even ON any of the polls. :ask: "I am such a stupid." -- Roberto DiVicenzo.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Balkan Sobranie (1990) in a Caminetto.


Caminetto2 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## TTecheTTe

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Balkan Sobranie (1990) in a Caminetto.


That is one beautiful pipe, as always! Your pipe *****graphy is my new, and only, vice.

Smoking OJK in MM Dip Apple with cafe' cubano. Thinking of having a thumbful of Tambo.

 Hope this morning finds you gentlemen in better health. Mama says to smoke plenty of high nicotine weed to help any clear any mucous from the respiratory tract, as per doctor's orders.


----------



## steinr1

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Balkan Sobranie (1990) in a Caminetto.


I wonder if you've tried Robert Lewis Tree Mixture and if so - what's your opinion on how it compares to old school Balkan Sobranie? I've heard some compare it favourably.


----------



## freestoke

Balkan Sobranie was my main tobacco from 1961 until 1981, the only one I got a big can of. Always had one of these on hand. 









I had an assortment of Dunhill and such-like cans around, too, but BS was in my pouch and every other smoke. (Sorry, they were all cans back then. :dunno I almost quit smoking a pipe then, after my pipes were stolen. I imagine it was probably a little like trying to take up stamp collecting again after your dog ate your entire collection.

But I'm just burning some PA in the TwoDot apple right now. Nothin' fancy. p


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

TTecheTTe said:


> That is one beautiful pipe, as always! Your pipe *****graphy is my new, and only, vice.


Thanks Mari! Hmmm, your only vice? I guess I have heard of the similarity between you and Mother Theresa.:flame:



steinr1 said:


> I wonder if you've tried Robert Lewis Tree Mixture and if so - what's your opinion on how it compares to old school Balkan Sobranie? I've heard some compare it favourably.


I haven't tried Tree Mixture. Sounds like a fine blend, though. Like Jim FreeStoke, I smoked BS from the sixties through the eighties...bushels of it. It was of a very particular taste, feel and aroma. Even this aged BS isn't like the fresh BS we smoked back when. It's smoother and quieter, which is not to say better, just different.



freestoke said:


> Balkan Sobranie was my main tobacco from 1961 until 1981, the only one I got a big can of. Always had one of these on hand.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I had an assortment of Dunhill and such-like cans around, too, but BS was in my pouch and every other smoke. (Sorry, they were all cans back then. :dunno I almost quit smoking a pipe then, after my pipes were stolen. I imagine it was probably a little like trying to take up stamp collecting again after your dog ate your entire collection.


So Jim, have you checked those two huge boxes in the back of your closet to see if all of those cans of Dunhill and BS you stored back then are still in good shape?

Smoking a bowl of GL Pease Renaissance (2002) in a F&T.


Fribourg & Treyer_3438 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## freestoke

First, Latakius -- ALL YOUR PIPE ARE BELONG TO US!









Second, I don't even have an old empty Ye Olde Sign can to sell on ebay. out: Who knew they'd ever be worth more empty than I paid for them full? :dunno: Actually, I DO have an ancient, circa 1968, 10-cigarette tin left over from a pack Balkan Sobranie cigarettes. Looks just like this one, so I won't bother to take a picture. I used it for carrying pre-rolled, during the Age of Aquarius. :hippie:

Third, it's amazing you were a BS junkie too, during the same years! :shock:










Doing up some Five Brothers in the old MM Diplomat. Eat your heart out, GD. You can only dream about owning a pipe of this quality.


----------



## TTecheTTe

:BS


----------



## TTecheTTe

I'm so happy I picked up the pipe. It is worth it if only to be in this pond.


----------



## freestoke

I had had a few inferior smokes from the Diplomat of late, and gave it the ol' scrapy pipe cleaner, but found some resistance. Pulled out the drill from the Senior Reamer (I always have little flash of involuntary panic when I type that ) and twisted it through the shank into the bowl. Ouila! Smokes like a dream again. :banana: Almost a mini-laboratory experiment in the important of having a free draw.

So I'm celebrating my refurbished MM with a bowl of RY. p And coffee. :cp


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A bowl of SPS Kentucky Planter in a MM this morning. I'm running around getting the last of the stuff together for my son's birthday party arty: this afternoon. Little guy is already two :bounce:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

It's a very lovely, sunny March morning here on the Olympic Peninsula. Puffing on a bowl of GKCPC Rich Oriental 2011 in a Castello Le Catene 55.

No BS this morning, Mari!


----------



## freestoke

A light snow falling, nothing serious. Gonna warm up some next week, so maybe we can start reducing the snow down to golfing levels in a couple of weeks. We can usually do something out there by April. 

Having some Old Dark Fired in the TwoDot Canadian. I strongly recommend this blend, my sample courtesy of mikebjtx. p


----------



## TTecheTTe

TTecheTTe said:


> :BS





Latakius Vituscan said:


> It's a very lovely, sunny March morning here on the Olympic Peninsula. Puffing on a bowl of GKCPC Rich Oriental 2011 in a Castello Le Catene 55.
> 
> No BS this morning, Mari!


Sorry that the migraines prompted such a stinking response; but I could only respond with what they had done to my mind. Fortunately it also kept me from running out and getting this fine, old baccy. At least I do have one Balkan - which I was enjoying this morning - in my arsensal until I do get me some BS.



Latakius Vituscan said:


> Thanks Mari! Hmmm, your only vice? I guess I have heard of the similarity between you and Mother Theresa.:flame:


Well, that _is my middle name_ (for St. Therese' of Liseaux).


----------



## steinr1

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Thanks Mari! Hmmm, your only vice? I guess I have heard of the similarity between you and Mother Theresa.:flame:


Mother Teresa smoked a pipe herself. And promoted the craze for Bum Fighting in Calcutta.

(There. It's on the Internet now. It must be true.)

Kick-started my mendacious mind with Black Bogie Aromatic in a tiny Ropp Prince.


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> Well, that _is my middle name_ (for St. Therese' of Liseaux).


Speaking of names, I think I had an epiphany just now, in my somnambulant morning state. Texas Tech-ette? (The spell-checker doesn't seem to know how to spell anything past a third grade level, constantly wasting my time flagging perfectly ordinary words, forcing me to look them up for no reason whatsoever. :rant: )

Smoking a gravity fill of PA in the Darth Rader to get the grey cells moving. More coffee! :cp I'll be back momentarily.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

TTecheTTe said:


> Sorry that the migraines prompted such a stinking response; but I could only respond with what they had done to my mind. Fortunately it also kept me from running out and getting this fine, old baccy. At least I do have one Balkan - which I was enjoying this morning - in my arsensal until I do get me some BS.
> 
> Well, that _is my middle name_ (for St. Therese' of Liseaux).


Is that black smoke or white smoke coming out of your pipe, Mari? I've sent a note to the Conclave suggesting the beatification of TTecheTTe.ipe:

This morning it's a bowl of London Mixture in a Worobiec 500-4.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Good Monday, gents and lady.

1792 Flake in my dad's Comoys bent bulldog for the morning commute, with some Irish Breakfast tea. Sun is shining - air is crisp, cool and clean out here - would think it's even more glorious up in Sequim. 

Coffee, please.


----------



## Desertlifter

Late to the dance, but 'twas OGS in the tsuge that is visiting.










Going to miss this pipe when it heads back home - it's a great short smoke.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A bowl of Early Morning Pipe in a Gatlinburlier apple, chased down with some organic peach tea.:clap2:


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Late to the dance, but 'twas OGS in the tsuge that is visiting.
> 
> *Going to miss this pipe when it heads back home *- it's a great short smoke.


:ask: Heads back home? You have a pipe on loan? In any case, the bowl seems an adequate size, so I assume "short smoke" refers to the length. :dunno: So many questions, with only a handful of words, Brian! :lol:

That pipe looks a lot like my 4Dot diplomat, actually, except for the stem, which I'm smoking now with a gravity fill of PA, coffee on the side. p A thaw is on the way! :banana:


----------



## Jeff10236

On work days I _hate_ this thread. I can't smoke on work days until after I leave for the day. I get up too early as it is (5-5:30am) to get up early and smoke before my shower. Because we need to set an example for the students, I can get in trouble if I come to work smelling like tobacco. Further, if I bring tobacco products onto school property (even if it is _in_ my car), I can find myself with a referal in my work record.

To make things worse, it seems we are in the process of going the way of several hospitals which have banned tobacco use (many even have regular nicotine testing like employers who do drug testing). I am a special ed teacher, but my organization is affiliated with a couple hospitals. Right now we just offer a (big) discount on health insurance to employees who can show they don't smoke (or are in a smoking ceasation program), next step is probably banning smoking within a year or two.



Desertlifter said:


> Late to the dance, but 'twas OGS in the tsuge that is visiting.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Going to miss this pipe when it .
> heads back home - it's a great short smoke.


That pipe looks almost exactly like a Stanwell that I have (a dedicated Lakeland pipe). Nice pipe!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

It's a wonderful morning!

I have the day off and had several mugs of coffee (home roasted) and a BIG MM of PA on the porch whilst sitting in the sun and basking.


----------



## freestoke

It's National Grammar Day! :banana: "Your the best teacher ever!" :biglaugh: I confess that my posts contain "numberous" examples of poor grammar, clumsy punctuation and various other syntactic failures, lapses that would incur stern reproofs from my high school English teacher, Mr. Trusdale. In my own defense, I have grown careless on the interwebs, dashing out sentences that I know are wrong, too lazy to rephrase, primarily because I know that such things don't matter in these days of tweeting and texting. Who needs facility with words when we have emoticons!? Hard to misspell an emoticon. :smyle:


More Happy Bogie with a PA base. Might have to have a little lunch soon. p


----------



## Mason16Filz

FM in my full bent pipe watching the snow come in ipe:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

It's so nice and sunny outside. I'm heading back out to the porch with HV in a clay pipe.


----------



## freestoke

A bill currently in Congress would provide $100 million a year for sexual abstinence among teenagers. Somebody responded to the news item with, "That's what it would have cost just for me, and that was in the 90's." :biglaugh: 

There's molten snow pooling up at the end of the driveway! :banana: Think I'll load a cob with some Erinmore.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Watching the grass grow this morning. Puffin' on a bowl of GL Pease Odyssey in an old Savinelli bulldog.


SavinelliBulldog_DJ_06.03.2012_e by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> :ask: Heads back home? You have a pipe on loan? In any case, the bowl seems an adequate size, so I assume "short smoke" refers to the length. :dunno: So many questions, with only a handful of words, Brian! :lol:
> 
> That pipe looks a lot like my 4Dot diplomat, actually, except for the stem, which I'm smoking now with a gravity fill of PA, coffee on the side. p A thaw is on the way! :banana:


Quality over quantity, brother!

Yes, pipe on loan from another BOTL. I mentioned liking the tsuge pipes as well as their size - which is smaller than pics might indicate. This pipe just barely fits between 2/3 and 3/4 of an OGS flake. Just right for a quick smoke on the way to work.

Dunhill MM 965 in my Bjarne saucer this morning. Love my Bjarnes, and 965 is a nice relaxing blend.


----------



## Desertlifter

Jeff10236 said:


> On work days I _hate_ this thread. I can't smoke on work days until after I leave for the day. I get up too early as it is (5-5:30am) to get up early and smoke before my shower. Because we need to set an example for the students, I can get in trouble if I come to work smelling like tobacco. Further, if I bring tobacco products onto school property (even if it is _in_ my car), I can find myself with a referal in my work record.
> 
> To make things worse, it seems we are in the process of going the way of several hospitals which have banned tobacco use (many even have regular nicotine testing like employers who do drug testing). I am a special ed teacher, but my organization is affiliated with a couple hospitals. Right now we just offer a (big) discount on health insurance to employees who can show they don't smoke (or are in a smoking ceasation program), next step is probably banning smoking within a year or two.
> 
> That pipe looks almost exactly like a Stanwell that I have (a dedicated Lakeland pipe). Nice pipe!


I'm a science teacher, and if I didn't have a touch of snuff or a bowl of a good English blend on the way to work some days, my students might not survive!

I foresee health insurance eventually becoming a polyglot of rules and practices, with a sliding scale for premiums related to habits both good and bad. I figure with my workout regimen (I run marathons) I should still be in the black with my piping! 

And as to the tsuge, it is a loaner that I've been assessing. Nice pipe - I will probably pick one up myself eventually.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Desertlifter said:


> I foresee health insurance eventually becoming a polyglot of rules and practices, with a sliding scale for premiums related to habits both good and bad. I figure with my workout regimen (I run marathons) I should still be in the black with my piping!


I wish you could offset smoking with active lifestyle in the mind of all insurers, but unfortunately that has not been my experience. I ran 3 ultras last year (including a 100 miler in Nov.), had a physical with perfect cholesterol, BP, and weight scores... and I was still forced to pay an $80 a month penalty for my tobacco use. "Forced" perhaps isn't the right word since you have to volunteer the fact that you smoke (we aren't subjected to nicotine screenings), but I can't see myself lying about something like that.


----------



## OnePyroTec

Started my morning with a nice hour drive & a MM Legend cob full of Nosferatu.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> I wish you could offset smoking with active lifestyle in the mind of all insurers...


One really shouldn't even have to do that with pipe smoking. Health problems don't seem to correlate to pipe smoking the way they do with cigarette smoking, but I figure they'll just dredge us up with the nicotine tests like dolphins getting caught in the tuna nets.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> One really shouldn't even have to do that with pipe smoking. Health problems don't seem to correlate to pipe smoking the way they do with cigarette smoking, but I figure they'll just dredge us up with the nicotine tests like dolphins getting caught in the tuna nets.


Just show them the US Surgeon General's report from 1964. Here's something interesting regarding mortality rates for non-inhaling cigar and pipe smokers:

For cigar smokers (current and ex-smokers) in the 25-state study 19 percent stated that they inhaled to some extent. *The mortality ratio is 0.89 for non-inhalers *and 1.37 for inhalers. The latter increase of 37 percent (based on 91 deaths) is statistically significant, but as the data have not been subclassified by amount of smoking the result may be partially a reflection of the increase in death rates noted in Table 4 for heavy cigar smokers. In the Canadian study, 13 percent of the cigar smokers classified themselves as inhalers, but the number of deaths is insufficient to present a breakdown of the mortality ratio by inhalation status. Among the pipe smokers there were 28 percent who inhaled in the U.S. study and 18 percent in the Canadian study. *The U.S. mortality ratios are 0.8 for non-inhalers* and 1.0 for inhalers; the Canadian data contain too few deaths to allow a breakdown by inhalation.​
Full report can be read here: Reports of the Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service | SurgeonGeneral.gov (link to '64 report is at the bottom of the list)

We non-inhaling pipers live longer than non-smokers. At least according to our Surgeon General. :biggrin:


----------



## Mante

ProbateGeek said:


> Just show them the US Surgeon General's report from 1964. Here's something interesting regarding mortality rates for non-inhaling cigar and pipe smokers:
> 
> For cigar smokers (current and ex-smokers) in the 25-state study 19 percent stated that they inhaled to some extent. *The mortality ratio is 0.89 for non-inhalers *and 1.37 for inhalers. The latter increase of 37 percent (based on 91 deaths) is statistically significant, but as the data have not been subclassified by amount of smoking the result may be partially a reflection of the increase in death rates noted in Table 4 for heavy cigar smokers. In the Canadian study, 13 percent of the cigar smokers classified themselves as inhalers, but the number of deaths is insufficient to present a breakdown of the mortality ratio by inhalation status. Among the pipe smokers there were 28 percent who inhaled in the U.S. study and 18 percent in the Canadian study. *The U.S. mortality ratios are 0.8 for non-inhalers* and 1.0 for inhalers; the Canadian data contain too few deaths to allow a breakdown by inhalation.​
> Full report can be read here: Reports of the Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service | SurgeonGeneral.gov (link to '64 report is at the bottom of the list)
> 
> We non-inhaling pipers live longer than non-smokers. At least according to our Surgeon General. :biggrin:


:r Now that is some good news, thankyou Terry as I will refer to this as required reading before I debate another anti cigar/pipe person. :thumb:


----------



## steinr1

Jeff10236 said:


> I am a special ed teacher...


Well off thread, but what sort of Special Ed teacher are you? I've got an autistic son and special ed is consequently a bit of an "interest" for me. What's provision like in the US for autism?

And now back on thread...

GH Best Brown Flake in a knocked about Ropp Montagnarde.

View attachment 75656


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> One really shouldn't even have to do that with pipe smoking. Health problems don't seem to correlate to pipe smoking the way they do with cigarette smoking, but I figure they'll just dredge us up with the nicotine tests like dolphins getting caught in the tuna nets.


That's what I'm afraid will occur eventually with my insurer. I had to report it for my life policy as well since I was tested for nicotine during that examination. Oh well. out:

:focus:

Some pistachio topped Burley in a Dr. Grabow for breakfast


----------



## Mante

Tobias Lutz said:


> That's what I'm afraid will occur eventually with my insurer. I had to report it for my life policy as well since I was tested for nicotine during that examination. Oh well. out:


That right there is a tragedy. When I applied for health insurance here they asked the ever present question "Do you smoke & how many?". I said I smoke the occasional cigar & pipe. The interviewers reply? "Ok, that would be a NO"! That is how it should be understood but alas the world is turning to crap & common sense has been left in the gutter.


----------



## Jeff10236

So, today is a snow day and we are off, so I can have a rare weekday smoke. I'm not sure what I'm going to pick, but it will definitely be a 4noggins blend (I'm in the mood for something flavorful but mild, and that defines many 4noggins blends). Most likely it will be one of their aros I haven't tried yet or some Bald Headed Teacher.



Desertlifter said:


> I'm a science teacher, and if I didn't have a touch of snuff or a bowl of a good English blend on the way to work some days, my students might not survive!


Yeah, it is a high stress job and anything to lower it is a good thing (heck, smoking a pipe probably _lowers_ my chances of a heart attack due to the relaxation value  ). Anyway, I work for a non-public which is affiliated with a hospital (I have to be careful not to give more identifying info), we are non-union and we don't get a contract (we are "at will" employees). Many hospitals are going to no-smoking (even in your off hours) rules, backed up with testing, and I think that is where we are going. As for the specific no smelling like smoke thing, I'm looking forward to getting another job with my employer in admin where I'm not working with students, or a job with the public schools, at least partially so I can smoke in the morning on my way to work.

It is interesting to reflect upon how much times have changed. In 1983-85 I went to a private middle school. I was on the school's coed softball team (we were a very small private school, several schools in the same size range put together a softball league so we had to field a softball team instead of a baseball team unless we wanted to try to compete with schools many times our size). Our coach would smoke his pipe during practices and even while driving the team to and from games in the school bus. I'd not only be fired if I did something like this, I'm sure my employer would try to find a way to get the state to rescind my teaching license (certification).


----------



## freestoke

Tashaz said:


> :r Now that is some good news, thankyou Terry as I will refer to this as required reading before I debate another anti cigar/pipe person. :thumb:


I actually read some of that last year. My fuzzy recollection of a different set of numbers in another referenced study came up with cigarettes smokers with a life expectancy of something like 74.x, non-smokers at 76.x and pipe smokers at 77.x. (Just relative numbers, can't remember the actual figures.) I suspect that pipe smokers are both a little better off financially in general than the population as a whole, which is a big determinant, combined with the fact that pipe smokers are so much smarter than ordinary people (another big determinant -- smart people live longer and have better teeth). I can't imagine that pipe smoking is actually good for you, but who cares, I still I love the stats! :biglaugh: Every bit as laden with schadenfreude as people who don't drink at all dying off at a faster rate than people who have a few drinks a day, which goes to show that a little booze with that bowl of tobacco does wonders for body and soul alike. p :beerchug:


----------



## Jeff10236

steinr1 said:


> Well off thread, but what sort of Special Ed teacher are you? I've got an autistic son and special ed is consequently a bit of an "interest" for me. What's provision like in the US for autism?
> 
> And now back on thread...
> 
> GH Best Brown Flake in a knocked about Ropp Montagnarde.


My certification is in social studies and in "mild to moderate disabilities" so I can teach students who are on the Autism spectrum who are high functioning, students with mild intellectual disabilities (used to be called mental retardation), students with learning disabilities (LD) or emotional disabilities (ED), and students with TBI (traumatic brain injury) and other OHI (other health impairments). With my social studies certification I can also teach non-special education students, but social studies jobs are few and far between. I'm more expert in ED (most of my students are emotionally disabled) and LD (I myself have dyslexia) than Autism, but I find the Autistic students to be the easiest and most interesting to work with.

As for the second part of your question about "provisions" for special ed in the U.S., that is a tough question.

In many (most?) other countries, including I believe in the UK, education is pretty centralized. The national government has a lot of power and control over education and educational policies. Here, education historically has been a state and local obligation. Until the 1950's the federal government was completely removed from education altogether. Due to federalism it cannot take over education outright here. There are a few federal laws like IDEA and ADA which help protect students with disabilities, but mostly, the federal government has to dangle money at the states with strings attached when it wants to effect educational policy.

Because education here is so decentralized, it is hard to say "this is how it works here". One school district within the same state may be much different in quality and policies than another in the same state, let alone across the country. There are certain minimums (like those provided by federal disability/special education laws), and because there are different programs which tend to gain popularity at different times (often driven by research) there is more similarity than the decentralization may suggest. By and large, students with more mild disabilities are put in "inclusive" classrooms these days. They are put in "regular" classes with either a special education teacher in the room with the regular ed teacher, or a special ed teacher available to consult with the teacher. Though, for students whose disabilities make it difficult for them to learn in that situation, or who are too disruptive, there are more intensive programs available (ranging from programs like mine where students are in some self-contained/disability only classrooms and some regular classrooms, to all self-contained, to programs which have restraints and "quiet rooms" for students who need that level of intervention).

Now, as for your tobacco selection, I haven't had my morning smoke yet (I'm about to head out now), and some GH/Lakelands for a nice winter morning (OK, a wet rainy style winter snow) sounds pretty good. You might have changed my mind about the 4noggins options.


----------



## steinr1

Jeff10236 said:


> My certification is in social studies and in "mild to moderate disabilities" so I can teach students who are on the Autism spectrum who are high functioning, students with mild intellectual disabilities (used to be called mental retardation), students with learning disabilities (LD) or emotional disabilities (ED), and students with TBI (traumatic brain injury) and other OHI (other health impairments). With my social studies certification I can also teach non-special education students, but social studies jobs are few and far between. I'm more expert in ED (most of my students are emotionally disabled) and LD (I myself have dyslexia) than Autism, but I find the Autistic students to be the easiest and most interesting to work with.
> 
> As for the second part of your question about "provisions" for special ed in the U.S., that is a tough question.
> 
> In many (most?) other countries, including I believe in the UK, education is pretty centralized. The national government has a lot of power and control over education and educational policies. Here, education historically has been a state and local obligation. Until the 1950's the federal government was completely removed from education altogether. Due to federalism it cannot take over education outright here. There are a few federal laws like IDEA and ADA which help protect students with disabilities, but mostly, the federal government has to dangle money at the states with strings attached when it wants to effect educational policy.
> 
> Because education here is so decentralized, it is hard to say "this is how it works here". One school district within the same state may be much different in quality and policies than another in the same state, let alone across the country. There are certain minimums (like those provided by federal disability/special education laws), and because there are different programs which tend to gain popularity at different times (often driven by research) there is more similarity than the decentralization may suggest. By and large, students with more mild disabilities are put in "inclusive" classrooms these days. They are put in "regular" classes with either a special education teacher in the room with the regular ed teacher, or a special ed teacher available to consult with the teacher. Though, for students whose disabilities make it difficult for them to learn in that situation, or who are too disruptive, there are more intensive programs available (ranging from programs like mine where students are in some self-contained/disability only classrooms and some regular classrooms, to all self-contained, to programs which have restraints and "quiet rooms" for students who need that level of intervention).
> 
> Now, as for your tobacco selection, I haven't had my morning smoke yet (I'm about to head out now), and some GH/Lakelands for a nice winter morning (OK, a wet rainy style winter snow) sounds pretty good. You might have changed my mind about the 4noggins options.


ED specialist (to some degree, you say...). Tough area to manage.

Mainstream inclusion as much as is possible is the goal in the UK as well. And we're sort of decentralised as well as regards provision, if not policy. The Local Education Authorities run the state schools. We're just in the process of setting up our son with his next school (transition from Primary to Secondary at age 11) and we've lucked out as the local Secondary he would have gone to if he were "normal" (the style with UK ASD parents is to refer to "the other kids" as "Normals") has just added an ASD unit with all sorts of fancy stuff (separate facilities, quiet rooms, sensory room, etc. And a trained SEN TEACHER) this year. Sam's really excited about going (he's got a good amount of spoken language - pretty high functioning in general) - mostly, I feel because the special area is GREEN. I've got a large collection of entirely green paintings from when he was very young. It does sound like the way things operate is roughly the same "at the coalface" in the US and UK - it's then "just" about funding. Things are obviously never as good in that respect as anyone would like...

I can recommend the Lakeland route for this time of year, the creamy Lakeland essence (that's how I perceive it) matches the weather well. Best Brown Flake is a bit "Meh" n my opinion. Nothing wrong with it, just not exciting. I'm off to cut the lawn - first of the year - so more of this will provide the unchallenging backdrop.


----------



## freestoke

Thaw warnings are out! Threats of sunshine and warm air masses. The snowmobilers are grinding their teeth and wringing their hands in horror and dismay! :banana: I'll just have a bowl of FVF to celebrate -- and more coffee. :cp


----------



## Jeff10236

freestoke said:


> Thaw warnings are out! Threats of sunshine and warm air masses. The snowmobilers are grinding their teeth and wringing their hands in horror and dismay! :banana: I'll just have a bowl of FVF to celebrate -- and more coffee. :cp


I love winter weather myself. So far this year we haven't really had a good snow, even this one which was supposed to be huge has been mostly rain so far. That said, I am more than ready for motorcycle weather to begin (I've been able to go out on a limited basis a couple times this winter, but I'm ready to be able to take my bike out whenever and as long as I want).


----------



## Jeff10236

Oh, morning smoke: Ennerdale in a cheap Dr. Grabow Grand Duke.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> I actually read some of that last year. My fuzzy recollection of a different set of numbers in another referenced study came up with cigarettes smokers with a life expectancy of something like 74.x, non-smokers at 76.x and pipe smokers at 77.x. (Just relative numbers, can't remember the actual figures.) I suspect that pipe smokers are both a little better off financially in general than the population as a whole, which is a big determinant, combined with the fact that pipe smokers are so much smarter than ordinary people (another big determinant -- smart people live longer and have better teeth). I can't imagine that pipe smoking is actually good for you, but who cares, I still I love the stats! :biglaugh: Every bit as laden with schadenfreude as people who don't drink at all dying off at a faster rate than people who have a few drinks a day, which goes to show that a little booze with that bowl of tobacco does wonders for body and soul alike. p :beerchug:


I recall reading that the lower mortality rates for non-inhaling pipers had something to do with the relief of stress, another killer among the many things that can kill us. But for you, Jim, a warning: I also recall that the lower mortality rate for pipers did NOT apply to those who combine alcohol with their smoking (I won't bring that up in conversation with the enemy, though). I guess it's a good thing for you that Old Milwaukee may not qualify as actual alcohol, huh? :tongue1:


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> But for you, Jim, a warning: I also recall that the lower mortality rate for pipers did NOT apply to those who combine alcohol with their smoking (I won't bring that up in conversation with the enemy, though). I guess it's a good thing for you that *Old Milwaukee may not qualify as actual alcohol,* huh? :tongue1:


Had me worried there for a second, Terry. Luckily, Old Mil isn't even considered beer! :tu

I put some PA in the Country Gentleman, hoping the brief exposure to 1Q last night didn't ruin it. Seems okay. p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Six weeks ago and I was dealing with temperatures below zero. 

It's still the first week of March, and it's a glorious sunny warm day outside. The thermometer in the shade reads 55 deg, and the one in the sun reads 83 Deg! Unseasonably wonderful!

I'm heading out to the porch with the hounddog and a MM full of London Mixture.


----------



## OnePyroTec

Started my morning driving through a snow storm that is not supposed to be here until tomorrow :ask: enjoying a pipe full of some well aged Finck's value blend. (virginia & burley)


----------



## steinr1

Warrior Plug in a delicate Ropp Bussang Cherrywood and horn pipe.

View attachment 75671


I just lightly restore my pipes; I don't attempt to remove too much material or alter their appearance with dyes and filler if possible. This one dates from the 1880s-90s and I don't think a 125 year old pipe should look new (unless it is unused).

First smoke of a full bowl lasted a scant half hour and burned right through without relight; just a little bit of gurgle at first which resolved about a third of the way down. I can see myself smoking this pipe a lot. It has a more sophisticated drilling pattern and stem end than most of this brand and it seems to work well.


----------



## TTecheTTe

steinr1 said:


> Warrior Plug in a delicate Ropp Bussang Cherrywood and horn pipe.
> 
> View attachment 75671
> 
> 
> I just lightly restore my pipes; I don't attempt to remove too much material or alter their appearance with dyes and filler if possible. This one dates from the 1880s-90s and I don't think a 125 year old pipe should look new (unless it is unused).
> 
> First smoke of a full bowl lasted a scant half hour and burned right through without relight; just a little bit of gurgle at first which resolved about a third of the way down. I can see myself smoking this pipe a lot. It has a more sophisticated drilling pattern and stem end than most of this brand and it seems to work well.


That is stunning. FMOTT in a cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A bowl of Golden Dansk in a MM for breakfast.

I got to my office and was pleasantly suprised by one of my staff who brought me a briar Yellowbole Checker she found at a Goodwill store. After a couple salt treatments it looks to be a nice knockaround pipe :whoo: I love thoughtful people.


----------



## freestoke

Your putting these cherrywood pipe pics up makes me remember Mincer's Pipe Shop. They had Ropp cherrywood pipes and I'm pretty sure I bought one. Weren't they inexpensive pipes? Hard to remember, but I don't think I''d have paid much for a cherrywood pipe when I was in college. Didn't have a fancy stem, but I'm fairly certain it was a Ropp. 

Hitting the ground running this morning with bowl of PA/Happy Bogie and some Columbian fresh-ground. (Among the more curious spelchek failures is "Columbian". How can that word be missing, Christopher Columbus and all that? It can spell "Columbia", why not "Columbian"? The spelcheker really baffles me sometimes. And, no, I refuse to add to the dictionary on principle.)


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Your putting these cherrywood pipe pics up makes me remember Mincer's Pipe Shop. They had Ropp cherrywood pipes and I'm pretty sure I bought one. Weren't they inexpensive pipes? Hard to remember, but I don't think I''d have paid much for a cherrywood pipe when I was in college. Didn't have a fancy stem, but I'm fairly certain it was a Ropp.
> 
> Hitting the ground running this morning with bowl of PA/Happy Bogie and some Columbian fresh-ground. (Among the more curious spelchek failures is "Columbian". How can that word be missing, Christopher Columbus and all that? It can spell "Columbia", why not "Columbian"? The spelcheker really baffles me sometimes. And, no, I refuse to add to the dictionary on principle.)


The Ropp Cherrywoods were very inexpensive pipes in their day. And extremely common, ubiquitous even, in the Cherrywood genre. I believe that in the 1960s they were about $1.50-$2.00 for the more common ones. Up to an incredible $5 or so for the larger and more fancy ones. And remember that large means LARGE in this case. The approx 15" "Churchwarden" was by no means the largest. Just got one of these for a friend who would otherwise buy some crappy LOTR type pipe - About $20 delivered. I'm obviously overpaying...


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> The Ropp Cherrywoods were very inexpensive pipes in their day. And extremely common, ubiquitous even, in the Cherrywood genre. I believe that in the 1960s they were about $1.50-$2.00 for the more common ones. Up to an incredible $5 or so for the larger and more fancy ones. And remember that large means LARGE in this case. The approx 15" "Churchwarden" was by no means the largest. Just got one of these for a friend who would otherwise buy some crappy LOTR type pipe - About $20 delivered. I'm obviously overpaying...


Yep, I seem to remember some of them being on cards, but maybe that was only the corncobs. (Mincer had everything.) The were hanging on the walls/racks, though, rather than sitting comfortably on the display shelves with the briars and meerschaums.

Got some coins of Happy Bogie ready to slip into Prince Albert's purse and spend them at the 4Dot. p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm heading out to a warm, sunny porch with a bowl of Billy Budd in a cob.


----------



## freestoke

A flake of Erinmore in the Country Gentleman. Dessert after the Happy Bogie. p


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## Latakius Vituscan

steinr1 said:


> GH Best Brown Flake in a knocked about Ropp Montagnarde.
> 
> View attachment 75656


What a fine looking old Ropp Montagnarde, Robert!

GL Pease Lagonda in a Will Purdy.


WillPurdyCherry_L by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Your putting these cherrywood pipe pics up makes me remember Mincer's Pipe Shop. They had Ropp cherrywood pipes and I'm pretty sure I bought one. Weren't they inexpensive pipes? Hard to remember, but I don't think I''d have paid much for a cherrywood pipe when I was in college. Didn't have a fancy stem, but I'm fairly certain it was a Ropp.
> 
> Hitting the ground running this morning with bowl of PA/Happy Bogie and some Columbian fresh-ground. (Among the more curious spelchek failures is "Columbian". How can that word be missing, Christopher Columbus and all that? It can spell "Columbia", why not "Columbian"? The spelcheker really baffles me sometimes. And, no, I refuse to add to the dictionary on principle.)


This "Columbian" coffee you're always drinking, Jim? Is it, by any chance, produced in British Columbia? Or closer to your home, in the District of Columbia? Or, perhaps, grown in the high altitude and tropical climate of Columbus, Ohio? If not, I'm betting it's Colombian, as in the South American country, with an "o". Your spell check might prefer that, in any event.

C&D Habana Daydream this morning in a Country Gent. Far from my favorite, but it is tasty and burns quite well.


----------



## steinr1

Latakius Vituscan said:


> What a fine looking old Ropp Montagnarde, Robert!
> 
> GL Pease Lagonda in a Will Purdy.


Given your standards, I take that as a real compliment.

But...

Not so fantastic were the picture taken from the other side. :lol: It's got quite a big chunk of briar missing. Looks to me like a hidden flaw broke away or maybe some filler fell out. Manufacturers of factory pipes were a lot less fussy in "the good old days" about fills. Hard to say the age of this one, but I'm guessing 1940s when there was a shortage of decent briar. They made these from the 20s to 80s (I think) albeit with acrylic bits in the later years. This one is earlyish as is is marked "Racine de Vielle Souche" ("old stump root"). Later ones lacked this mark (and are made of inferior wood - albeit probably without the fills). It does smoke like a dream despite the damage. Sad to say that with upwards of 400 Ropp pipes in my collection (lost count ages ago), I tend to smoke the knocked about ones more than the more perfect examples. Nerd (Geek? Not sure which applies.).

And that is one fine looking "Cherrywood Poker". I assume it's actually briar.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> This "Columbian" coffee you're always drinking, Jim? Is it, by any chance, produced in British Columbia? Or closer to your home, in the District of Columbia? Or, perhaps, grown in the high altitude and tropical climate of Columbus, Ohio? If not, I'm betting it's Colombian, as in the South American country, with an "o". Your spell check might prefer that, in any event.
> 
> C&D Habana Daydream this morning in a Country Gent. Far from my favorite, but it is tasty and burns quite well.


:biglaugh: "Every spelling flame contains a *mispelled *word." Ranks right in there with Godwin's Law. :lol:

Col*o*mbian it is! :tu


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A bowl of PA in a Medico Double-Dri and some decaf Starbucks. Cheers


----------



## freestoke

The Darth Rader with PA and a cup of *Colombian*! yo:, Terry.)

One of the worst things happening in professional sports these days is the sudden emergence of Donald Trump into the famous golf course world -- he's buying them all. This might be okay, but he's decided to redesign them all. That might be marginally okay, but now we have to hear him talk everywhere he owns the course the pros are playing! Not that I'm even an elitist, being a publinx player my whole life, but it's somehow sad that Pine Valley, the golf club that made Augusta National look like it had a wide open admissions policy, now belongs to Trump; they had 100 members pre-Trump, now Trump trumpets that, "There's a waiting list!" There was a waiting list when there were 100 members, Donald. Makes it sound like YEARS, and Trump figures he can bring in the bulldozers and fix it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Valley_Golf_Club

People who can misrepresent the truth like that, almost instinctively it seems, are always "successful", even when they are complete screw-ups. My picks for the three biggest factors in economic success are:

1. Ordinary intelligence (a shade on the stupid side is best) and limited education.
2. Total confidence that one is above average, being to stupid to realize one's own inferiority, and too ill-informed to recognize one's errors.
3. Unflinching dishonesty, self-absorbed ruthlessness and confidence that one never makes a mistake.

Trump hammers the big three! :lol:


----------



## Blue Raccoon

there's some damn fine coffee to be found in *COLUMBUS, OH*


----------



## freestoke

Blue Raccoon said:


> there's some damn fine coffee to be found in *COLUMBUS, OH*


Good bottom land coffee, down by the river. :tu


----------



## Kevin Keith

Viking with Dublin bowl loaded with Sugar Barrel. Community Club Breakfast Blend...not bad.


----------



## freestoke

Damn, I piddled too long making changes! Trump said, "They only had a hundred members, now there's a waiting list!" Donald, there were 953 members, according to the wiki, and there was already a waiting list. No wait, there WAS no waiting list, because new members were picked by the committee and invited to be members one at a time, so bragging that he created a "waiting list" is tantamount to claiming that he was able improve things so much that people were finally wanting to go play it. Man, what a bozo! :tsk:

And I wanted to say it had been ranked the #1 course in the US for YEARS, and he thinks he's so good that he can improve it by virtue of his own golfing genius. Disgusting.


----------



## freestoke

freestoke said:


> Damn, I piddled too long making changes! Trump said, "They only had a hundred members, now there's a waiting list!" Donald, there were 953 members, according to the wiki, and there was already a waiting list. No wait, there WAS no waiting list, because new members were picked by the committee and invited to be members one at a time, so bragging that he created a "waiting list" is tantamount to claiming that he was able improve things so much that people were finally wanting to go play it. Man, what a bozo! :tsk:
> 
> And I wanted to say it had been ranked the #1 course in the US for YEARS, and he thinks he's so good that he can improve it by virtue of his own golfing genius. Disgusting.


I have to add that Trump seems to be above financial reality. I've read more than one article about him that claim he is MASSIVELY in the hole, like billions in the bucket, his properties and projects so far under water that there's really no hope. Why do people keep giving him money? :dunno:

And now I've double posted.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> The Darth Rader with PA and a cup of *Colombian*! yo:, Terry.)
> 
> One of the worst things happening in professional sports these days is the sudden emergence of Donald Trump into the famous golf course world -- he's buying them all. This might be okay, but he's decided to redesign them all. That might be marginally okay, but now we have to hear him talk everywhere he owns the course the pros are playing! Not that I'm even an elitist, being a publinx player my whole life, but it's somehow sad that Pine Valley, the golf club that made Augusta National look like it had a wide open admissions policy, now belongs to Trump; they had 100 members pre-Trump, now Trump trumpets that, "There's a waiting list!" There was a waiting list when there were 100 members, Donald. Makes it sound like YEARS, and Trump figures he can bring in the bulldozers and fix it. Pine Valley Golf Club - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> People who can misrepresent the truth like that, almost instinctively it seems, are always "successful", even when they are complete screw-ups. My picks for the three biggest factors in economic success are:
> 
> 1. Ordinary intelligence (a shade on the stupid side is best) and limited education.
> 2. Total confidence that one is above average, being to stupid to realize one's own inferiority, and too ill-informed to recognize one's errors.
> 3. Unflinching dishonesty, self-absorbed ruthlessness and confidence that one never makes a mistake.
> 
> Trump hammers the big three! :lol:


The Elephant in the Room when discussing our Donny is his Barnet. Hair like that indicates a lack of reality that beggars belief. And astounding arrogance in thinking that no-one will dare to mention it. I look forward to an opportunity to set him straight.


----------



## Nachman

Kevin Keith said:


> Viking with Dublin bowl loaded with Sugar Barrel. Community Club Breakfast Blend...not bad.


Hey Kevin, We are glad to see you trumpeting the virtues of Sugar Barrel.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

C&D Opening Night in a Worobiec 500-4.


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake in the Sav Venezia - perfection. Plus a little Peet's French Roast, black, and my Friday is off to a good start.


----------



## steinr1

Brown Bogie Rum in the tiny Ropp Prince, then Louisiana Flake in the ancient Barling. It's been a couple of days since I've had that faithful combination.


----------



## tso-giannis

Hello everybody!
Just mixed some virginia with burley and BASMAS (a greek oriental tobacco)
Smoking it in a cigaret right now, and getting ready to fill it in a group 1 Dunhill prince pipe!


----------



## Blue Raccoon

freestoke said:


> Good bottom land coffee, down by the river. :tu


Coffee


----------



## Mycroft Holmes

Well, it's still morning here in Washington State and I'm currently standing here with fellow form Brother, Aquinas. We're currently enjoying bowls of McCelland's 3 Oaks Syrian and its quite a nice blend. Though I was expecting a harder hit of Lat, I'm actually really enjoying the smoothness of this smoke. Very reminiscent of the original Frog Morton.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

SG Best Brown Flake in a Caminetto.


Caminetto by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## TTecheTTe

Ahh, more good reasons why I am here! opcorn:

Trying to smoke some wet FVF in my little Apple briar...


----------



## freestoke

Blue Raccoon said:


> Coffee


I used to buy fair trade coffee and it was really good, but a bit pricey. This site doesn't seem to be fair trade, but the prices are about the same. Wonder if they're just pocketing the difference. :spy: Maybe I missed the reference. :dunno:


----------



## freestoke

The MM Diplomat (which is really an apple shape :smile gets the call this morning. Another fresh load of PA from the tub and an extra hour of afternoon to look forward to!


----------



## Chris0673

It is a beautiful morning so I filled up my pipe with some FM On the Bayou and grabbed a cuppa. About halfway through my youngest came outside to sit with me. He asked if he could have some coffee (he's four) so I got his Elmo mug and put some warm water in it. He sat outside with me and we had a cuppa together while I finished my pipe! These are the things I will always remember....


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Chris0673 said:


> It is a beautiful morning so I filled up my pipe with some FM On the Bayou and grabbed a cuppa. About halfway through my youngest came outside to sit with me. He asked if he could have some coffee (he's four) so I got his Elmo mug and put some warm water in it. He sat outside with me and we had a cuppa together while I finished my pipe! These are the things I will always remember....


What a rich and lucky man you are, Chris!

It's a dark, rainy and beautiful Northwest morning here on the Olympic Peninsula. About half way through the first pot of French-Press Dungeness Dark coffee and smoking Hearth & Home Marquee Black House with a pinch of Syrian Latakia in a Worobiec Gdanska.


WOROBIEC GDAŃSKA by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Pa in a MM cob.


----------



## Blue Raccoon

freestoke said:


> I used to buy fair trade coffee and it was really good, but a bit pricey. This site doesn't seem to be fair trade, but the prices are about the same. Wonder if they're just pocketing the difference. :spy: Maybe I missed the reference. :dunno:


look at the top of each blend.. most of the Organics are, you just need to look at each one. everything is roasted on site. I've been going since they opened in '87 probably avg once a week.


----------



## freestoke

Blue Raccoon said:


> look at the top of each blend.. most of the Organics are, you just need to look at each one. everything is roasted on site. I've been going since they opened in '87 probably avg once a week.


Just some unfair coffee this morning, but I'm thinking about Ethiopian. Basic PA in the basic 4Dot, thinking dark thoughts about the permanent cloud cover over the Mohawk Valley, where less direct sunlight falls than anywhere on the North American continent. (Fact, not fancy.) Kinda wanted to see comet Pan-STARRS, but it doesn't look like a clear sky until maybe next Saturday, when it will be almost "outa here".


----------



## kft22

Good morning all! Just registered for the site, and smoked my first pipe just a few days ago. This morning, I had a half bowl of Scotty's Butternut Burley in a Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## freestoke

A very nice aromatic, Butternut Burley. Went through something like a half pound of it a few years back. On an Erinmore bender this morning, working on my second musketball.


----------



## ProbateGeek

kft22 said:


> Good morning all! Just registered for the site, and smoked my first pipe just a few days ago. This morning, I had a half bowl of Scotty's Butternut Burley in a Dr. Grabow Omega.


Welcome, Keith. When you get around to having the other half of the bowl, enjoy!

1792 Flake in the Jobey Tortoise for this morning's commute.










This pipe (newish to me) smokes well enough, but gives the 1792 a bit of heat that I've noticed in none of my other pipes. Wonder why that might be...


----------



## freestoke

Ugly pipes smoke hot, by and large. You and Latakius have my sympathy. 

More Erinmore Flake in more cob. Beauty is only stem deep.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

kft22 said:


> Good morning all! Just registered for the site, and smoked my first pipe just a few days ago. This morning, I had a half bowl of Scotty's Butternut Burley in a Dr. Grabow Omega.


Welcome to Puff.com, Keith!

GL Pease Westminster in a Pete Mark Twain.


DJ_Pete_Mark Twain by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## kft22

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!


----------



## Chris0673

It's pouring down rain outside and I don't have an awning. It's nice and warm but just too wet for smoking. Hope it clears up soon.


----------



## freestoke

Hmm...thought I had posted here earlier, but I seem to have forgotten to hit the submit button. My first pipe of the day was -- tada! -- some PA in the 4Dot.


----------



## Nachman

I smoked as close to an aromatic as I go this morning. Two Friends English Chocolate. Tastes like GLP Piccadilli with a light chocolate topping. Then I reamed out a couple of pipes.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Ennerdale Flake just doesn't do it for me like it used to - this morning's commute left me craving something like Irish Flake. 
Looks like I have lots of product for future batches of Barrister's Cut!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Bob's Chocolate Flake in a MM cob.

I just finished the bowl and it was wonderful. One of my all time favorites.

I'll go review it now for tobacco of the month.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

ProbateGeek said:


> Ennerdale Flake just doesn't do it for me like it used to - this morning's commute left me craving something like Irish Flake.
> Looks like I have lots of product for future batches of Barrister's Cut!


It's a mystery to me of why one tobacco tastes so good for quite a while, then, all of a sudden, not so much. Then, after a month, or two, or three, all of a sudden it tastes so fine again. GL Pease _Westminster_ was my favorite go-to tobacco for more than a year. Then my taste for it diminished for almost a year. Now, it has roared back with all of the wonder and joy it held back then.

This morning it's a bowl of HH Vintage Syrian in a Caminetto.


Caminetto Egg_DJ by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Wow! 

That's a beautiful pipe, DJ.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

El wedo del milagro said:


> Wow!
> 
> That's a beautiful pipe, DJ.


Thanks, Mark. I've had a soft spot in my hear for Caminetto pipes since first seeing them in the 1970's.


----------



## splattttttt

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Thanks, Mark. I've had a soft spot in my hear for Caminetto pipes since first seeing them in the 1970's.


I love the history behind this great brand. Typical Italian passion at play here.
Caminetto History at Smoking Pipes .com


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

splattttttt said:


> I love the history behind this great brand. Typical Italian passion at play here.
> Caminetto History at Smoking Pipes .com


Rarely a boring day with the passion of Italians around!

Love that story!


----------



## freestoke

FVF in the MM Diplomat. No coffee -- fasting for blood test for a doctor's visit Friday. Haven't had one in a couple of years. Hope I'm still holding up!

And this is the best smoke I've had in weeks. Sometimes the musketball is absolutely perfect.


----------



## freestoke

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Rarely a boring day with the passion of Italians around!
> 
> Love that story!


Always wondered where Radice was from! Now that I know he's Italian, and that it's RahDEEchay, I like the name better. (Even if I'm wrong and the accent is on the first syllable.)


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> FVF in the MM Diplomat. No coffee -- fasting for blood test for a doctor's visit Friday. Haven't had one in a couple of years. Hope I'm still holding up!
> 
> And this is the best smoke I've had in weeks. Sometimes the musketball is absolutely perfect.


hope the visit goes well Jim ( ; TY


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> hope the visit goes well Jim ( ; TY


Thanks, Jack. Took less than 10 minutes, from insurance card to adhesive tape. I'll have to wait until Friday to know what's what, but I haven't had the "normal" problems they look for in blood work so far, so I only have to do it every couple of years -- so far. Really frosts me how they run that scam, though. The machine they use can do dozens, if not hundreds, of different tests on one sample without any extra cost beyond printing the readings, but they mete out the results like people on a desert with one canteen between them.

Cleaned the 4Dot early this morning and it's smoking much better! I definitely need to be scolded about my pipetending.


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> Thanks, Jack. Took less than 10 minutes, from insurance card to adhesive tape. I'll have to wait until Friday to know what's what, but I haven't had the "normal" problems they look for in blood work so far, so I only have to do it every couple of years -- so far. Really frosts me how they run that scam, though. The machine they use can do dozens, if not hundreds, of different tests on one sample without any extra cost beyond printing the readings, but they mete out the results like people on a desert with one canteen between them.
> 
> Cleaned the 4Dot early this morning and it's smoking much better! *I definitely need to be scolded about my pipetending*.


You and me both. I reamed a Dublin the other day and now it holds twice as much tobacco. Such neglect.


----------



## Chris0673

Dang! Y'all just reminded me that I have to clean about six of my pipes! lol


----------



## steinr1

The tiny Ropp Prince I use for rope and plug tobaccos can no longer accept my tamper but it's NOT going to be reamed. Smokes superbly now. 

Used to be the fashion of the time when I started pipe smoking to allow your pipe to be very heavily caked. As small a tobacco space as possible. I don't remember anyone having problems because of it. My first pipe, an Alco, was getting along really well until a "friend" of mine decided to "help out" by cutting out all the cake. Bugger!


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> The tiny Ropp Prince I use for rope and plug tobaccos can no longer accept my tamper but it's NOT going to be reamed. Smokes superbly now.
> 
> Used to be the fashion of the time when I started pipe smoking to allow your pipe to be very heavily caked. As small a tobacco space as possible. I don't remember anyone having problems because of it. My first pipe, an Alco, was getting along really well until a "friend" of mine decided to "help out" by cutting out all the cake. Bugger!


Not sure what the point of that is, except something (not) to do to pass the time. Do you really WANT an ever-smaller tobacco chamber? Unless you've decided to wean yourself of this precious nectar-leaf...?


----------



## Chris0673

You know...I've seen pipes at antique shops that had so much cake there was hardly room for tobacco! I mean, we're talking a hole you could barely fit a toothpick in! What is the purpose of this I ask? You'd need a jackhammer to clean all that cake out! Wish I'd have bought it though...it was a good looking pipe...just needed some TLC.


----------



## splattttttt

wadded up paper towel for reaming every five bowls or so. Fine Bourbon rinse Helps cure old fresh cake layer nicely. 
I do let cobs cake up gradually, though not purposely.

@ Jim *freestoke* it's offensive the way the medical system is allowed to manipulate their patients. Why the health insurance institute continues to jack~up our rates. And the government does nothing but side with them. Nice monopoly eh?


----------



## El wedo del milagro

1792 in a MM cob on the drive up the mountain to work.


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> @ Jim *freestoke* it's offensive the way the medical system is allowed to manipulate their patients. Why the health insurance institute continues to jack~up our rates. And the government does nothing but side with them. Nice monopoly eh?


Really, and we don't even get top notch medical care for our money, relative to the civilized world which pays about half what we do. I seem to recall us ranking about 34th in the world in the quality of our health care. Talk about no bang for the buck!

Smoking some Happy Bogie with a PA mixer. Nachman is definitely right about the Lakeland in HB, although I still can't find it myself. Last night, Audrey started stuffing up immediately and asked what I was smoking, so I abandoned it until this morning and fired up some straight PA. Very nice start to the day. Another half gallon of coffee should suffice.


----------



## steinr1

Chris0673 said:


> You know...I've seen pipes at antique shops that had so much cake there was hardly room for tobacco! I mean, we're talking a hole you could barely fit a toothpick in! What is the purpose of this I ask? You'd need a jackhammer to clean all that cake out! Wish I'd have bought it though...it was a good looking pipe...just needed some TLC.


I've never let one get quite that far, but a really god thick layer of cake (more than the recommended dime thickness) does seem to make the pipe "work" better. Maybe there is a risk of the bowl cracking, but it's never happened to me. The tiny pipe I have is barely larger than the diameter of my tamper even when reamed back to wood, so none of mine are THAT extreme (yet).

I did know one old experienced pipe smoker when I first started smoking who had a Falcon that was caked to the point where he would stuff in a pinch of tobacco, light, inhale and tap it out. Sometimes a second hit before it was all ash. He had to clear it by unscrewing the bowl and poking out the ash with a match. He seemed to like it. A lot of people seem to have smoked pipes in that state in the "good old days". Maybe it's related to the idea that pipe smoking was a "habit" back then, not a "hobby". Used as a quite normal way to get your nicotine fix and that's pretty much all. A really bunged up pipe that only smokes for a few minutes is probably a good thing for that.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Really, and we don't even get top notch medical care for our money, relative to the civilized world which pays about half what we do. I seem to recall us ranking about 34th in the world in the quality of our health care. Talk about no bang for the buck!


I know I'm in dangerous territory here and am likely to be branded a Communist (Although, intrinsically I've never seen a problem with that. It's just the reality of the implementation and the consequent perversion of the ideals that cause the trouble.)

Heath care provision in the US appears to be second to none. If you are properly insured or can otherwise afford it. If not, things are not quite so good and maybe this is what drags down the ranking. In the UK, we are starting to see the result of not fully funding the dental part of the National Health Service (something, thankfully, we can still take pretty much for granted). People with their teeth rotting out for want of having the wherewithal to pay. British health care may not be the best in the world but at least what there is is available to EVERYONE. People here like the NHS and want it maintained. But that costs. The problem is that political parties that say they will tax and spend don't get elected. The Labour Party suffered this for many years and only got elected when they downplayed it.

It's expected that people tend to have more "socially responsible" politics when they are young (and don't really need to pay for it.) Still a Socialist. I'm afraid that I'm too much of a "Communist" to simply say "I'm all right Jack"...


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> A lot of people seem to have smoked pipes in that state in the "good old days". Maybe it's related to the idea that pipe smoking was a "habit" back then, not a "hobby". Used as a quite normal way to get your nicotine fix and that's pretty much all. A really bunged up pipe that only smokes for a few minutes is probably a good thing for that.


My piping idol in college, a friend of my brothers, chain-smoked a Mincer's Special billiard (basket pipe), with straight cubed burley (think Edgeworth Ready Rubbed) from Mincer's Pipe Shop. He kept the interior only slightly larger than the pipe nail he tamped with. When my MM Diplomat would no longer accept my small wooden tamper and required a golf tee for tamping, I had to scrape it back, but once I did it I think it smoked better. Didn't use a reamer, though, just the pipe nail.

Just finished the big Falcon full of PA and Happy Bogie from last night, so I think I'll put a pinch of straight PA in the Diplomat, which has a chamber diameter now just a tad larger than a pipe nail. New snow, approaching 6 inches at this point, continues to fall -- but I don't care! I am NOT going to plow the driveway. We're going to the indoor range at the casino to strike a few at 3 this afternoon, so I'm going to pretend it's already spring.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> My piping idol in college, a friend of my brothers, chain-smoked a Mincer's Special billiard (basket pipe), with straight cubed burley (think Edgeworth Ready Rubbed) from Mincer's Pipe Shop.


Cubed? I'm thinking (hoping) it was chopped up Edgeworth Sliced in that case. That was TOBACCO. My personal favourite over many years. When I got back into pipe smoking, I used a pouch that had sat in a humidor for many years. It was superb. Then I found that the line was no longer produced. Bugger.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Cubed? I'm thinking (hoping) it was chopped up Edgeworth Sliced in that case. That was TOBACCO. My personal favourite over many years. When I got back into pipe smoking, I used a pouch that had sat in a humidor for many years. It was superb. Then I found that the line was no longer produced. Bugger.


My father eventually quit smoking anything but Edgeworth Ready Rubbed, so I kinda remember what that looked like, and the Mincer's burley I recall as being very similar. At the time, I was far too good for such rude tobaccos, preferring my Dunhill and Balkan Sobranie. College students always know best.


----------



## Nachman

My newly reamed Dublin is smoking sweeter now. When the cake was so thick it was getting bitter toward the bottom of the bowl. I could get the pipe nail about 3/4 of the way in before, now all the way to the bottom even though it has a pretty sharp conical shape to the chamber. Chelsea morning this AM.


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> I've never let one get quite that far, but a really god thick layer of cake (more than the recommended dime thickness) does seem to make the pipe "work" better. Maybe there is a risk of the bowl cracking, but it's never happened to me. The tiny pipe I have is barely larger than the diameter of my tamper even when reamed back to wood, so none of mine are THAT extreme (yet).
> 
> I did know one old experienced pipe smoker when I first started smoking who had a Falcon that was caked to the point where he would stuff in a pinch of tobacco, light, inhale and tap it out. Sometimes a second hit before it was all ash. He had to clear it by unscrewing the bowl and poking out the ash with a match. He seemed to like it. A lot of people seem to have smoked pipes in that state in the "good old days". Maybe it's related to the idea that pipe smoking was a "habit" back then, not a "hobby". Used as a quite normal way to get your nicotine fix and that's pretty much all. A really bunged up pipe that only smokes for a few minutes is probably a good thing for that.


Do I need to get my dad's pipe pic out again?


----------



## TTecheTTe

DGT'd FVF in my mini-CW. Looking at 4noggins for Tambo and Hal o'the Wind, due to 10% off special: In the checkout section of website use coupon code "mypipe" to receive discount through 3/20.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Robrert @steinr1 was it you that had given an excellent instruction on two finger "cupping" on a another thread? In my narcoleptic stupor I haven't been able to find the original post, but have been employing the newly learned technique with much success since that time. Since then, i've had nary a relight, and have found neven more relaxing and enjoyable pipe pleasure with longer smokes and fewer relaods. I've even been tamping more! My thanks to you, or whomever, for the invaluable lesson.

Smoking Pet Irish Flake in my 243, a nice gift with the pipe, and looking at buying it, my first Night Cap and Tambo (lovely bombs surely confirmed that choice.). Might even get a GLP.

G' morn to all!


----------



## steinr1

Desertlifter said:


> Do I need to get my dad's pipe pic out again?


Yep. A lesson and inspiration for us all.

I'm getting ready for some Black Bogie Aromatic in an unashamedly caked-up, un-reamed Ropp Prince.
@TTecheTTe 
Mari - Yes, I did post that; no idea where. A pretty common technique, I think. Gentlemen: Cup and cough.


----------



## TTecheTTe

steinr1 said:


> Yep. A lesson and inspiration for us all.
> 
> I'm getting ready for some Black Bogie Aromatic in an unashamedly caked-up, un-reamed Ropp Prince.


So, then it was your fine lesson in " cupping?". I thought I had recalled it so, but my photographic memory is no longer so compliant. About ready for some more Irish flake...


----------



## karatekyle

Today's breakfast was coffee and the rest of my bowl of Dunbar. The GBD is a wonderful pipe but it's wearing my jaw out!


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> Yep. A lesson and inspiration for us all.
> 
> I'm getting ready for some Black Bogie Aromatic in an unashamedly caked-up, un-reamed Ropp Prince.
> @TTecheTTe
> Mari - Yes, I did post that; no idea where. A pretty common technique, I think. Gentlemen: Cup and cough.


Blue Mountain in my Bjarne Saucer. Lovely stuff in a great pipe.










My dad's pipe - for the uninitiated - can only usually take a fleck or two of the Half-n-Half which he smokes exclusively. This is AFTER reaming it.


----------



## splattttttt

Now that's cake!


----------



## freestoke

So far, I've sloshed coffee on the kitchen floor twice and knocked the ashtray off the desk (luckily, right after emptying it). Maybe I shouldn't leave the house today! The coffee's good as I burn some PA in the Darth Rader for my first pipe. Temps below average for a week into the future, but that's fine with me. Don't want a repeat of last year, with everything flowering and budding about now, only to get slammed with 10* weather that killed everything. (For those interested, it was the 10th biggest US weather disaster of 2012, in a year of pretty expensive weather.)

At least you don't have to worry about having your cake and eating it too, Brian.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake in a MM cob while driving up the mountain to work.

I smoked a bowl of 1792 in this cob a half a dozen bowls ago and I can still barely taste it.:???:


----------



## karatekyle

Had a bowl of EMP in my little Gp2 Sas Windsor. Had a little snow falling while I smoked, not enough to warrant a coat luckily.


----------



## TTecheTTe

C&D Bow-legged Bear in my MM bent Diplomat.

Ruminating over my next TAD and really wishing BLB came in bulk!  Finally going to get some KK, RY and Nightcap.  Also going over to 4nogs for Tambo and their Bald Headed Teacher, for which I've heard so much talk (there's another, but can't remember the name if someone can remind me).

Apparently, there is a "cool kids" club. Never been a joiner, but am considering membership.


----------



## Mante

It's evening right now not morning! :anim_soapbox::nod::biggrin:

Some Frog OTT is smoking a treat this evening as is the last of the LNF.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Tashaz said:


> It's evening right now not morning! :anim_soapbox::nod::biggrin:
> 
> Some Frog OTT is smoking a treat this evening as is the last of the LNF.


Then what in Sam Hill are 'ya doin in here?! Mmmm, think I'll have me some FMOTT now...


----------



## Mante

TTecheTTe said:


> Then what in Sam Hill are 'ya doin in here?! Mmmm, think I'll have me some FMOTT now...


Disturbing ya'll for the sake of it maybe? :biggrin:

Sam Cro BTW.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Tashaz said:


> Disturbing ya'll for the sake of it maybe? :biggrin:
> 
> Sam Cro BTW.


Spelling -10 (contraction of "you all" is correctly spelled Y'ALL, y'all); normally that would be -2, but there is an 8 point penalty for doing it to a Texan.

Sam "Cro?" Must be a "down-under" thing... :cowboyic9:


----------



## freestoke

Twelve degrees. It's supposed to be a little warmer than this, even up here in the northern wilderness. 

Glad figure skating world championships were there to watch this weekend, what with the rather boring stop on the PGA tour. That's it until next season for skating, when they'll be leading up to the Olympics. The standard US sports TV world is now totally removed from my experience. Football bores me to death, perhaps from watching rather too much of it when I was young. I find hockey unpleasant and irritating, and always have; I can see how all the fights break out, because merely hearing hockey scores puts me in a bad mood. I took a blood oath never to watch ML baseball again, after they skipped the '93 World Series. And basketball? I can still smell basketball from when I went to games in school -- I can't really relate to a sport requiring you to be seven feet tall, either. (They should only broadcast basketball games for the last five minutes of the game time, too, still providing a solid hour of basketball for the viewers and allowing golf coverage to start on time.)

Well, I've puffed through almost an entire bowl of PA while writing that...time to move on to some Irish Flake and finish waking up. More coffee!


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> ...I find hockey unpleasant and irritating, and always have; I can see how all the fights break out, because merely hearing hockey scores puts me in a bad mood...(They should only broadcast basketball games for the last five minutes of the game time, too, still providing a solid hour of basketball for the viewers and allowing golf coverage to start on time.)...More coffee!


What's wrong with you, man? Ahh, hockey and rugby - gotta love it! (From the girl who watches _Elementary_, so consider the source.) You are right about MLB, and especially basketball.

Coffee - thanks for reminding me - I forgot that my cafe' cubano was ready. Now for another bowl of FMOTT in the cob.


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> What's wrong with you, man? Ahh, hockey and rugby - gotta love it! (From the girl who watches _Elementary_, so consider the source.) You are right about MLB, and especially basketball.


Why anybody from Texas would give two cents for hockey completely escapes me. Ditto Florida. They should stick with rodeo and water sports, respectively. (I caught the greased pig when I was 11! At a rodeo somewhere in the vicinity of Burkburnett.)

Irish field hockey!? Now there's a team sport with some real action! Makes boxing look sissy and safe. And, of course, darts should be on TV far more often -- much better brew-imbibing milieu than football. Can't beat the alcoholic ambiance of a dart tournament. Here's my darts hero, Andy "The Viking" Fordham. He won the world championship about 10 years ago, downing 25 bottles of lager before each match to calm his nerves, weighing in for the tournament at a solid 31 stone. (His walk-on music was *I'm Too Sexy for My Shirt*.) He owned his own pub and drank 60 bottles of lager a day, along with an unspecified quantity of brandy to add a little extra kick. Some athletes have big hearts, others have big livers.










But right now it's more coffee and PA with a heavy 5B frosting.


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> Why anybody from Texas would give two cents for hockey completely escapes me...


Maybe it's the big sticks and toothless smiles. Only been in Houston for two decades, but Hockey's been here since the invention of indoor ice-rinks (well, the 1940's at least).


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> Maybe it's the big sticks and toothless smiles. Only been in Houston for two decades, but Hockey's been here since the invention of indoor ice-rinks (well, the 1940's at least).


But...but...it's a YANKEE game!! Detestable people from New York and Chicago and -- gasp -- CANADIA!! Of course, it's not an American sport to begin with, which should suit Texas just fine, being a whole nother country 'n all. So yeah, okay, hockey should be okay in Texas. But not Florida, okay?


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> But...but...it's a YANKEE game!! Detestable people from New York and Chicago and -- gasp -- CANADIA!! Of course, it's not an American sport to begin with, which should suit Texas just fine, being a whole nother country 'n all. So yeah, okay, hockey should be okay in Texas. But not Florida, okay?


Okay, but gotta add CA and AZ to the ban list.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm in the mood for an aeromatic with my coffee and Bailey's.

Planters Punch in my Sav paneled billiard.


----------



## karatekyle

Just over 10 degrees with hurricane force winds today. I think I'll forgo the pipe today.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Sun is just now breaking through, but in any event I enjoyed still yet more Kendal Dark (in a Sav billiard this time) during my morning commute. The Dark has totally replaced the Kentucky for me, and I am very happy to have further narrowed my favorites.


----------



## Mason16Filz

A bowl of Orlik GS on my drive to Milwaukee for class paired with a sweeta tea from McDonalds ipe:


----------



## MarkC

Astley's No. 107. A nice Virginia flake, but it doesn't really stand out for me the way 55 and 44 did.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Finally cracked a tin of Dunhill My Mixture 965 this morning - wow. Intoxicating tin aroma - no wonder I'm a whore. Smoking in an apropos 5th Avenue MM Diplomat (ain't that fancy for a $10 pipe!).

Musketballed easily, and lit up like a dream! And the voluminus smoke - if this wasn't so good it would make me sick that I couldn't be enveloped in someone else's cloud. Only a couple puffs and was adding 5 more tins to my TAD this week; may be making that 10 by the time I finish this bowl. So good I had to stop and DGT it and brew some cafe' cubana for it. Creamy, cool and complex!


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Just over 10 degrees with hurricane force winds today. I think I'll forgo the pipe today.


It got here last night. Again, the peaceful people of NY have to suffer from the careless meteorological behavior of the inconsiderate denizens of SD. I'm actually going to have to do the driveway this morning to get out. Bummer. Waiting for the plow to go by and dump a foot or two at the end of the driveway, then I'll suit up and clear a way to the road. In the meantime, it's PA with a 5B topping.


----------



## Stonedog

Howdy everyone. I haven't posted for a while and thought I'd drop in... 

Enjoyed a bowl of OGS mixed with a few scraps of Wessex BVF this morning. Not bad, but I think it needed a narrow bowl (or maybe a cleaner pipe).

Weather is near perfect right now with low humidity, no clouds and temp holding right at 50F. 

Life is good my friends.


----------



## freestoke

You and your STINKING good weather, Jon. Shove it! I'm shoveling mine.

A bowl of KK with an FB igniter package on top, in a cob. Tough morning. Also had to go buy birdseed and lug in the 40 lb. back. A day of heavy lifting.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> You and your STINKING good weather, Jon. Shove it! I'm shoveling mine.
> 
> A bowl of KK with an FB igniter package on top, in a cob. Tough morning. Also had to go buy birdseed and lug in the 40 lb. back. A day of heavy lifting.


Don't feel too bad Jim. It was a tad too cold to eat lunch in the shade so I had to sit out in the sunshine.

I think I got a slight sunburn on my arms...


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> It got here last night. Again, the peaceful people of NY have to suffer from the careless meteorological behavior of the inconsiderate denizens of SD. I'm actually going to have to do the driveway this morning to get out. Bummer. Waiting for the plow to go by and dump a foot or two at the end of the driveway, then I'll suit up and clear a way to the road. In the meantime, it's PA with a 5B topping.


Well rest assured, good friend; today's beautiful South Dakota sun will meet you in time!

This morning started with a wonderful bowl of half PA and half RY. A nice "Harp and Guinness" sort of mix.

In other news, I cleaned all the cake off my tamper. I was quite proud of the craggy, ash-covered face of the tool. Embers would occasionally stick to it but I never thought twice about it, didn't seem like too much of a hazard. That was, until I mindlessly dropped it into the front pocket of my jacket... the pocket full of strike anywhere matches. Needless to say, this white boy just learned how to dance!

Aside from a slightly scary and wholly hilarious event of spontaneous fireworks, this morning was wonderful. A great pipe, great coffee, and a great omelette were the perfect kickoff to a perfect day.


----------



## TanZ2005

WOW Kyle glad your ok.
Morning to you all, I have not been here in some time to post and thought I would. Last time I posted was with my Wife and I smoking a Cigar, However the most awesome thing is she also smokes a Pipe with me every now and again.

Yesterday we got a small order in from PaC
Samuel Gawith "Celtic Talisman" *TODAY's AM Smoke*
Sam Gawith Squadron Leader bulk 4 Oz
Hearth & Home Marquee Black House
Hearth & Home House of Lords
Villiger 1888 Cocktail Hour
Peterson Tin - Irish Whiskey
Frog Morton
Frog Morton on the Town
Frog Morton on the Bayou
Frog Morton Across the Pond

So I used to smoke a lot of Cigars in my day, however today it seems I have cut my Cigar smoking down to almost 1 a month and now smoke way to much Pipe Tobacco.

Seems not only do I smoke more Pipe but I collect more now as well. In the last year I went from 6 pipes to over 60 pipes. A couple of the pipes I bought from a couple of people from here, My Arlington, and IMP Meerschaum. yesterday in the mail as well I got a new Reamer the Senior with the shank too in the end.
All the pipes so far have been cleaned with the 3 in 1 Czech Tool and a little help with a razor. 
So last night I thought lets check out this new Reamer on the pipe I have owned the longest. This is a mid 90's Omega, Pack my Freehand 08 with some FM Across the Pond. Went to town. Reaming and puffing and next thing I know. I can no longer Ream and Puff on my pipe. the POOR pipe now has a black spot on the outside of the pipe from my smoking. There is no hole through the Briar but learned that I can't smoke and Ream. Crazy thing is I was done Reaming just about a minute later then I was done smoking that bowl. But yes sadly that pipe was WAY to HOT couldn't even touch it. Right now I am reaming out my Londonaire De Luxe. This pipe I wish now I would have took Pictures of the pipe before. All the cake in the thing over the years cracked the bowl and goes about 1/2 way down so this pipe will just be cleaned and admired on my Pipe stand. Sadly it has seen its last smoking before I got it. The cake was so thick that I had to use a nail to chip some away before I could even get the Czech tool into it. I seen the Crack on the top and the thickness of the cake because of the way the pipe is made from the naked eye you can't really make out the crack on the outside without looking with a 10X Lope. However it is there and runs 1/2 the length of the bowl.

Happy Smoking
James


----------



## steinr1

TanZ2005 said:


> ...over the years cracked the bowl and goes about 1/2 way down so this pipe will just be cleaned and admired on my Pipe stand. Sadly it has seen its last smoking before I got it.


This doesn't need to be the end. Regard "Frankenpipe". Cracked to about half way down the bowl and across the back. About one third of the bowl was basically flapping about. I made a couple of hard steel wire staples and pinned the lot back together. The cracks are stable now and the cake is rebuilding which is sealing things up. The pipe was (and still is) a great smoker and I felt bad about just chucking it away - I dropped the pipe and caused the damage. The repair is much less visible than the pictures make it look.


----------



## Desertlifter

karatekyle said:


> Well rest assured, good friend; today's beautiful South Dakota sun will meet you in time!
> 
> This morning started with a wonderful bowl of half PA and half RY. A nice "Harp and Guinness" sort of mix.
> 
> In other news, I cleaned all the cake off my tamper. I was quite proud of the craggy, ash-covered face of the tool. Embers would occasionally stick to it but I never thought twice about it, didn't seem like too much of a hazard. That was, until I mindlessly dropped it into the front pocket of my jacket... the pocket full of strike anywhere matches. Needless to say, this white boy just learned how to dance!
> 
> Aside from a slightly scary and wholly hilarious event of spontaneous fireworks, this morning was wonderful. A great pipe, great coffee, and a great omelette were the perfect kickoff to a perfect day.


Pics or it didn't happen! :biggrin:


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> View attachment 43362


A work of art, say I.

Don't know what they call them over there, but I am beginning to think of you as a ratbike piper. Ratbikes - the pinnacle of non-poseur cool.


----------



## splattttttt

I just sent my one yr old Country Gentleman back to Missouri Meerschaum that cracked from the plug and up its side. 
Patt said they'd replace it no problem. Kind of a shame though, cause the cake build up was mint.
I did think about a DIY patch using plaster, but wanted to ask if a replacement was possible.


----------



## freestoke

Smoking a cob this morning too, with the original stem, a homely MM second that seems to be a Pride with a bad complexion. Pretty new, but smoking great, with a fitting load of PA. 

And a good start to the morning! I found my 1792! I went searching for it the other week and couldn't find it anywhere. Checked my cellar listing and there it was, 4oz. of it -- somewhere. Opened the drawer, found it right up front middle, clearly marked on the lid "1792". There are times when I begin to worry.


----------



## Stonedog

This morning was a mixture of my OGS and BVF leftovers and some Carter Hill. Great combination that really hit the spot. Unfortunately the weather is turning bad again. I see a few clouds and had to wear a light jacket!!!


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> This morning was a mixture of my OGS and BVF leftovers and some *Carter Hill*.


I've heard that it's the base blend for Carter Hall.

Cigarette smokers tend to be very brand name loyal. Cigar smokers and pipe smokers used to be, before _haute fumer_ caught fire, somewhat dedicated to their Muriel or Robt. Burns, Prince Albert or Granger. But now, pipe smokers are in veritable open marriages, cigar smokers slipping ten dollar bills into the strippers' underwear. Right now, I'm having a fling with 1792.

BTW, even as a video, this '50s commercial would probably bring you charges of child abuse.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

OGS in a MM cob on the drive up the mountain to work this morning.


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake in my oldest Country Gent. Splendidly eye-opening.

Nice commercial, Jim - especially the "two for a quarter" part. 
:ss


----------



## karatekyle

I'd say I'm pretty brand loyal. There are very few days I smoke I pipe not made by Sasieni House or tobacco blended under the name of Alfred Dunhill. The only tobacco I regularly smoke (and seem to regularly smoke more and more) is Prince Albert. Dots and PA is just the perfect way to start a day.


----------



## Stonedog

No brand loyalty for me. Of the 14 or 15 blends I have on hand only 3 or 4 are from the same brand. 

Hmm, I could see a "Zombie Apocalypse" or "Stranded on an Island" thread that considers life with only one brand.


----------



## steinr1

Desertlifter said:


> A work of art, say I.
> 
> Don't know what they call them over there, but I am beginning to think of you as a ratbike piper. Ratbikes - the pinnacle of non-poseur cool.


Yep - I like a good ratbike. Maybe 20 years ago I ran a rather special ratty BMW. Basically an R60/6 with a lightly breathed on R90S engine (standard apart from the head. Passages smoothed and twin plugged). Stainless exhaust with very little "inside" (you used to be able to get them made to order. Still got that on my "stock" R90S; I've got an SF1 Laverda with pipes from the same source that set off car alarms as you pass.) 5 speed kicker box (lets you use a very small, light battery). Standard drums front and back (scary, but look great). The really special part was the final drive bevel taken - allegedly - from an R50 or R60 on sidecar ratio. REALLY low. 85ish mph at red line rather than about 130. Progressive, heavier springs front and back so it handled fairly well. In black, obviously. Not very ratty, but plain enough not to attract attention as anything other than an old, rather well used BMW. I used to LOVE pulling up at lights alongside a Rice-Rocket and be sneered at. Until it left them for dust. Pulled the front wheel up under power in the first three gears. Wheeeeee! I'll see if I can pull some pictures up of it. Eventually sold most of it on to a friend. He wanted it mainly for the buttoned leather King/Queen seat. Nice. Wish I'd kept that bevel box...

Frankenpipe is about to get another outing with Louisiana Flake. The last leaks are sealing up nicely.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> The only tobacco I regularly smoke (and seem to regularly smoke more and more) is Prince Albert. Dots and PA is just the perfect way to start a day.


A man of taste, I must say, Kyle. (I'd throw in a clever emoticon now, but I've sworn off them for now. I'm still bitter about them not giving me







, which I throw in for demonstration purposes, rather than effect.)

My darts have returned -- sporadically, but it's at least not a total mystery anymore. It's all in the visualization, just like golf. Tell your cerebellum, via IMAGES, where you want the dart to go and it goes there, almost irrespective of technique. Tell your cerebellum that you want the ball to go OVER the tree and fade and the cerebellum makes it so. And the cerebellum takes the last picture it sees, so if you see it dropping in the lake, there it will go. The cerebellum doesn't know right from wrong, although it is extremely good at left and right. Think long, think wrong. Actually, more to the point, if you "think" about body mechanics while you perform any motor skill, you confuse the central piece of the brain that controls the action -- the cerebellum. All the thinking has to happen before the action, preferably without words, because the cerebellum doesn't understand words, period.

I'm having yet another bowl of 1792 in the same cob reject, second run, defective cob I've been smoking all day. A disfigured Pride, perhaps. A superior smoke in every regard.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> I
> BTW, even as a video, this '50s commercial would probably bring you charges of child abuse.


I was expecting "do you like gladiator movies?" any minute... :lol:


----------



## MarkC

Stonedog said:


> No brand loyalty for me.


I can't say I have much brand loyalty myself. Admittedly, a GL Pease label will get a new blend a faster audience here, but that's about it.


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> Yep - I like a good ratbike. Maybe 20 years ago I ran a rather special ratty BMW. Basically an R60/6 with a lightly breathed on R90S engine (standard apart from the head. Passages smoothed and twin plugged). Stainless exhaust with very little "inside" (you used to be able to get them made to order. Still got that on my "stock" R90S; I've got an SF1 Laverda with pipes from the same source that set off car alarms as you pass.) 5 speed kicker box (lets you use a very small, light battery). Standard drums front and back (scary, but look great). The really special part was the final drive bevel taken - allegedly - from an R50 or R60 on sidecar ratio. REALLY low. 85ish mph at red line rather than about 130. Progressive, heavier springs front and back so it handled fairly well. In black, obviously. Not very ratty, but plain enough not to attract attention as anything other than an old, rather well used BMW. I used to LOVE pulling up at lights alongside a Rice-Rocket and be sneered at. Until it left them for dust. Pulled the front wheel up under power in the first three gears. Wheeeeee! I'll see if I can pull some pictures up of it. Eventually sold most of it on to a friend. He wanted it mainly for the buttoned leather King/Queen seat. Nice. Wish I'd kept that bevel box...
> 
> Frankenpipe is about to get another outing with Louisiana Flake. The last leaks are sealing up nicely.


Well played - I recalled your Laverda recollections.

I've ridden and raced Yamaha motorcycles for (mumblety) years. Rode enduro back when it was called such and hill-climbed. My dad was a hill climber and flat track racer. In fact, my first trip was as a 1-year old when my dad left the navy. Mom, dad, and I all on a Yamaha 650 special all the way from San Pedro, California to Washington. Mom kept me in a backpack.

Euro-trash riding has been largely limited to Moto Guzzi, Bultaco, Montessa, and Ducati offerings.

Putting together something for the morning. I'm leaning toward Latakia. Or perhaps some PA - it's been a while. I have a touch of Capstan, but that is sitting on the shrine.


----------



## steinr1

Warrior Plug in an old Ropp Cherrywood.


----------



## TTecheTTe

BLB in a Wally Frank Pipe of the Month. BLB smokes cool anyway, but I suspect this one will smoke cooler than my other briars. I cleaned up a few of my estates, and now also have ready a Thoroughbred Pigskin and a Vauen. I'll post some pics when I can take them.

My first motorbike, and vehicle, was a Honda CB150. Very fast - used to leave Hogs in my dust. That was in the '70's. I was pulled over once because the cop was "just curious." Obviously I wasn't a guy, but girls didn't ride bikes then. I got a hot-pink chinese scooter (150cc) a few years ago, and gave it to my daughter last year. That lasted 2mos and 2 repairs; she replaced it with Tahoe (good choice). My next, when I have the money, will likely be a Yamaha 650. 

This is what I found on Pipepdia on the Frank's:
"Wally Frank Ltd. operated a chain of tobacco stores in New York City (the flagship store was in Lexington Avenue) and had a vast catalog business for pipes and pipe tobaccos. Their numerous private-label pipes were made by many makers, including Charatan, Sasieni, Weber and many more. The pipes were all made from well-aged briar and other materials.

Here is a complete scanned copy of the August-September 1939 catalog. Wally Frank was one of America's oldest and most respected names in pipes and tobaccos from at least the 1930’s. Although Wally Frank has been gone for many years, he was a leader in the importing of European pipes. But, in addition to importing pipes, he had many pipes made in his own name and also employed pipemakers like Peter Stokkebye and S. Bang! For example, Ed Burak, owner of Connoisseur in New York City, got his start by making pipes for Wally Frank! So Wally Frank pipes must be individually evaluated each on their own merit. "


----------



## splattttttt

I love cherries..

img. od a WF (date unkown), not mine.


----------



## freestoke

You've found Hagrid's pipe, Jack! He lost it on the set during filming of *The Goblet of Fire.*

PA in the 4Dot and some coffee. One too many lifts, the last a 40 lb bag of kitty litter. Never was much of a lifter. Might have to pop the Flexiril, but I'd rather not, since it makes me feel tired and I'm in pretty fine fettle this morning otherwise.


----------



## Kevin Keith

Good morning friends, having some PA in the MM Missouri Pride custom lovat.


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## Kevin Keith

The brands I smoke most are PA and Sugar Barrel, so I suppose I'm loyal.


----------



## freestoke

I definitely smoke more PA than anything else, both alone and as a mixer, so I have some brand loyalty as well. I run with a dangerous crowd, though -- like Irish Flake, Happy Bogie, and the wild and crazy Ennerdale, who's too rowdy to bring indoors, but a real gas in the yard. PA works both as padding so I can play with the big boys without getting hurt and as a bandage for when I do.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> You've found Hagrid's pipe, Jack! He lost it on the set during filming of *The Goblet of Fire.*


Too small. This one might just about do. If not, I can bring out the big ones...

View attachment 76015


----------



## Stonedog

MarkC said:


> I can't say I have much brand loyalty myself. Admittedly, a GL Pease label will get a new blend a faster audience here, but that's about it.


I'm leaning a little toward GL Pease myself, although I only have one blend (Haddo's) on hand right now. Turns out I have three Peterson blends on hand, so I guess that would be my front runner...

Determined to give "lakeland" essence a fair shake, I loaded up my MM Patriot with G&H LA Flake last night and puffed away during this morning's commute. The essence is definitely there and was at the front most of the time, although nowhere near as strong as it would be with something like Enerdale. With so many puffers enjoying these blends I have a feeling this is an acquired taste and I'll continue to try it over the next few months to see if it grows on me.


----------



## Nachman

The closest I have to brand loyalty is a fondness for Dunhill. I smoke RY every day and often smoke London Mixture and occasionally MM965 or Flake.


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## steinr1

2.5 kg of Louisiana Flake and 300-400 Ropp pipes say that I am brand loyal... I've given up keeping count of the pipes. It's safer that way.


----------



## freestoke

I definitely prefer the GH&Co. essence to the SG, Jon. As for LF, that is definitely a mild dose of it, but persevere! 

A little 1792 for me, now. The cob of yesterday's busy day has returned to action with the Forever stem.

I used to be a real Dunhill advocate, but I suspect that Cyprian Latakia has taken the lustre off a few blends. As for RY, gotta be in my top 5 smokes!


----------



## karatekyle

I find I'm enjoying MM965 more and more. And London Mixture less and less! Maybe a little time to rest will take some of the acidity out of my London tins. Tastes just a bit on the rancid side lately instead of the fine salt and malt vinegar flavor it had when I started smoking it.

Anyway, beautiful sunny day. Looking forward to a pipe after my big Micro Phys test at 1.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Kevin Keith said:


> Good morning friends, having some PA in the MM Missouri Pride custom lovat.





Nachman said:


> The closest I have to brand loyalty is a fondness for Dunhill. I smoke RY every day and often smoke London Mixture and occasionally MM965 or Flake.


I have finally discovered the Dunhill's - RY & 965 - and they will be dailies for me! Just finished a bowl of RY in my Frank's.


----------



## steinr1

TTecheTTe said:


> *I have finally discovered the Dunhill's *- RY & 965 - and they will be dailies for me! Just finished a bowl of RY in my Frank's.


You haven't discovered them until you have tried the Deluxe Navy Rolls. Perhaps also the plain old "Flake". The rest are simply a pleasant diversion.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> You haven't discovered them until you have tried the Deluxe Navy Rolls. Perhaps also the plain old "Flake". The rest are simply a pleasant diversion.


I'd more or less agree, except I'd include Royal Yacht. As for the Flake, now called Light Flake for reasons beyond my ken, it has rather a lot of competition in the plain old Va world, which is to say that I don't see anything particularly special about it. High quality, for sure, but good Va smokes are omnipresent.


----------



## ProbateGeek

I wouldn't say I'm brand loyal - not at all - but "blend loyal", certainly. My favorites have been narrowed down to four, no brand repeated, and I rarely smoke anything else:

Royal Yacht, 1792 Flake, Irish Flake, Kendal Dark (which moved the Kentucky off my chart)

Seems like I'm leaving something out, but it's early for me (meaning only that I've not yet had a cup of coffee). Some ropes would be on the list if I were less lazy, particularly Happy Brown Bogie. Maybe once a month I'll break out something with a little latakia. I've got a huge "jug" of PA ready, but have still not cracked it - don't know when I will. When I'm not smoking one of my top four, it's a cigar for me. I'm getting predictable in my (pending) old age.


----------



## karatekyle

steinr1 said:


> You haven't discovered them until you have tried the Deluxe Navy Rolls. Perhaps also the plain old "Flake". The rest are simply a pleasant diversion.


Whoa-ho-ho! Big words, big words!

You know, I would've thought the Deluxe Rolls would wow me more than they did. Especially when Deluxe is always on the ole "One Tin for the Price of Two" special. :thumb:


----------



## karatekyle

ProbateGeek said:


> I wouldn't say I'm brand loyal - not at all - but "blend loyal", certainly. My favorites have been narrowed down to four, no brand repeated, and I rarely smoke anything else:
> 
> *Royal Yacht, 1792 Flake, Irish Flake, Kendal Dark* (which moved the Kentucky off my chart)
> 
> Seems like I'm leaving something out, but it's early for me (meaning only that I've not yet had a cup of coffee). *Some ropes* would be on the list if I were less lazy, particularly* Happy Brown Bogie*. Maybe once a month I'll break out something with a little latakia. I've got a huge "jug" of PA ready, but have still not cracked it - don't know when I will. When I'm not smoking one of my top four, it's *a cigar* for me. I'm getting predictable in my (pending) old age.


Terry, I'm afraid this doesn't look like blend loyalty either. More like a loyalty to a certain acetylcholine receptor agonist...


----------



## TTecheTTe

steinr1 said:


> You haven't discovered them until you have tried the Deluxe Navy Rolls. Perhaps also the plain old "Flake". The rest are simply a pleasant diversion.


So I'll discover it, eventually. Right now I have plenty of PS LBF and Escudo to tide me over. I will soon be exploring Nightcap. :hungry:


----------



## TTecheTTe

karatekyle said:


> Terry, I'm afraid this doesn't look like blend loyalty either. More like a loyalty to a certain acetylcholine receptor agonist...


Naw, only moderate - he's a bit of pansy.


----------



## steinr1

karatekyle said:


> Whoa-ho-ho! Big words, big words!
> 
> You know, I would've thought the Deluxe Rolls would wow me more than they did. Especially when Deluxe is always on the ole "One Tin for the Price of Two" special. :thumb:


Agreed - nothing really "Wow" about them; just a reliable and very pleasant smoke. Or maybe that is "Wow"...

On the price - welcome to my world. I'm betting that the price you pay in the US is still a lot less than in the UK.



freestoke said:


> I'd more or less agree, except I'd include Royal Yacht. As for the Flake, now called Light Flake for reasons beyond my ken, it has rather a lot of competition in the plain old Va world, which is to say that I don't see anything particularly special about it. High quality, for sure, but good Va smokes are omnipresent.


Again, agreed. And I refer the Honourable Member to the answer to the previous question.



TTecheTTe said:


> So I'll discover it, eventually. Right now I have plenty of PS LBF and *Escudo* to tide me over. I will soon be exploring Nightcap. :hungry:


I think I raised the question before and didn't get an answer:

*Is Escudo very similar to Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls?* I think I have seen comment to that effect. Your answers on a postcard, please.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> I'd more or less agree, except I'd include Royal Yacht. *As for the Flake, now called Light Flake* for reasons beyond my ken, it has rather a lot of competition in the plain old Va world, which is to say that I don't see anything particularly special about it. High quality, for sure, but good Va smokes are omnipresent.


I think you mean to say _formerly_ called Light Flake. The old tins said "Light Flake" before recent legislation disallowed words like "Light" to be used to advertise tobacco products. Hence, Dunny dropped the word and went with Flake as the new name. I prefer to use "[Light] Flake" in reference since Flake can be a confusing name on a forum filled with such discussion of smoking mixtures.

THE OLD:









THE NEW:


----------



## karatekyle

steinr1 said:


> *Is Escudo very similar to Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls?* I think I have seen comment to that effect. Your answers on a postcard, please.


Definitely more perique profile in Escudo. Sort of pizza-saucy if you hold its toes to the fire. I know it seems silly, but if you punch the Cav eye out of Bullseye Flake, it does a great impression of Dunny Rolls.


----------



## freestoke

Chilly, but there's warm air a couple days hence. Just out for a stroll with *Lady Ennerdale*. The jar is threatening to go empty again, one of her faults -- or perhaps her only one.


----------



## steinr1

karatekyle said:


> Definitely more perique profile in Escudo. Sort of pizza-saucy if you hold its toes to the fire. I know it seems silly, but if you punch the Cav eye out of Bullseye Flake, it does a great impression of Dunny Rolls.


Ah. I'd probably like that. I like Germain's Perique Mixture for the sting in the tail.

Poke out Davidoff Medalion Flake's eyes and you also have Dunghill Navy Rolls.


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> I think you mean to say _formerly_ called Light Flake.


Yes, I did. Another mild attack of neural vapor lock. I'll be fine.

Very odd, those two photos. The older version, from (I think) when they had the royal charter, has no royal charter on the tin. The newer, now without the royal charter, has a royal insignia-like image on the package. There were a few of the old Dunhill tins that did have the royal seal and the "by appointment" stuff, like Ye Olde Sign and Elizabethan Mixture.

Oh wait...here's an old Light Flake tin with the charter. Maybe your Light Flake might be pre-charter, like from the 20s or something.


----------



## karatekyle

steinr1 said:


> Ah. I'd probably like that. I like Germain's Perique Mixture for the sting in the tail.
> 
> Poke out Davidoff Medalion Flake's eyes and you also have Dunghill Navy Rolls.


I hope "Dunghill" was intentional. A good name for the poor man's bastardized version of fancy Dunhill mixtures!



freestoke said:


> Yes, I did. Another mild attack of neural vapor lock. I'll be fine.


:lol: :thumb:


----------



## ProbateGeek

karatekyle said:


> Terry, I'm afraid this doesn't look like blend loyalty either. More like a loyalty to a certain *acetylcholine receptor agonist*...


Kyle, do I need to feel bad that I don't know what the hell you're talking about? :shocked:



TTecheTTe said:


> Naw, only moderate -* he's a bit of pansy*.


Mari D'Anne, do I need to feel bad that I don't know what the hell you're talking about? :tongue:


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> I definitely prefer the *GH&Co. essence* to the SG, Jon. As for LF, that is definitely a mild dose of it, but persevere!
> 
> A little 1792 for me, now. The cob of yesterday's busy day has returned to action with the Forever stem.
> 
> I used to be a real Dunhill advocate, but I suspect that Cyprian Latakia has taken the lustre off a few blends. As for RY, gotta be in my top 5 smokes!


Mild or not, it was very much at the front and overpowered anything else I could manage from the tobacco. Only on occasion did the underlying flavors come through and for a brief moment I caught a hint of chocolate. Perhaps like Latakia people become desensitized to the essence the more they experience it?

And, does anyone know what that "essence" is?


----------



## karatekyle

ProbateGeek said:


> Kyle, do I need to feel bad that I don't know what the hell you're talking about? :shocked:


Nicotine mimics acetylcholine and binds to a receptor in the nervous system. You're not loyal to blends, you're loyal to nicotine!


----------



## steinr1

karatekyle said:


> I hope "Dunghill" was intentional. A good name for the poor man's bastardized version of fancy Dunhill mixtures!


It was indeed intentional. Sadly, this doesn't give a poor man's version. A slightly more expensive version and a pile of Cavendish bits results.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Mild or not, it was very much at the front and overpowered anything else I could manage from the tobacco....
> 
> And, does anyone know what that "essence" is?


First, I have to ask if maybe you are confusing perique with "the essence". Second, 'the essence' is stuff like rose, heliotrope and musk, aka, perfume. If you've ever seen pictures of the GH&Co. production facilities, you would probably have the same suspicion I do, that practically anything they produce could wind up with wafts of weirdness settling on them, before or during shipment. This might explain my fondness for practically the entire line.


----------



## TTecheTTe

ProbateGeek said:


> Kyle, do I need to feel bad that I don't know what the hell you're talking about? :shocked:
> 
> Mari D'Anne, do I need to feel bad that I don't know what the hell you're talking about? :tongue:


Kyle beat me to it, but I can add: Nicotine is absorbed through the oral mucosa, and then converts to Acetylaldehyde - which is the same compound in my cystic fibrosis nebulizing meds...ergo, I smoke to break up mucous.

Your a pansy because you smoke a lower Vit-N level than a girl...



steinr1 said:


> o Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls?[/B] I think I have seen comment to that effect. Your answers on a postcard, please.


Again, Kyle answered, but to add (yes, it will fit on a postcard) from one whom has smoked both (tabaccoreviews.com):
AlexL
"The tin has round Dunhill-style form, which I think is the best availiable. The tobacco came with ideal wetness in the tin; it burns evenly to the bottom of the bowl. I smoke it folded and stuffed.
Naturally, the entire world and its wife compare it to Dunhill Navy Rolls. The difference is that Escudo has more Perique and consists of dark-brown Virginia. On the contrary, Dunhill Rolls are light-brown VA with less Perique. So Escudo is less sweet but spicier then Dunhill Navy.

Both are fantastic in their own way, but Escudo is 30% cheaper.

Update 11/15/2012. Still, DDNR is 30% better. Downgrading to 3 stars."


----------



## Nachman

ProbateGeek said:


> I wouldn't say I'm brand loyal - not at all - but "blend loyal", certainly. My favorites have been narrowed down to four, no brand repeated, and I rarely smoke anything else:
> 
> Royal Yacht, 1792 Flake, Irish Flake, Kendal Dark (which moved the Kentucky off my chart)
> 
> Seems like I'm leaving something out, but it's early for me (meaning only that I've not yet had a cup of coffee). *Some ropes would be on the list if I were less lazy, particularly Happy Brown Bogie. *Maybe once a month I'll break out something with a little latakia. I've got a huge "jug" of PA ready, but have still not cracked it - don't know when I will. When I'm not smoking one of my top four, it's a cigar for me. I'm getting predictable in my (pending) old age.


You should try GH Sliced Brown Twist. It is a sliced version of the famous Bogie, Some say of the Brown Irish Twist which is HB in a different guage, but is the same tobacco.


----------



## freestoke

Okay, I'm tearing my hair (singular) out on this. Looking at the old tins, I see the little royal seal on a bunch of cans that is no longer there, Nightcap, My Mixture 965, Standard Mixture...not the whole shebang like Ye Olde Sign, just the crown. And the whole royal warrant (I mistakenly called this a charter before) was available inside, on the paper or lid, assuring the smoker that what the can contained was worthy of royalty.


----------



## ProbateGeek

TTecheTTe said:


> Your a pansy because you smoke a lower Vit-N level than a girl...


I protest, and challenge this statement. Royal Yacht, 1792 Flake, Irish Flake, Kendal Dark - one or more of these is light, you say?

If and when I make it to Houston (looks like our trip to Alvarado is put off till mid-June), I challenge you to take me on in the First Annual Greater Houston Bay Area 1792 Flake Smoke Off. My record is only 8 bowls in one day, but then again I wasn't really trying. May the best man (or Mari) win!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Nachman said:


> You should try GH Sliced Brown Twist. It is a sliced version of the famous Bogie, Some say of the Brown Irish Twist which is HB in a different guage, but is the same tobacco.


Thanks, Nick - when I'm feeling less lazy I'll add some to an order. It does look so very smokeable:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> First, I have to ask if maybe you are confusing perique with "the essence". Second, 'the essence' is stuff like rose, heliotrope and musk, aka, perfume. If you've ever seen pictures of the GH&Co. production facilities, you would probably have the same suspicion I do, that practically anything they produce could wind up with wafts of weirdness settling on them, before or during shipment. This might explain my fondness for practically the entire line.


Hmmm. I beg to differ. Something like Best Brown Flake has "essence" but isn't "perfumed". It has that certain "something" that all Lakelands worthy of the name possess. Some are also perfumed, but not all. Not to my senses anyway.

What is the sauce used? Dunno. But I'd like to think that we'd all be repelled if we knew. The best stuff tends to be a bit disgusting if said aloud. Offer "raw, salted fish spawn" or "fatty, unhealthily bloated fowl offal" and I don't see queues forming. Caviar and foie gras, however...


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> First, I have to ask if maybe you are confusing perique with "the essence". Second, 'the essence' is stuff like rose, heliotrope and musk, aka, perfume. If you've ever seen pictures of the GH&Co. production facilities, you would probably have the same suspicion I do, that practically anything they produce could wind up with wafts of weirdness settling on them, before or during shipment. This might explain my fondness for practically the entire line.


I have some experience with perique and have noted that blends containing a significant amount of it can exhibit a musty overtone, occasionally what I might call dried fruit and even a black pepper aftertaste. At least that's what my blue collar palate tells me.

The LF essence that I noted is a weaker version of the "dog shampoo perfume" I got from Dark Flake (un?)scented that came in my newbie sampler two years ago.

On a completely unrelated note - I can't believe it's been two years!


----------



## Nachman

The essences in Lakeland tobaccos are floral essences. They are the same ones which are used in many traditional snuffs and some of the few substances allowed to be added to tobaccos under the (now repealed) purity laws. @ freestoke: Dunhill lost its Royal Warrant in 1995 so any tins with the Warrant are older than that. There are only three members of the Royal Family who issue warrants, The Queen, Prince Phillip and Prince Charles.When she was alive, the Queen Mum used to issue warrants also. Before his death, the Dunhill warrant was in the King's name, and ten years after Elizabeth's coronation it was put under her seal. I guess with all the anti-tobacco sentiment she decided to discontinue it. I think the Benson and Hedges warrant was also under the Queen's seal.


----------



## TTecheTTe

:rotfl: ound: :rotfl: ound: :rotfl: ound:


ProbateGeek said:


> ...My record is only 8 bowls in one day...


ound: :rotfl: ound: :rotfl: ound: :rotfl:

You're on! :fencing:


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> :rotfl: ound: :rotfl: ound: :rotfl: ound:
> 
> ound: :rotfl: ound: :rotfl: ound: :rotfl:
> 
> You're on! :fencing:


You seem to find this amusing, Mari, perhaps that this pitiable confession gives you the commanding hand in a nicotine duel. I'm shocked to hear so few, personally, expecting something more in the neighborhood of 20, but bear in mind that there were probably cigars interspersed. It might not be quite the lock you anticipate. Just looking for a percentage of the over&under betting. I put the early line at eleven.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> You seem to find this amusing, Mari, perhaps that this pitiable confession gives you the commanding hand in a nicotine duel. I'm shocked to hear so few, personally, expecting something more in the neighborhood of 20, but bear in mind that there were probably cigars interspersed. It might not be quite the lock you anticipate. Just looking for a percentage of the over&under betting. I put the early line at eleven.


Keep in mind the 8 bowls were smoked on just a normal working weekday - 2 bowls each morning commute, postprandial, evening commute, night. I have no idea what that number might have been had I actually tried to make it a heavy pipe day.

I am curious, though.


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> You seem to find this amusing, Mari, perhaps that this pitiable confession gives you the commanding hand in a nicotine duel. I'm shocked to hear so few, personally, expecting something more in the neighborhood of 20, but bear in mind that there were probably cigars interspersed. It might not be quite the lock you anticipate. Just looking for a percentage of the over&under betting. I put the early line at eleven.


Pitiable it is, as I have that for breakfast.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> The essences in Lakeland tobaccos are floral essences. They are the same ones which are used in many traditional snuffs and some of the few substances allowed to be added to tobaccos under the (now repealed) purity laws. @ freestoke: Dunhill lost its Royal Warrant in 1995 so any tins with the Warrant are older than that. There are only three members of the Royal Family who issue warrants, The Queen, Prince Phillip and Prince Charles.When she was alive, the Queen Mum used to issue warrants also. Before his death, the Dunhill warrant was in the King's name, and ten years after Elizabeth's coronation it was put under her seal. I guess with all the anti-tobacco sentiment she decided to discontinue it. I think the Benson and Hedges warrant was also under the Queen's seal.


Didn't Margaret have a hand in the B&H warrant? She certainly was a big smoker of cigarettes. Might have been Rothmans.

I really don't get "floral" in the simpler Lakelands like Best Brown Flake. I'm quite happy to believe that I'm simply not getting it. I always get a bit doubtful when "perfumed" is used in these contexts. Aged wines, Burgundy in particular is always said to be "perfumed". I perceive it as "wine-like". I certainly struggle (and fail) to think of the Lakeland essence in these terms. Must try harder...


----------



## splattttttt

karatekyle said:


> Terry, I'm afraid this doesn't look like blend loyalty either. More like a loyalty to a certain acetylcholine receptor agonist...


did somebody raise the roof, or did the floor just drop from under me ( ;


----------



## ProbateGeek

splattttttt said:


> did somebody raise the roof, or did the floor just drop from under me ( ;


Either way, the majority of us went with you...


----------



## steinr1

This thread has taken an interesting turn. 

A glove was dropped; I believe I heard "Nemo me impune lacessit." Honour has clearly been brought into question. 

Seconds will need to be appointed and choose the Field of Honour. Weapons to be agreed and inspected; terms of satisfaction stated. I suggest à l'outrance is inevitable for such a grave slight.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Seconds will need to be appointed and choose the Field of Honour. Weapons to be agreed and inspected; terms of satisfaction stated. I suggest à l'outrance is inevitable for such a grave slight.


And Ladbrokes. Don't forget to alert Ladbrokes!

I set the under&over too early, I see, now that you've raised the obvious question of the implements, which involves chamber capacity. Referring to Twain's Mark of Maduro Rules of Pipe Fighting, cobs are required. I think for the sake of expanding the wagering possibilities, I suggest the Legend without filter with the original stem, although the unfiltered MM Patriot would be another good choice. The first choice of tobacco will go to the challenged party (Terry), each pipefighter selecting the next fill by turns. Wooden matches only. I will contact DanR for competition tampers. Pipefighters will each have a bottle of Biotene and large box of wooden kitchen matches. No pipe cleaners permitted, any moisture in the stem to be shaken out or blown onto the floor or ground; the choice pipe being Terry's, Mari will choose either an inside or outside venue.

I am smoking a long-neglected Patriot loaded with 1792, giddy with anticipation.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a cob on the drive to work up the mountain.


----------



## karatekyle

It was PA in the Windsor today.


----------



## Nachman

steinr1 said:


> Didn't Margaret have a hand in the B&H warrant? She certainly was a big smoker of cigarettes. Might have been Rothmans.
> 
> I really don't get "floral" in the simpler Lakelands like Best Brown Flake. I'm quite happy to believe that I'm simply not getting it. I always get a bit doubtful when "perfumed" is used in these contexts. Aged wines, Burgundy in particular is always said to be "perfumed". I perceive it as "wine-like". I certainly struggle (and fail) to think of the Lakeland essence in these terms. Must try harder...


From this article, BBC News | UK | Royal warrant stubbed out, it looks like my cousin Charles is behind the dropping of the Royal Warrants on tobacco products. That's not surprising given his obsession with all things organic and trendy.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> From this article, BBC News | UK | Royal warrant stubbed out, it looks like my cousin Charles is behind the dropping of the Royal Warrants on tobacco products. That's not surprising given his obsession with all things organic and trendy.


Chuck is a hip guy.

Best Brown Flake will be consumed tonight in an attempt to taste the subtleties of the Lakeland Essense. Pipe to be determined, but probably the knackered Ropp Montagnarde. I think this one may have had nothing but BBF since being "restored".


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> From this article, BBC News | UK | Royal warrant stubbed out, it looks like my cousin Charles is behind the dropping of the Royal Warrants on tobacco products. That's not surprising given his obsession with all things organic and trendy.


One warrant the Queen did remove was that for Smithfield Ham, in place since the 1700s. Virginia decided that the hams didn't have to be done the old way, got rid of the laws that governed ham production, and Smithfield Ham ceased to exist. The Queen tasted the new, make-believe Smithfield Ham, asked what happened and canceled all future orders. A warrant properly removed, for sure. I still think of those legislators responsible as criminals. (Probably all recent transplants from the badlands of the North, with no sense of Virginian tradition and no taste in food. Quick! Name the food that New Jersey is famous for. You got it! HOT DOGS!)

I need some Irish Flake, to help with dark thoughts of revenge for permanently removing one of my favorite foods from the tables of the world -- including the royal family's.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> One warrant the Queen did remove was that for Smithfield Ham, in place since the 1700s. Virginia decided that the hams didn't have to be done the old way, got rid of the laws that governed ham production, and Smithfield Ham ceased to exist. The Queen tasted the new, make-believe Smithfield Ham, asked what happened and canceled all future orders. A warrant properly removed, for sure. I still think of those legislators responsible as criminals. (Probably all recent transplants from the badlands of the North, with no sense of Virginian tradition and no taste in food. Quick! Name the food that New Jersey is famous for. You got it! HOT DOGS!)
> 
> I need some Irish Flake, to help with dark thoughts of revenge for permanently removing one of my favorite foods from the tables of the world -- including the royal family's.


Let them eat cake.

I'll be off in St. James's tomorrow and drop in on Justerini and Brooks. THEY still have a warrant. Shame it's for BLENDED Scotch. (Lots of warrants for alcohol remain. No hint of "We must get rid of these endorsements of an adictive and health damaging product." Why? Brenda, Phil the Greek and Chuck like a drop...) Also a visit to JJ Fox and Davidoff is on the cards. JJ Fox is still a bit like it used to be in the old days. No smoking inside, however. Moan, grumble, gripe...


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Let them eat cake.


Things have changed for the better, food-wise, in Limeyland since I was there. I hope I still have my *English Cooking*, a nice little leather-bound volume of a single leaf of book paper, the front numbered page 1 with a heading of *FRY*. A double column list of vegetables, fish and meats followed to the bottom in no discernible order, peas, carrots, mutton, beef, radishes, beets, _ad nauseam_. Turning to page 2 on the reverse, one found the heading *BOIL*, with the identical list of ingredients. There was no index, but it did have one of those ribbon book markers, stitched into the binding.

French cake isn't all that bad, actually. Had it been an English queen who said it, it would have been crueler still. Here on puff, it's just disgusting.

Channeling Sherlock this morning. Last night, my beautiful musketball of 1792 was interrupted at the height of its powers by a ruckus in the kitchen, as Heidi and Morgan decided to air their feline differences. For some reason, I abandoned it and went to bed shortly thereafter. This morning, I thoughtlessly knocked out the ash, only to find a hefty dottle, almost intact in the ashtray. I am reusing it as we speak, with a new 1792 foundation fill. And more coffee.


----------



## Nachman

An English Queen would have said, "Let them eat pudding.", and that would have been, by no means, cruel. The puddings, including cream cake, of my childhood were delightful. English cooking, like all others, depends on the cook. Their main culinary weakness is in the veg department. It is said, " The British have only four vegetables and two of them are cabbage."


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> ...DanR for competition tampers...the choice pipe being Terry's, Mari will choose either an inside or outside venue.
> 
> I am smoking a long-neglected Patriot loaded with 1792, giddy with anticipation.


Good, as my fingernails are too long for effective digital tamping. Inside venue - will dually serve to fumigate the house of the zombiteria bacterium. Hmm, "giddy," isn't that you normal state?

Smoking my 6th bowl or so of 1792 in Dip cob.


----------



## freestoke

There was a brief flash of sunlight for a while, but my vision is returning. Basic PA in the MM Diplomat, after a couple Legends of 1792. Another two inches of the white stuff overnight. (I do so hope everyone will join my campaign to eliminate the excruciating phrase "during the overnight". Encourage your representatives and congressmen to add the phrase to list the list of bleepable words on the newscasts and to the phrases that qualify movies for an "R" rating because of bad language. For a weather report, it would involve two quick bleeps: "We expect snow <bleep> <bleep> overnight.")

Yes, Mari. A reserved and subtle giddiness, somewhat akin to that of the Mona Lisa's. Speaking of which, I remember a great old Charles Addams cartoon. The audience's faces are aglow from the movie screen, everyone crying, handkerchiefs everywhere, and back in the back, to the side, sits Mona Lisa. Like that.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Why would anyone show up five hours before check in time?

This lady showed up at ten this morning and wanted to check in and get her room keys. I explained to her that It's some one elses room for the next hour, then housekeeping has to get to it. OK... an hour goes by and she comes back and tells me "You better have my room ready now!" I tell her the room has JUST been vacated, housekeeping needs to clean it, the room will be ready at roughly twelve-thirty, hours before the three PM check in time. She gets mad at me and screams at me that she wants her Gawd Damn room NOW! Then she wants to know what room number is hers so she can go hurry up housekeeping. This is turning into a nightmare. I tell her to please leave housekeeping alone as they have a tough and thankless job, and when they get harassed they tend to throw down their tools and leave. She demands to see a manager.

I wake up a manager and brief him on this lady, he comes out to the desk and she starts right in on him, screaming and calling him and I names. He smiles, and when he gets a chance to talk he asks her, "I understand you have a problem with getting your room two and a half hours early?" She explodes! She screams how she has been on the road for nine hours and needs her room now. He asks her to please not yell. She yells louder. He tells her that we provide peace and quiet for our guests and she isn't welcome here. He adds that if she doesn't leave quietly and right now he will call the Marshal and have her removed. She loudly leaves, but is gone at last. A few guests in the lobby applaud.

I should clean the kitchen right now, but I'm going outside for a bowl of FVF in a Hilson bulldog.


----------



## TanZ2005

Morning all, Today I am smoking another bowl of Black House. This is one of my Favorite tobaccos. 
Smoking it in a Boot, Made in Italy made of Briar. Interesting little pipe. Only thing I would like to have seen on this pipe is a screw in stem, Pipe cleaner isn't that easy to get in this pipe Hope you all have a wonderful Weekend

James


----------



## freestoke

Looks like it could use a new set of laces, James. Very interesting pipe, though!

Just finished a 4Dot of PA to start off. Early to bed and late to wake, makes a man...too early to find a rhyme for that that makes any sense whatsoever. Maybe "wake" is a bit too strong a word. More coffee...


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning Puff.

We suffered some light flurries last night as I watched my son out at Lacrosse practice. It's really not supposed to do that down here in Georgia...

I enjoyed a nice mixture of CH, OGS and BVF leftovers in a brand new MM Legend. For kicks I put a Savinelli 6mm balsa insert in the Legend's amber stem. It reduced moisture and didn't change the flavor. It also tightened up the draw just enough. I think I'll buy more of these inserts.


----------



## freestoke

Another morning facing an empty forum, but I'll follow my own post from two days ago anyhow. The 4Dot with PA, to celebrate what seems to be a hint of spring in the forecast. The sun still hides in fear behind the permanent Mohawk Valley overcast, waiting for warm air to creep northward -- but it might be on the way! Just reading that they're suing Punxsutawney Phil, so I guess spring isn't doing all that well elsewhere, either. 

Oh! Good mornin', Jon! :yo: I didn't follow my own post after all!


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Oh! Good mornin', Jon! :yo: I didn't follow my own post after all!


I try to avoid the pipe when I'm feeling under the weather and yesterday something was definitely not right. Otherwise I would have posted here Jim. Apologies...


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> I try to avoid the pipe when I'm feeling under the weather and yesterday something was definitely not right. Otherwise I would have posted here Jim. Apologies...


Hey, it's DALE'S thread. No apologies necessary, since he should be thanking US for keeping his stinking thread alive!









Think I need some Erinmore Flake, which will pretty much finish it up -- maybe two bowls.


----------



## TTecheTTe

TanZ2005 said:


> ?..
> Smoking it in a Boot, Made in Italy made of Briar...


Hmmm, is that an estate pipe, from "the little old lady?"

MM965 in a cob.


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> Hmmm, is that an estate pipe, from "the little old lady?"
> 
> MM965 in a cob.


Perhaps it should have been a real estate transaction. (There was an old woman...)

More Erinmore Flake!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Irish Flake in my dad's Comoys bent bulldog. Good commute. 
Need coffee now.


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning Puff. Ashton's Artisan Blend in the trusty basket pipe this morning. I needed a Latakia fix and this hit the spot.

I'm working up a TAD order and since I can't pull the trigger yet I'll get a small amount of satisfaction from posting the list:

2x Royal Yacht 50g (haven't tried it but it seems to be well respected here)
4oz EMP Bulk (need to update my stash of light english )
2x Reiner LGF (haven't tried it but again, seem to get good reviews here)
8oz H&H VA Spice
1x MM Mizzou Straight (just because)
8oz H&H Classic Burley Kake 
1x C&D's new Morning Drive (just want to try it)
2oz G&H Brown Twist Sliced
1x FMOTB 100g
1x FM's Cellar 100g
8oz LNF

This is a little more than I want to spend and will probably trim a few out.


----------



## freestoke

The Royal Yacht you will like, almost certainly. As for the Reiner, everybody (even non-smokers) should have the experience of opening one of their paint cans and marveling over the contents. 

Gotta get into the Irish Flake early. Didn't smoke near enough heavy duty tobacco yesterday, so my Low Nicotine Warning Light is burning pink, despite a couple of quick bowls of PA. Coffee, coffee, coffee...time for more coffee.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a cob and coffee. The porch is warm and sunny!


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> PA in a cob and coffee. The porch is warm and sunny!


I've put the Prince to work this morning as well, now in the Darth Rader. Solid. Beautiful day! I think spring has finally sprung.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Humming this morning with two bowls of Kendal Dark in a Country Gent. Heading into the office for coffee.


----------



## TanZ2005

Hello TTecheTTe, Yes it is an Estate Pipe. Bought that one along with a few others that I thought were nice to add to my collection. Have to say it smokes very nice.

Hope you have a good day.
James


----------



## freestoke

The PA jar came up empty this morning, and locked into my posting chair I was unable to extricate myself to refill it. I chose instead the inestimable 1792 to start my day. Somehow, in my quasi-somnambulant state, I achieved a perfect load in the 4Dot diplomat, and all that that entails. Medic! More coffee!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of FVF in a MM cob driving up the mountain to work this morning.


----------



## Stonedog

I'm on a run with my CH/OGS/BVF mixture and I'm determined to see it to the end of the pouch before moving on. Plus it's pretty damn good.

I'm also a very big fan of this new Legend loaded with the 6mm balsa insert. The balsa inserts actually work and the only downside I can see is the extra effort to remove the old and insert the new.


----------



## Mason16Filz

A bowl of some sweet Newminster Navy Flake


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake this morning for me - both in the pipe (in the Savinelli Venezia billiard), and up each nostril (but as such better known as *Off With Your Head!*). 
An altogether glorious morning so far...


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> As for the Reiner, everybody (even non-smokers) should have the experience of opening one of their paint cans and marveling over the contents.


I have to agree. I just opened my tin this morning and haven't smoked any yet, but I'm already thinking I should order more just so I have another tin around to open!


----------



## Andrewdk

Equal portions of PA, SWR and 5B loaded into a cob with a good coffee. It's a damn fine morning.


----------



## Derrick_Y

A picture is worth 1000 words and according to my wife is less than my long winded posts or stories


----------



## freestoke

Wow, Derrick, my father had a pipe exactly like that! Very neat!

Just finished a Diplomat with some PA. I HAVE to clean a few pipes today. It's getting embarrassing.

Think I'll fire up some 1792 in the 4Dot, with hopes of ghosting it.


----------



## Stonedog

Nutty Cut in the my Sav 811 avec balsa. I'm a balsa believer, I admit it.


----------



## freestoke

I occasionally put a balsa 9mm in the Savinelli, but not often, and not for a long time. I don't notice much difference, except in the draw, and I think I might prefer the more cobbish open draw of smoking it filterless.

Off to rejoin the 1792nd Juggernaut.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Kendal Dark in my newish estate Stanwell Antique. This pipe may offer the best smoke of all my pipes.










Or at least ties with the '48 Peterson Killarney apple, but that one's reserved for Irish Flake.


----------



## Derrick_Y

freestoke said:


> Wow, Derrick, my father had a pipe exactly like that! Very neat!Just finished a Diplomat with some PA. I HAVE to clean a few pipes today. It's getting embarrassing.Think I'll fire up some 1792 in the 4Dot, with hopes of ghosting it.


that is my jeantet leather wrapped bulldog that my daughter bought for me last spring in Paris. The bowl is a little on the small side but the fact she went hunting in Paris for a French pipe males it priceless to meMoved on to NewMinster English Luxus in my LL Bean Billiard while I build a cabinet for my pipes


----------



## freestoke

Derrick_Y said:


> that is my jeantet leather wrapped bulldog that my daughter bought for me last spring in Paris. The bowl is a little on the small side but the fact she went hunting in Paris for a French pipe males it priceless to meMoved on to NewMinster English Luxus in my LL Bean Billiard while I build a cabinet for my pipes


I think I remember my father buying his in France, when we were driving from England to Italy, to his new assignment in Naples. His was a Longchamps, and the stem was round instead of square, but it still looked very similar to that. It eventually turned a deep brown color. The leather enthusiast's version of meerschaum. :smile: It was his golfing pipe. He swung with it clenched in his teeth. Putted with it in his mouth. Might even try that myself this season, instead of setting it down all the time.

After a two pipe talk with Prince Albert earlier, I'm on to my fourth cup of coffee and some Irish Flake in the Diplomat. Beautiful day in store. Looks like we'll be hitting a few today!


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend in a Pete Mark Twain.


DJ_Pete_MT_BillBaileyBalkanBlend_10.15.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Derrick_Y

PS LNF in my Troutman Brebbia


----------



## MarkC

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend in a Pete Mark Twain.


That's some good stuff; I'm still a bit grumpy over the price jumping so much recently, though.

I'm smoking a bowl of Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake (I think I got that name right). A very nice tobacco, but a bit too similar to Astley's No. 44 for me to add to the cellar.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Royal Yacht in the dedicated acorn during the drive up the mountain to work.


----------



## freestoke

Damn. Royal Yacht! I need to open a can soon, but right now it's a basic PA in the 4Dot, with some coffee, trying to re-enter the world of the aware. :cp

I've lapsed. I keep seeing emoticons cropping up in my posts again. out:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

It's one of those spectacular spring mornings on the Olympic Peninsula. The sunrise was awesome with a dozen deer in the front yard and in the background, a peach-rose glow on Klahhane Ridge. Woof! Starting out this morning with a bowl of GL Pease Westminster (aged about three years) in a Castello Le Catene 55. The coffee is a double-strength Sumatra, steaming hot and packing a thunderbolt punch!

Lovin' those photos, Derrick!


Castello_55_9154 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Derrick_Y

Revisiting Carter Hall in the Peterson Canadian. Apparently the nutty cut was ghosting this pipe, but it actually worked well with the Carter hall.


----------



## freestoke

I have to order a tub of CH next time around. I like having the "Big Three" codger blends on hand, CH, PA, and SWR, and I'm currently out of Carter Hall.

This morning, it's PA in Darth Rader, with a Happy Bogie center. Kicking up the volume early this morning. p

AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION TODAY USHERING
IN A COLDER THAN NORMAL AND UNSETTLED PATTERN THAT WILL LAST INTO
MIDWEEK. THIS WILL INCLUDE LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS AND FLURRIES
ACROSS UPSTATE NEW YORK. 

So what else is new? :frown:


----------



## Stonedog

I'm also out of Carter Hall. Or rather, I'm almost out of my outstanding CH/OGS/BVF mixture.

To that end, CH/OGS/BVF in the Leonessa dublin this morning.

I've delayed my latest TAD order for a few weeks and with it several changes. Anything Frog related (or Latakia related) is gone and in its place some Exhausted Rooster and GL Pease Robusto.


----------



## Derrick_Y

Really enjoy exhausted rooster. Only a little left of a sample I was mailed of it.

Started out the day with some jocks mixture in Peterson 302 system pipe and then moved onto 4noggins Nutty Professor in the Duca Carlo.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht tastes best with strong black coffee on a Monday morning. Good week all!


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Royal Yacht tastes best with strong black coffee on a Monday morning. Good week all!


I brought some Monday morning with me, anybody bring the Yacht? :spy: I need to open this stupid can on the shelf, but I gotta finish the LGF and Happy Bogie first -- but they're both on their last legs, so it won't be long.

Looks like darts instead of golf on this thoroughly unpleasant day, weatherwise. Speaking of which, I chanced on the local weather report on TV last night, after the golf tournament went overtime. "During the overnight" has mutated, something akin to infectious bacteria developing immunity to drugs. Emanating from her oral cavity came the words, "...continuing into the early overnight then ending during the overnight." The English translation is, "...ending overnight."

Having a Diplomat of 1792 -- again! p


----------



## Nachman

Stonedog said:


> I'm also out of Carter Hall. Or rather, I'm almost out of my outstanding CH/OGS/BVF mixture.
> 
> To that end, CH/OGS/BVF in the Leonessa dublin this morning.
> 
> I've delayed my latest TAD order for a few weeks and with it several changes. Anything Frog related (or Latakia related) is gone and in its place some Exhausted Rooster and GL Pease Robusto.


The Robusto is quite a treat. I don't taste the cigar leaf in it, but it is delicious and has some strength.


----------



## steinr1

Brown Bogie Rum in a newly acquired Ropp Yeco Junior (picture in the Ebay Acquisitions thread). A light ream and clean was all that was needed. Really light pipe; it is very small, but still light for the size. Hope it smokes well.

Nice sunny morning, but bloody cold.


----------



## Stonedog

Nachman said:


> The Robusto is quite a treat. I don't taste the cigar leaf in it, but it is delicious and has some strength.


That's all the recommendation I need, thanks Nick!

Now that my CH Mixture of Awesomeness(C) is gone I opened a fresh pouch of PA. It paired quite well with strong coffee and a tortilla filled with Easter ham and scrambled eggs.

Good morning Puff!


----------



## Desertlifter

ProbateGeek said:


> Not sure what the point of that is, except something (not) to do to pass the time. Do you really WANT an ever-smaller tobacco chamber? Unless you've decided to wean yourself of this precious nectar-leaf...?


Hit the reply button and I get this post quoted. Interesting.

Road trip today - coming your way, brother. Spending a couple of days in Portland for a visit. As this allows for (necessitates) a 3 hour drive, I have a Rattray's duo of OG and MF on tap. Today I shall decide which is the better for me.


----------



## freestoke

Another three inches of snow on the way as I type, after about three last night. Nice. The twenty mph plus winds that started yesterday look like they'll max out today with 40mph gusts, then quieten down a little Thursday and warm back up into the 50s. Right now, calendar be damned, it's winter. :frown:

Coffee is going down pretty easy this morning and some of the PPP with a little PA in it for freshness.


----------



## Derrick_Y

Cold Morning here in the Beach, I decided crack the 2006 Dunhill Light Flake and load it into the Troutman Brebbia. Oh why was I waiting to open this stuff. I think I am ruined now


----------



## steinr1

Desertlifter said:


> Hit the reply button and I get this post quoted. Interesting.
> 
> Road trip today - coming your way, brother. Spending a couple of days in Portland for a visit. As this allows for (necessitates) a 3 hour drive, I have a Rattray's duo of OG and MF on tap. Today I shall decide which is the better for me.


For a three hour smoke fest, I'd go with the Old Gowrie. The Marlin Flake might be a bit much for a wimp like me. Old Gowrie you can smoke all day long. Lovely.


----------



## freestoke

How old is it, Derrick? Seems that my first few tins were Light Flake, then they changed the name, but I can't be sure. Right now, more PA with a PPP topping (mostly Erinmore Flake, LGF and 1792 scraps).


----------



## Derrick_Y

2006 so that makes it about 7 years old.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Hearth & Home Marquee Black House in a Castello Le Catene 55.


Castello_55_9154 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Nachman

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Hearth & Home Marquee Black House in a Castello Le Catene 55.
> 
> 
> Castello_55_9154 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


Have you done a review on the Black House? I am considering it in my next TAD order.


----------



## freestoke

Derrick_Y said:


> 2006 so that makes it about 7 years old.


Hard to beat! I'm firing up some young 1792, whetting my appetite for lunch. p

Looks like the snow might be dying out. Might even go above freezing here before long.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Desertlifter said:


> Road trip today - coming your way, brother. Spending a couple of days in Portland for a visit.


Brian, if you happen to get lost and find yourself wandering aimlessly in or around the Lake Oswego area (daytime), or downtown PDX (near Kell's, evening) or anywhere near the airport (Shilo Inn, evening), let me know. I am always looking for a chance to assist a wayward traveler.

:ss


----------



## Desertlifter

ProbateGeek said:


> Not sure what the point of that is, except something (not) to do to pass the time. Do you really WANT an ever-smaller tobacco chamber? Unless you've decided to wean yourself of this precious nectar-leaf...?





ProbateGeek said:


> Brian, if you happen to get lost and find yourself wandering aimlessly in or around the Lake Oswego area (daytime), or downtown PDX (near Kell's, evening) or anywhere near the airport (Shilo Inn, evening), let me know. I am always looking for a chance to assist a wayward traveler.
> 
> :ss


I was actually just thinking about Kell's for dinner....


----------



## Stonedog

LA Flake musketball in my MM Patriot this morning. 

I'm really trying to come to terms with the notes of aftershave that hit early in the bowl. The majority here on Puff seem to enjoy it so there must be something I'm missing. I'm going to rub out a few bowls worth let it dry a little. If that doesn't help I'll probably trade and/or gift the remaining 3.5 oz to the good men and women here on the pipe side.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> I was actually just thinking about Kell's for dinner....


Just out of curiosity, I looked up Kell's, and I guess it's the Irish restaurant in Portland of which you speak. So, what's it gonna be, a traditional six pack of Guinness and chips? oke:

Just finished a Country Gentleman of plain ol' PA, so I gotta step up the action some. "Set the WABAC machine to 1792, Sherman."


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> So, what's it gonna be, a traditional six pack of Guinness and chips? oke:


Boiled bacon, colcannon, Guiness, and an unprovoked fight.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> ...and an unprovoked fight.


:rofl:


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Just out of curiosity, I looked up Kell's, and I guess it's the Irish restaurant in Portland of which you speak. So, what's it gonna be, a traditional six pack of Guinness and chips? oke:


I've been to Kell's about 8 times, and have not yet tasted their fare. I have, however, consumed an awful lot of IPA, a couple three bourbons, and smoked about a dozen cigars in their downstairs cigar bar. Not much for ambiance, but with good beer, carry-in cigars and a few fine BsOTL, who cares?


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> ....and smoked about a dozen cigars in their downstairs cigar bar.


I guess it can't be ALL bad, then. :lol:


----------



## Desertlifter

steinr1 said:


> Boiled bacon, colcannon, Guiness, and an unprovoked fight.


You'd be dismayed at what is labeled Irish fare here. Or perhaps emboldened. The pacific northwest is well-infested with uppity food nerds, a badge I wear with some pride. Hard to be uppity otherwise. Bangers and mash are available there, but the menu is largely pnw fusion cuisine.

A good thing as I am by and large a pescatarian.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

GL Pease in a Will Purdy Cherrywood.


WillPurdyCherry_L by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## steinr1

Desertlifter said:


> A good thing as I am by and large a pescatarian.


Fish is good. There is, however, a limited amount of seared tuna that you can bear before your body cries out "STEAK!"


----------



## Tulpa

A bowl of 1-Q. I have to call the vet this morning to try to get some medicine for my rat.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> You'd be dismayed at what is labeled Irish fare here.


Or perhaps relieved. Maybe I should say, I hope for your sake that that is true. :lol:


----------



## Thirston

Advice please! I don’t pipe in the AM. Do you brush your teeth before or pipe with morning mouth? Both are not working for me. Cigars are strong enough to drown out stale mouth but not pipes. I guess option C would be a bit of alcohol. Sorry for the thread jack, guys. Thx in advance.


----------



## splattttttt

Thirston said:


> Advice please! I don't pipe in the AM. Do you brush your teeth before or pipe with morning mouth? Both are not working for me. Cigars are strong enough to drown out stale mouth but not pipes. I guess option C would be a bit of alcohol. Sorry for the thread jack, guys. Thx in advance.


Good question. 
Definitely for me, it's useless to brush your teeth unless your involved in some sort of public affair.
You could brush and rinse with a nice bourbon before a smoke. That works at getting rid of the minty fresh taste we all hate. 
Wish someone would invent tobacco flavored tooth paste.


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> Or perhaps relieved. Maybe I should say, I hope for your sake that that is true. :lol:


Truer words, and all that. Had a lovely chicken and mushroom pastie with mash along with a quart of fresh Guiness. Yes, I can tell the difference.

In true local form, the pastie and mash was complimented by a tarragon and cream sauce and grilled fresh asparagus. Now relaxing with a Dead Guy Ale.


----------



## steinr1

Warrior Plug in a Yeco Junior; Germain's Rich Dark Flake in a Barling's Make S-M Lovat (Let's call it that shape...) 

I seem to be on a VaBur kick and enjoying them immensely. Each good in its own way. The Germain's is particularly fine; Stonehaven equivalent or not. Also very economical (by British standards - about $17 for 50g). Getting on for 40 minutes of smoking from a half of one of the thin flakes. And I'm a fairly constant puffer.


----------



## splattttttt

Desertlifter said:


> Truer words, and all that. Had a lovely chicken and mushroom pastie with mash along with a quart of fresh Guiness. Yes, I can tell the difference.
> 
> In true local form, the pastie and mash was complimented by a tarragon and cream sauce and grilled fresh asparagus. Now relaxing with a Dead Guy Ale.


Guessing you're quite a clip outside 'o Kansas?


----------



## freestoke

PASTIES! :spy: I LOVE PASTIES! :shock: I'm pretty much a meat-in-a-crust junkie across the board and count pork pot pie as one of my culinary strong suits. Speaking of pasties, they had a family that came to Rome from Bolivia, back in the mid '80s and opened The Salteña Shop, serving nothing but chicken and beef salteñas. Took about a week to form the lunch and dinner lines out into the street. They brought in more family from Bolivia to help with the cooking, bought another couple of ovens, then opened another shop in the centercourt at a mall in Utica. The salteñas were, needless to say, absolutely amazing. Then the INS started checking them out, finding that some of them had come here on tourist visas to "visit their family". The INS packed most of them back off to Bolivia and the rest decided, quite rightly, that the US wasn't a friendly place to be. They closed the shops and went home. Perfect. A bunch of really hard-working people come to the Mohawk Valley, bringing fantastically good food and opening a thriving, expanding business, and the INS decides we don't need them here. Can't have that, the locals might realize that other types of food exist besides hamburgers and pasta with red sauce. Plus, they worked ENTIRELY too hard and smiled too much to fit into the local lifestyle. Bet they wouldn't have been deported if they'd been doing yard work and babysitting for some bazillionaire at beneath minimum wage.

Having an opening salvo of PA in the 4Dot, hungering for pasties and salteñas. Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you my sad story of the Jamaican restaurant in Utica that closed, the one that had pasties. out: But right now, I'm celebrating the arrival of a promised 50* day and sunshine! :banana:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> ...the Jamaican restaurant in Utica that closed, the one that had pasties. out:


Surely they had "Patties". Jamacan Patties; Cornish Pasties. Both of which are fantastic if properly made. The Ginsters plastic-wrapped "Cornish Pasties" normally found in Pubs here are sadly not...

We've lately come through a furore over the sale of hot pasties in the UK. As "Food" they would not attract VAT (Value Added Tax - essentially and across the board 20% sales tax; a few exceptions.) However, as "Hot Food" they would be taxed. The conundrum was how to treat pasties fresh from the bakery. Until they cooled, they were "Hot" (Duh...) and therefore taxed. But as they cooled, they became "Food" and were no longer subject to the tax. Unless, of course, it was determined that they should be. Or not. There was so much fuss over "Pasty-gate" that the government had to make a U-turn. The pasty is now definitely "Food", hot or cold. Or luke-warm. What a good use of our representatives time.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Surely they had "Patties". Jamacan Patties; Cornish Pasties. Both of which are fantastic if properly made. The Ginsters plastic-wrapped "Cornish Pasties" normally found in Pubs here are sadly not...


Actually, the restaurant in Utica called them pasties and the proprietors had lived in Jamaica before coming to Rome. The guy was from Utica originally and had married a Jamaican woman and they shared the cooking, cleaning and waiting on tables. (Maybe his family was from Cornwall?) We first had pasties/patties at a Jamaican fast food shop in Kew Gardens, back in 1999, and they called them pasties there, too, although possibly in deference to the local dialect. Very, very tasty they were, but I cannot explain the etymological discrepancies at work here. :dunno:

As 'Enry 'Iggins said, "There even are places where English completely disappears; in America they haven't used it for years."

Need to step up the pace -- some Irish Flake is in order, and more coffee!


----------



## Stonedog

If I may be so boring, Stanwell Vanilla in a basket pipe this morning...


----------



## splattttttt

Stonedog said:


> If I may be as so bold, Stanwell Vanilla in a basket pipe this morning...


fixed ( ;


----------



## freestoke

Good work, Jack! :tu

This morning finds me with the 4Dot full of Irish Oak, left over from last night. Filled it, then crashed before I lit it up. Fresh coffee and a day of snowmelt ahead! Might even hit a few whiffles in the back yard, with 60* days on the horizon next week. And the Masters is next week! :banana:

Speaking of the Masters, I was there in '60 and '61, so I'm always scoping out the old tournament footage on TV to see if I can locate myself in the crowd. Been doing it for 50 years and I've never seen a thing. Last week, I was watching The Golf Channel during Arnie's tournament and they were showing him blowing it at 18 in '61, when he blasted out of the right side bunker over the green -- right at my feet! (There was very little crowd control back then and you could actually walk out onto the fairways.) As I watched, I realized that it was a slightly different angle, one I'd not seen before, and the resolution was quite good. I hit the pause button.









I wasn't recording and I was all the way back to my hour delay on the DVR. Couldn't pause it! :rant: And there I was, on the left! Never to be seen again. sigh.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> And there I was, on the left! Never to be seen again. sigh.


Possibly with some very embarrassing Fashion Errors evident. And hair. I used to have hair.


----------



## Stonedog

To balance out yesterday's Vanilla I went for some crispy dry SG Chocolate Flake this morning. Despite the lack of moisture I couldn't keep it lit. At least the muttled barnyard note was broken apart and I could discern the constituent tobaccos and an occasional whisper of chocolate. It was nice but still not a rotation-worthy.

Next week is Spring Break in my little section of the South so we're heading over to the South Carolina beach. It sounds like it won't be warm enough to enjoy the water, but I'm planning a trip over to SmokingPipes.com so all is not lost. I've been wanting a Savinellli 616 for a while so I might pick one up along with most of the entries on my TAD list.

And, while I'm relaxing on this much needed holiday I will suck it up and try to get through the first few chapters of *Titus Groan*, mainly out of respect for Jim and his opinions of Peake's writing.


----------



## Stonedog

steinr1 said:


> Possibly with some very embarrassing Fashion Errors evident. And hair. I used to have hair.


Hair? That's the stuff that's grows from ears and nostrils, right?


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> And, while I'm relaxing on this much needed holiday I will suck it up and try to get through the first few chapters of *Titus Groan*...


Any trace of blue sky destroys the mood for Peake. :lol: Peake has a great feel for names, like Dickens did, Swelter, Steerpike, Mr. Flay...

Weird, I just realized that I had the order wrong in remembering the books. It's TG, Gormenghast, Titus Alone, but I was remembering Gormenghast being the first! :ask: But don't ruin your trip, okay Jon!?


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Possibly with some very embarrassing Fashion Errors evident. And hair. I used to have hair.


Definitely evidence of hair. There wouldn't have been much in way of sartorial weirdness, though. I'd expect khaki pants, white socks (well...okay, SOME fashion problems), golf shoes, golf shirt and a basic jacket, no hat. All that was visible was a right profile shot from the neck up. I must admit, I was temporarily confused by the presence of hair, but that was me, right where I was at the time. No weird hair. Never had weird hair, and it's pretty much out of the question at this point; about the best I could do is a Ben Franklin.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> PASTIES! :spy: I LOVE PASTIES! :shock: I'm pretty much a meat-in-a-crust junkie across the board and count pork pot pie as one of my culinary strong suits.


Pasties: Hot Pockets for people with self respect. :lol:

It is MUCH too windy for a pipe today, lucky I had six yesterday. RY, MM965, PA, PA, London Mxt, and a stolen bowl of Alsbo (I think thats what it was called. Tasted like chocolate, banana, and coconut. It was some super cheap pouch used to get free shipping that made a gifting path to a buddy of mine. Actually not a bad dessert.)

Staying alive with black coffee (both drink and snuff, the snuff alternating with HDT, a new favorite). I don't think I should be allowed to enjoy HDT so much, it's such a "pro-level" snuff-geek kind of snuff and I haven't really paid my dues in the world of runny noses. Only Robert, St. Nachman, and Dan should be allowed to snuff HDT ound:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

London Mixture in a MM cob.


----------



## Nachman

karatekyle said:


> Pasties: Hot Pockets for people with self respect. :lol:
> 
> Staying alive with black coffee (both drink and snuff, the snuff alternating with HDT, a new favorite). I don't think I should be allowed to enjoy HDT so much, it's such a "pro-level" snuff-geek kind of snuff and I haven't really paid my dues in the world of runny noses. Only Robert, St. Nachman, and Dan should be allowed to snuff HDT ound:


Congrats on the HDT, now for the next step down the slope try either Navy Plain or Abraxas Dragun. Similar but with more burn and more punch. I am getting paranoid about all the sentence fragments without a verb I have been writing lately.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> Congrats on the HDT, now for the next step down the slope try either Navy Plain or Abraxas Dragun. Similar but with more burn and more punch. *I am getting paranoid about all the sentence fragments without a verb I have been writing lately.*


Don't.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> Congrats on the HDT, now for the next step down the slope try either Navy Plain or Abraxas Dragun. Similar but with more burn and more punch. I am getting paranoid about all the sentence fragments without a verb I have been writing lately.


F&T Santo Domingo is a bit of a nicotine monster in my opinion. I also get a lot of that from Samuel Gawith Chocolate Snuff. Perhaps a bit fey for the "Tobacco, the whole tobacco, and nothing but the tobacco" brigade, but powerful stuff.

Being worthless and weak, today, I have been mostly snuffing... Hedges.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I am getting paranoid about all the sentence fragments without a verb I have been writing lately.


Grammar lapses. Deep paranoia. The stuff of poets.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake during the drive up the mountain to work this morning. 

I just had almost a week off. It was wonderful and productive. I cleaned and sanitized my kegerater, made a five gallon batch of Brown Ale, and a five gallon batch of APA, a two gallon batch of onion wine, and a one gallon batch of garlic wine, Started twelve gallons of molasses wash, repotted most of my houseplants, got my seeds for the garden started inside in a sunny window (we can't plant outside here until the 15th of next month), and even caught a few trout I fried in butter with parsley and paprika.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

C&D Star of the East in a Pete rustic System Standard 307. A huge, steaming mug of Sumatra coffee helping things along this morning.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> ...and even caught a few trout I fried in butter with parsley and paprika.


:faint: I need a rest just hearing all that! :lol:

Firing up the big Falcon with a musketball of Stonehaven. Excellent!


----------



## Desertlifter

Nachman said:


> Congrats on the HDT, now for the next step down the slope try either Navy Plain or Abraxas Dragun. Similar but with more burn and more punch. I am getting paranoid about all the sentence fragments without a verb I have been writing lately.


It could be worse. Brian did well enough - with the occasional lapse into ending a sentence with a preposition - until he started referring to himself solely in third person.

He has little time for the pipeweed this morning. Business meeting, an hour run, and then an 8-hour shift at the patrol.


----------



## freestoke

As Jim mused over Brian's post, he was puzzled by the conflation of bad grammar and bad choice of voice. "One can be redeemed by poetic license, but the other..." :tsk: He turned his attention to another bowl of Stonehaven.


----------



## WilsonRoa

Today I had some Old Dog followed by some Checkmate


----------



## Nachman

I don't often post what I smoked, but feel an obligation to do so today as no one has posted a morning smoke. MM965 in an Eriksen Bulldog.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

It's a dark and stormy day here on the Olympic Peninsula. The past several days have been glorious partly-sunny and partly rainy alternating with dancing rainbows cycling through. There are streets lined with trees in full pink blossom and the daffodils are out in wild celebration of yet another spring. Hope springs eternal!

I'm smoking a bowl of EMP in a Pete Mark Twain contemplating how lucky I am, and we are, to be able to enjoy these times with our families, friends and all of you in our online smoking community.


Peterson Mark Twain_DJ by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## logically

Latakius Vituscan said:


> I'm smoking a bowl of EMP in a Pete Mark Twain *contemplating how lucky I am, and we are, to be able to enjoy these times with our families, friends and all of you in our online smoking community.*


Truer words have never been spoken. It must be the spring air, because I too have been feeling very thankful for my family and friends. As the snow melts, my spirits seem to soar and I feel content with my world.

Great post DJ.


----------



## splattttttt

Lost a bid on that exact same pipe last week. So grant looking. 
Ahh, yes! Give me etarnal "spring"!


----------



## freestoke

Bah, hummingbird! :lol:

A little early for hummingbirds around here, but we tee it up tomorrow! :banana: Yeah spring!


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I don't often post what I smoked, but feel an obligation to do so today as no one has posted a morning smoke.


I post what I'm smoking as an excuse for delivering my first rant of the day. This morning, it's some simple PA in the simple Country Gentleman, conserving my energy for the first round of the season! With our new Clic Gear golf carts! (Man, are they sturdy! Nice product.) But I'm here to mussitate.

The Dinah Shore championship is one of the ladies' majors and has a tradition of the winner jumping into a pond beside the green. It started when Amy Alcott ran and jumped into a nasty little pond next to the 18th green after sinking the winning putt, and winners ever since (with a few exceptions) have jumped in the pond. The tradition has gradually evolved into a ceremonial ritual. The little pool of water of indeterminant depth, is now a clean, blue, sterile, widened and lengthened and deepened, and altogether safe swimming pool. One of the producers of the telecast died somewhere along the line, so now it's called Poppy's Pond, and the rite "Jumping into Poppy's Pond" instead of "Jumping into the water next to the 18th green at the Dinah Shore". But it gets worse.

Whereas Amy Alcott jumped in after holing the winning putt, we now have to wait patiently while they trundle across the bridge, sign their scorecards (to make it official -- no embarrassing jump then signing an incorrect scorecard), give autographs along the way, stroll back, assemble, receive the trophy, have photographs taken, then make an anticlimactic leap into the lifeless outdoor bathtub called Poppy's Pond. But it gets worse. First, Amy Alcott jumped in. Then the caddy jumped in with her next time. Then it was sometimes the caddy too, then always the caddy, until it has reached the outlandish display of yesterday -- the winner (Inbee Park), her caddy, her fiance, and (just guessing here), her marketing agent, her tax consultant, her fitness trainer, and maybe somebody out of the gallery sneaking in like a wedding crasher. And nobody gets muddy. But it's still my favorite women's major -- Dinah Shore reminds me of my mother.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a cheap-o cheroot during my drive up the mountain to work this morning. I brought my pipe bag with two pipes and Bob's Chocolate Flake, but won't get to smoke until I'm done cooking breakfast for the hotel.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

EMP in a Pete Deluxe.

If you see a pipe floating in Thron's pond...one might ask: Where's Jim?


Peterson Deluxe 205 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Just had a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake in a falcon outside on the deck at work. Spring seems to be here in strength: the snow is melting in the mountains and the creeks have begun to run again and the river is swollen and muddy with run-off. It's sunny and warm outside. I wonder if the weather people have a clue? They are suggesting it's gonna snow tonight, tomorrow, and the next day also.


----------



## steinr1

Latakius Vituscan said:


> EMP in a Pete Deluxe.
> 
> If you see a pipe floating in Thron's pond...one might ask: Where's Jim?
> 
> 
> Peterson Deluxe 205 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


And yet again, what a beautiful pipe!


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> And yet again, what a beautiful pipe!


Like watching Fred Funk hit off the tee, it starts getting repetitive after a while to say, "Nice shot."

I'm carrying some Stonehaven into the thread in 4Dot -- and Old Milwaukee.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Like watching Fred Funk hit off the tee, it starts getting repetitive after a while to say, "Nice shot."
> 
> I'm carrying some *Stonehaven* into the thread in 4Dot -- and Old Milwaukee.


Never heard of it. Surely you mean Germain's Rich Dark Flake.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Gatlinburlier Pistachio Peak in a Medico


----------



## freestoke

The PA jar inconsiderately ran dry yesterday and in order to refill it I have to open a tub. Think I'll run through some Sugar Barrel first, though, for a change of pace, more or less like a switch to waffles from toast for breakfast. Might be okay to play later this afternoon, but it won't be near as nice as yesterday -- colder, windier, and no sun on tap. But it's still going to be great! Think I was picking up a little distance toward the end of the round yesterday, so maybe it will click in a little earlier today. In my own defense, I was babying the ball yesterday, because my back was a bit on the dicey side, but I think it loosened up with the walk and the exercise. Maybe a fuller turn today will pull out a few more yards off the tee.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Royal Yacht in the dedicated bent acorn. Yum!


----------



## freestoke

Gratuitous golf tip (to remind myself should we head out this afternoon). Even low handicappers get this one wrong and it's not often mentioned in the "grip tip" world. I've even seen an INCORRECT grip recommended with regard to this particular item: The pressure point in the lower hand is on the index KNUCKLE bone, not against the pad of the finger just below it. Hogan taught it and it works for me. With the grip on the pad, there is a virtual shock absorber and built in slop during the transition. With it on the bone, it is solid. (Yet another item in *The Golfing Machine* that is complete nonsense in its presentation. I think The Golfing Machine by Homer Kelly is an extraordinary popular delusion. Pure idiocy.)

More Sugar Barrel in a cob.


----------



## freestoke

I will follow my own post from yesterday, feeling like that old man that goes around talking to himself all the time.









Sugar Barrel in the Country Gentleman.


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> I will follow my own post from yesterday, feeling like that old man that goes around talking to himself all the time.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sugar Barrel in the Country Gentleman.


a true all American!


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> I will follow my own post from yesterday, feeling like that old man that goes around talking to himself all the time.


The Kaiser will steal my string!

Who am I again?


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> The Kaiser will steal my string!
> 
> Who am I again?


:lol:

I gotta get some nicotine in my diet this morning. Irish Oak should be about right, at least for now.


----------



## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> Who am I again?


that guy with all of my property lol.

just ended a light pack of 221b Series Honeydew. Was love at first sight.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Royal Yacht in the dedicated bent acorn.

This RY will get ya going in the morning.


----------



## logically

I had a nice puff on some Esoterica Dorchester after breakfast today. It's a bit more nicotine than I'm used to, but I found it quite enjoyable. I am definitely looking forward to more of that in the near future. 

I'm hoping to pack a good bowl of Frog Morton in a few hours here after I run some errands. 

It's rainy and chilly, A good day to sit puffing and reading.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Early Morning Pipe in a MM to start the day. It was 65* at 5am in Southern Virginia! Not normal for this time of year :ask:


----------



## splattttttt

Tobias Lutz said:


> Early Morning Pipe in a MM to start the day. It was 65* at 5am in Southern Virginia! Not normal for this time of year :ask:


I hope it's heading this way.


----------



## freestoke

A nice, rainy rest of the week! Perfect Masters weather! :tu

A bowl of Stonehaven in the Diplomat. More coffee!


----------



## logically

Rain hasn't let up here for the last three days. 

Had a very satisfying bowl of frog morton. I'm definitely going to be ordering more of this excellent blend. Only my third bowl, but it smokes all the way to ash with only two or three relights throughout. Very pleasant smoking experience ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Big rain! Big wind! (25mph 41mph gusts here.) A perfect day for the Masters coverage! 

Can you believe that 14 year old Guan? I was still figuring out how to break 100. :lol: Got a third bowl of SB going (one with an Irish Flake scraps core), all in the Darth Rader, in full codger mode. Coffee, cofffee, coffee, SB, SB, SB...


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a MM cob.

It's warm and sunny on the porch.


----------



## freestoke

For the golfers in the crowd, I'm here to predict that Tiger Woods will be disqualified today. I said it yesterday, as he took his drop at 15, "He doesn't look like he's keeping the entry point between him and the hole. He looks like he's dropped it on a flatter spot than he was on before. He can't do that." Turns out I was right! He even SAID that he dropped it two yards behind where he had been, which is an improper drop. Since he's signed for his score, he will be DQed if they decide that it was, indeed, an improper drop. I don't think there's any real question about it. He won't be playing tomorrow -- maybe not even today! They may even rearrange the tee times/pairings, so that Bubba isn't playing alone. Tiger may not even tee off.

As I ponder all this, I'm stoking up a cob with some Irish Flake, for a pre-game boosteroo.


----------



## TTecheTTe

OHH, NOO! Of course. You're always right, Jim.u. Now, for some real golf, put pn CBS for the Speedgolf World Championship. Players are male and female, aged 16-63. One guy is playing only his 6 iron! 

Nightcap in a cob, for me - all day.


----------



## freestoke

Go Kooch! Man, almost anybody on the top of the leaderboard would be fine with me, since I've got reasons for wanting practically any of them to win. Any of the Australians, especially Scott. Kuchar, Snedeker, Cabrera -- Tim Clark! (Can you believe Tim Clark? :shock: Almost as amazing as the amateur Guan!). 

Irish Oak -- maybe I'm channeling green. :mrgreen:


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> For the golfers in the crowd, I'm here to predict that Tiger Woods will be disqualified today. I said it yesterday, as he took his drop at 15, "He doesn't look like he's keeping the entry point between him and the hole. He looks like he's dropped it on a flatter spot than he was on before. He can't do that." Turns out I was right! He even SAID that he dropped it two yards behind where he had been, which is an improper drop. Since he's signed for his score, he will be DQed if they decide that it was, indeed, an improper drop. I don't think there's any real question about it. He won't be playing tomorrow -- maybe not even today! They may even rearrange the tee times/pairings, so that Bubba isn't playing alone. Tiger may not even tee off.
> 
> As I ponder all this, I'm stoking up a cob with some Irish Flake, for a pre-game boosteroo.


Thought that the latest on that was that the rule was changed from a DQ to the stroke penalty. I think that the question would then be whether he signed his score card to include the penalty, wouldn't it? Penalty for the bad drop, penalty for signing a score card that he KNEW was incorrect.



TTecheTTe said:


> OHH, NOO! Of course. You're always right, Jim.u. Now, for some real golf, put pn CBS for the Speedgolf World Championship. Players are male and female, aged 16-63. One guy is playing only his 6 iron!
> 
> Nightcap in a cob, for me - all day.


There is a nice little 9-hole just down the road from me called the Cherry Patch. You can play unlimited rounds for $24 a day, which includes your lunch. Obviously, nothing fancy - still a great course. Longest hole is a middling par 4 with a 90-degree dogleg around the driving range. Regularly play the course with a Nike CPR wood, wedge, and putter. Fun.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Thought that the latest on that was that the rule was changed from a DQ to the stroke penalty.


Not exactly. If the plays just screws up "normally", like Woods did, he should be disqualified. He did the drop wrong. I noticed it, lots of people saw it. The rule is there to protect a player who doesn't know that the ball moved as shown on HDTV, or that there was a leaf dislodged. The player in such a case could not have "reasonably known that he had committed an infraction", or some such language. If they caught him doing something ON PURPOSE, to gain an advantage, like furtively kicking his ball out of a bad lie in the rough or something, it's DQ, obviously, but if something happened that would have never surfaced without TV, then the rule stops an inequity. I do not believe that the spirit of the new rule matches Tiger's situation. He COULD and SHOULD have realized that he took an improper drop. His caddy or his gallery or the tournament officials -- somebody-- should have asked him about it. They didn't. This was an "ordinary" mistake, but a mistake on the part of the player, a breach of rules that he did as a result of error in not knowing the rule.

I get the sense that the Masters committee screwed up. The guy who looked at the video missed the call. I knew IMMEDIATELY, without a replay, that he did it wrong. I was certain of it. That nobody told Tiger should have been his problem. As it was, the Masters committee probably felt like it was, in an indirect sense, THEIR fault, so how could they disqualify him for their mistake? Haven't seen it put quite that way, but that's what happened. Personally, I think they need to dispense with ALL the scorecard nonsense in pro golf. For amateur golf, you have to do that, but for the Tour? Forget it. That's what walking scorers are for. (And it's their scores you see on TV, not what the player is writing down.) We can avoid all these sorts of problems. When a tour pro walks off the course, he should sign autographs instead scorecards.

More Irish Oak!


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

This morning I'm smoking McClelland's Grand Orientals Yenidje Highlander in a Castello Le Catene 55 and sipping on a steaming mug of Ethiopia Ardi coffee. We're so lucky here on the Olympic Peninsula to have a guy that used to operate a mobile mechanic service that is now locally roasting coffee. He's gone from a good craft roaster to a superb artisan roaster. The caffeine is kicking in quite well. I'd love to have another mug, but I tend to kick into Chuckles Manson mode after one.

Later this morning The Loving Wife and I will go over to the Lotzgesell farm to watch a group of antique tractor collectors have a plough-off. These are kids between 60 and 95 years old, playing with their beautifully restored vintage toys. One of them even SMOKES A PIPE!


Castello_55_9154 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> Personally, I think they need to dispense with ALL the scorecard nonsense in pro golf. For amateur golf, you have to do that, but for the Tour? Forget it. That's what walking scorers are for. (And it's their scores you see on TV, not what the player is writing down.) We can avoid all these sorts of problems. When a tour pro walks off the course, he should sign autographs instead scorecards.
> More Irish Oak!


And on that we are in complete agreement. Both the Irish Oak and the scorecard bit. That and Tiger is a brilliant golfer, but something of an asshat.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I forgot to properly stock my pipe bag this morning. I forgot to put my dedicated Bob's Chocolate Flake pipe in the bag. So I just had a bowl of BCF in my dedicated RY pipe.

It was good, but I hope the crossover is little or none.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> I forgot to properly stock my pipe bag this morning. I forgot to put my dedicated Bob's Chocolate Flake pipe in the bag. So I just had a bowl of BCF in my dedicated RY pipe.
> 
> It was good, but I hope the crossover is little or none.


Or just a temporary change of pace. All will return to normal.

Gotta have Irish Flake, now that lunch is done. p


----------



## freestoke

What an all 'round good Masters! Congrats, Australia! I always felt bad for Norman, after he blew it in '76, not to mention Larry Mize's luck-out chip in, so it's great to see Scott finally win one for ya! Guess Phil didn't quite "light it up", like he said he would do Friday. :lol: 

The weather people got today wrong. Rats. It was supposed to be extra nice today, high 60s, sun -- low 60s and no sun now forecast. But still good enough to get on the tee later! :banana:

Sugar Barrel. Yesterday was heavily Irish Oak/Flake and Old Milwaukee, keeping the vitamin levels high for watching the Masters. Coping with tension demands good nutrition.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Frog Morton's Cellar in a Gatlinburlier Apple. The frog is all I brought for all day.


----------



## Stonedog

Back from my vacation which included a nice trip to SmokingPipes's brick and mortor. I'll post a pic of that purchase later.

This morning was a mixture of scraps including: PA, SG Choc Flake, Stanwell Vanilla, Nutty Cuty, G&H Brown Twist and Uni Flake. An odd mixture no doubt and while I like it enough to finish the ounce or so that I made, I won't do it again.


----------



## karatekyle

Morning, morning. Too windy today. A sneezy, brown-nosed supplement with coffee!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a MM cob.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> I get the sense that the Masters committee screwed up. The guy who looked at the video missed the call. I knew IMMEDIATELY, without a replay, that he did it wrong. I was certain of it. That nobody told Tiger should have been his problem. As it was, the Masters committee probably felt like it was, in an indirect sense, THEIR fault, so how could they disqualify him for their mistake? Haven't seen it put quite that way, but that's what happened. Personally, I think they need to dispense with ALL the scorecard nonsense in pro golf. For amateur golf, you have to do that, but for the Tour? Forget it. That's what walking scorers are for. (And it's their scores you see on TV, not what the player is writing down.) We can avoid all these sorts of problems. When a tour pro walks off the course, he should sign autographs instead scorecards.


I did not follow this (if I had time to watch golf I'd be posting on puff instead!), but just checked out what occurred, as Jim's post made me curious. I'm wondering, Jim, your take on these two photos:










Looks like his second shot was within a few inches of his first...

Oh, and Kendal Dark this morning in my dad's big-bowled Fellini.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Looks like his second shot was within a few inches of his first...


It does from those two shots, for sure, but there has to be some sort of perspective or depth-of-field problem. There are also the little white dots -- if they were a lens artifact (dust, precipitate left by the earlier rain, etc.), then they would fit with Woods anywhere on the frame. The dark bar behind him could also be on the lens.

Woods asked his caddy to stay put while he scoped out the other options and returned to the spot. The tipoff in other camera shots shows his previous divot, the divot he himself no doubt used to measure the two yards extra that he added to the second shot, and he would have known where that divot was, for sure. I think he suffered some kind of crossover thinking, dropping two clublengths behind the spot as if he was taking a drop from an unplayable lie or something. If the Masters officials saw THIS video, they can certainly be forgiven for thinking the drop was kosher, but the other angles tell a different story -- as well as his own words. This video would mean that he *accidentally* made a correct drop! :lol:

Finishing a bowl of SB in the cob and heading for another.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

RY in the dedicated bent acorn.


----------



## Stonedog

Old Gowrie in the Leonessa dublin. This is a new blend for me and so far so good. I could see stashing away a few 100g tins of this stuff.


----------



## karatekyle

BEAUTIFUL day. Had PA with my coffee.


----------



## freestoke

About time you sent some decent weather this way, Kyle. Gonna be nice here today, close to 60 without a lot of wind. Should be halfway decent on the course later, so I'm hoping something good happens to my sorrowful, winter rust golf game. First thing out of the jar this morning is Irish Oak. Gonna have a guzzle of quart of coffee to wake up, I think.


----------



## Stonedog

Beautiful day here in Atlanta too. It is days like this (and last week's vacation) that make me seriously question the 8am-5pm 5 day a week system in which most of us work. I need to find a way to make a living that doesn't involve sitting behind a desk 8 to 10 hours a day.

My PA-based mixture in the Savinelli 811 this morning.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

RY in the dedicated bent acorn.


----------



## freestoke

Just some basic Sugar Barrel to start the day. Played a little better yesterday, but the round was halfway miserable because of this guy who joined us. He's just one of those annoying people. Actually a fair player, doesn't complain about his shots, fairly cheerful...but he's a major distraction and we both wind up on the edge of furious by the third hole. There's always some noise or movement going on, and he's bad about being in your field of view while you're hitting a shot. For example, on the first hole, he picked up the flag stick just as I started the downstroke on my 3 foot par putt -- and I pushed it. On the third hole, he dropped his club into the bag by the green, making that subtle, hollow thumping sound, precisely timed with my takeaway for 6 foot par putt, catching my attention and causing me to decelerate and leave it short. Always something. He calls Audrey "Long Ball" and she HATES it! (I don't blame her.) He seems to hustle over from the practice range whenever he spots us on the tee. Distressing person to play with. You'd think he knew better, since he's been playing for decades is actually a decent ball striker. At least I beat him. :evil:

Oh well...looks like we'll be able to play today and tomorrow! How bad can it be? :smile:


----------



## Stonedog

PA in the MM Legend this morning. 

Going out for sushi today with an old colleague. Really looking forward to it.


----------



## splattttttt

So glad you kicked his sorry arse Jim. He should know better.
Good morning with Tambo and straight Cavendish 50/50 blend.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

GL Pease Odyssey in a Caminetto.


Caminetto_DJB3525 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## El wedo del milagro

FVF in a MM cob.


----------



## kuntry08

Stonedog said:


> PA in the MM Legend this morning.
> 
> Going out for sushi today with an old colleague. Really looking forward to it.


You all coming into the city for sushi?

Dunhill Standard Mixture Mellow in my Trevi 320


----------



## Stonedog

kuntry08 said:


> You all coming into the city for sushi?
> 
> Dunhill Standard Mixture Mellow in my Trevi 320


No Sir, it ain't safe down in the city!!

Actually we have a pretty decent little place here in Norcross just above the 141 split.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> You'd think he knew better, since he's been playing for decades is actually a decent ball striker.


Maybe I'm just cynical, but I imagine he _does_ know better...


----------



## steinr1

Black Bogie Aromatic to kickstart the day.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Early Morning Pipe to get my Friday going. I've had a busy week at work but just listening to everything crazy that has gone on in the news this week has left me even more worn out. I don't watch television, but just the morning radio reports have been all over the place. Very strange 5 days.


----------



## freestoke

No golf today. The rain comes in early this afternoon and even if it doesn't rain, the wind is projected to be brutal. The wind wore me down yesterday and I don't think I could face it again today. :faint: My last full shot was excellent, so maybe I'll be able to hold that thought until next time out -- which is probably next Tuesday or Wednesday. Maybe some warm weather will roll in here before May, but we're running out of time.

A 4Dot of Sugar Barrel this morning and lots of coffee.


----------



## Stonedog

We're about to get nailed by some rain too Jim. All of this rain is welcome down here as the local reservoir (Lake Lanier) is at full pool for the first time in several years.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm being asked to join an "Old Guys" lacrosse team this summer. I didn't play when I was younger (only heard about the sport a few years ago) but I think I will do it. It may be just the reason I need to finally get myself in shape again.

This morning I loaded up my little MM Pony Express with some too-young University Flake. It will improve with some age, but it still had the right amount of Vitamin N to get my Friday going.


----------



## splattttttt

a mellow commute into Lexington MA this morn, leaving a trail of fig scented aromas from my recently acquired 40yr old MBM Mac Baren, or Mac Baren's Mixture... Depends which tin I dig from.
All I can verify of this product is that it bares a strong resemblance in tin aroma to what my dad smoked. I would occasionally sneak some of it away. Alas taste doesn't live in memory as well as smell does.

And *DJ*... That is a gorgeous Caminetto, but the picture is absolutely outstanding :thumb:


----------



## freestoke

Lacrosse!? :shock: Yeah, what doesn't kill makes you stronger, Jon. :lol: Gives me flashbacks to UVa, actually. We might have set the NCAA Division I record for most losses in a row in football when I was there, but we had the No. 1 lacrosse team, as I recall, and I think maybe the main competition was Navy. We also had the number one polo team -- this guy was our star player. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stamps_Farish_III

The reason I remember it is because he brought in five new polo ponies for his senior year. Those sorts of statistics stick with you when you're just a ******* from Newport News. :lol:

Gotta get some nicotine in the pipeline! I'll take the Irish Flake, served on a bed of Sugar Barrel in the old MM Diplomat. Comes with a choice of beverage. I'll have some coffee with that.


----------



## karatekyle

An unfriendly wind is a-blowin'...


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a Peterson Belgique.


----------



## TanZ2005

Today smoking some Samuel Gawith, Celtic Tailsman in my Bruyere 350, made in France hand carved pipe. Today just going to rest and chill, to get ready for my Birthday tomorrow.

Anyone have a older ZIPPO, Mine on the bottom says 1932 on the Left and 1987 on the right? I fill it up and seems like I get a few days of use out of it and also the flame is high all the time, Also like with my other ZIPPO some fuel burns in the cap after filling however my Pipe one seems to always have extra fuel in the cap to burn every time I light it? Anyone have this problem or know of a way to correct it? Thank you in advance, Hope you all have a Great Smoking day. Little cold and wet here. Not going to slow down my smoking.

James


----------



## steinr1

TanZ2005 said:


> Anyone have a older ZIPPO, Mine on the bottom says 1932 on the Left and 1987 on the right? I fill it up and seems like I get a few days of use out of it and also the flame is high all the time, Also like with my other ZIPPO some fuel burns in the cap after filling however my Pipe one seems to always have extra fuel in the cap to burn every time I light it? Anyone have this problem or know of a way to correct it?


I've got a 1982 50 Year Commemorative Zippo. It's a copy of the original '32 model. Yours is obviously the 55 Year edition.

Zippo QC is pretty good and they all seem to perform similarly. The flame isn't really adjustable; you can trim the wick down a bit to reduce the flame. Pull out if needs to be higher. Once done, leave it; you'll run out of wick.

A few days between refills seems normal. I used to fill up a couple of times a week when I used one regularly. Fireworks when freshly filled is part of the fun. I normally end up with flaming fingers at some point. The trick is not overfill. Never seem to have mastered that... Don't know of any cure for the fire in the cap thing. Again, a bit of this after refill is normal a far as I know.

Great lighters...


----------



## MarkC

Stonedog said:


> It may be just the reason I need to finally get myself in shape again.


From what I've seen of lacrosse, it'll certainly let you know exactly how out of shape you are...


----------



## Chris0673

Going to the memorial service of a fellow Jeeper this morning. He was a good friend to many of us in the 4x4 community here. Going to smoke some Ruins of Isengard in my Gandalf pipe in his honor (he was also a fellow Tolkien fan).


----------



## freestoke

I really didn't want anymore Sugar Barrel, so I finished off a little Irish Flake that was left from last night. Casting about, I see the empty IF jar, the empty KK, PA and Louisiana Flake. sigh. out: :spy: AH! :shock: But of course! I opened some Royal Yacht the other day!! :banana:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

splattttttt said:


> a mellow commute into Lexington MA this morn, leaving a trail of fig scented aromas from my recently acquired 40yr old MBM Mac Baren, or Mac Baren's Mixture... Depends which tin I dig from.
> All I can verify of this product is that it bares a strong resemblance in tin aroma to what my dad smoked. I would occasionally sneak some of it away. Alas taste doesn't live in memory as well as smell does.
> 
> And *DJ*... That is a gorgeous Caminetto, but the picture is absolutely outstanding :thumb:


There you go, Jack, sneaking that tobacco...40-year old? Woof!

Thanks for the comment on the photo!

GL Pease Samarra in a 1920's Fribourg & Treyer. And, a steaming mug of Ethopia Ardi.


Fribourg & Treyer_3438 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Nachman

PA in an old size 5 Danish Sovereign.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> PA in an old size 5 Danish Sovereign.


Prince Albert! :shock: Did somebody say Prince Albert!? :spy: I have GOT to open a tub!

But right now, more RY. p It'll be Dart Mix later! The BIG GAME at 3! Boy is John gonna be surprised. (Not that he wasn't last time.) I can't deal with Audrey any more. Every win is a struggle, the few that I do win. Well...I might be winning close to half, but it doesn't feel like it. Yesterday, our last game of cricket, I sat with a commanding lead, my numbers closed and a couple of bulls to the good in the scoring column. Treble, treble, double bull. Even. I got two bulls. She throws a bull, miss, and the last dart buried in the double bull. sigh. out: Gird your loins, John.


----------



## TanZ2005

It is a Beautiful Morning everyone. Today on my Day of Birth starting 1969, I am smoking some House Of Lords from Hearth and Home in my no name "Handmade in Denmark" stamped pipe.

After a nice Breakfast in Bed from the Wife, looks like a day to be Spoiled, will have some nice Grilled Steaks, Chicken and everything she can come up with tonight for dinner.

Today is my day to rest she says. I am glad that the move is over and most of the Cleaning is done. Next I will have to set up the man cave sometime this year. I was going to set it up off my bedroom but after thinking about things going to turn my office into my smoking room after all. Just need to install the Exhaust system and we will be set. That is going to happen LOL however for right now it is being used for a Storage area.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

FVF in a MM cob during my drive up the mountain to work.

I wasn't too crazy about FVF before, but I found out it is MUCH better when very dry. I normally don't dry my tobaccos at all.


----------



## Chris0673

TanZ2005 said:


> It is a Beautiful Morning everyone. Today on my Day of Birth starting 1969, I am smoking some House Of Lords from Hearth and Home in my no name "Handmade in Denmark" stamped pipe.
> 
> After a nice Breakfast in Bed from the Wife, looks like a day to be Spoiled, will have some nice Grilled Steaks, Chicken and everything she can come up with tonight for dinner.
> 
> Today is my day to rest she says. I am glad that the move is over and most of the Cleaning is done. Next I will have to set up the man cave sometime this year. I was going to set it up off my bedroom but after thinking about things going to turn my office into my smoking room after all. Just need to install the Exhaust system and we will be set. That is going to happen LOL however for right now it is being used for a Storage area.


That's a good looking pipe you got there James! What is it?


----------



## MarkC

My guess is some no name. Probably stamped "Made in Denmark". 

But it sure looks nice.


----------



## freestoke

The wind has finally died down and the sun has come out. Like a nice winter day out there, now. :smile: Forecasting 22* tonight, so the frost will be on the pumpkin. Might be a little on the chilly side for golf, but it could climb into the 50s, conceivably. Having a Diplomat of Sugar Barrel to start the morning. 

Good darts yesterday; not that I play much Fifty One Fives, or ever have, but I had my best game ever. Opening with a 100 for 20 fives, and followed it with a 125 for 25 fives, leaving 6 fives, which I took out 8,11,11. Nine darts! :banana: Also took out a 501 game at 72, with a 5 (a miss at the 20/T20), 17, Double Bull. My throwing is vastly improved from a few weeks ago. Audrey has forced my hand, apparently. :lol:

The PGA golf today is set to be British Open type wind and pretty cold! I love it when they suffer out there, the pampered bastiges. :evil:


----------



## Chris0673

It's a nice day out. Chilly and breezy here in Newport News. Might put some go juice in the Jeep and go do some geocaching. It'll be a good day for my MM Country Gentleman and some 3 Oaks Syrian.


----------



## freestoke

Just curious, Chris. Do you know where Hilton Village is? I spent my first 11 years there. :smile: I had virtually the perfect childhood, swimming in the river, riding bicycles everywhere, climbing trees, and buying yo-yos and strings from the Philippino yo-yo artists outside the Village Theater in the summer. :lol: Why I suddenly thought of those guys I have no idea. Must be my mind gradually unraveling.

Some RY in the MM Diplomat and my fourth cup of coffee. Golf is definitely on the horizon.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a MM cob.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

It's a fine spring morning on the Olympic Peninsula! Starting out the morning with a bowl of Hearth & Home Black House in a Castello Le Catene 55.


Castello_55_9154 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## bluesman.54

Overcast and windy here in Iowa. Enjoying some coffee and Lane 1Q in a 42 year old Caminetto pipe. Back when the carevers signed the pipes they carved. One of the nice ones before the carvers split into their own companies. A lovely start to the day!


----------



## MarkC

Opening Night in a Cavicchi rusticated billiard. One of my favorite combos.


----------



## Chris0673

freestoke said:


> Just curious, Chris. Do you know where Hilton Village is? I spent my first 11 years there. :smile: I had virtually the perfect childhood, swimming in the river, riding bicycles everywhere, climbing trees, and buying yo-yos and strings from the Philippino yo-yo artists outside the Village Theater in the summer. :lol: Why I suddenly thought of those guys I have no idea. Must be my mind gradually unraveling.
> 
> Some RY in the MM Diplomat and my fourth cup of coffee. Golf is definitely on the horizon.


Never heard of the place, Jim. Is it in Newport News?


----------



## freestoke

Chris0673 said:


> Never heard of the place, Jim. Is it in Newport News?


Part of Newport News, now, right on the river, more like a neighborhood, I guess. When I was a kid, it really was Hilton Village, then it was part of Warwick by the time I left at 11, but I'll bet you can still address an envelope to Hilton Village and it will get there. It's actually a quasi-famous place, with its association with the shipyard. Pretty ordinary, small town America, even a little red-necky, when I was there, but it has apparently turned into a toney tourist shopping destination. :lol:

Hilton Village - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## Stonedog

PA on top of some University Flake in my MM Egg this morning. Very satisfying.

Pollen count in Atlanta isn't especially higher (much lower than a few weeks ago) but whatever is in bloom is really getting to me. Now where did I put that Zyrtec...


----------



## freestoke

Sugar Barrel redux, in the Diplomat. A nice day on tap after a morning in the low 20s, with golf on the horizon. And how 'bout Graham McDowell!? Is there another open for him at Medina? That could be his type of course, actually. Those old courses don't seem to cooperate with the bombers as much and it will play under 7000 yards.


----------



## bluesman.54

Chilly and overcast this morning in Iowa. Expecting rain later. Enjoying my morning coffee with Lane 1Q and my favorite Tim West Pipe. If you are not familiar with Tim West Pipes I suggest you do a search on him. All of his pipes are hand carved and I don't think there are two that are exactly alike. The way he uses the grains in the briar to accent the beauty of the pipe is without equal. After they are broken in theyare one of the best smoking pipes I have come across in 40 years. I hope everyone takes some time today to relax with their favorite smoke -- be it pipe or cigar.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

EMP in a Worobiec Gdanska. A spectacular sunny spring morning!


WOROBIEC GDAŃSKA._x by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I tweaked my back at work yesterday, so I'm gimpy today, and probably will be for the next couple days.

I sat in the sun on the porch this morning and enjoyed the warmth, a cigar, and coffee with Baileys.


----------



## TanZ2005

Chris0673 said:


> That's a good looking pipe you got there James! What is it?


Well looks like MarkC got it in the next post, "My guess is some no name. Probably stamped "Made in Denmark"." Other then that stamp IDK, it smokes good.

Thank you for saying it looks nice. I like it along with a few of my other Freehand Pipes.

James


----------



## freestoke

Royal Yacht in the Country Gentleman this morning. I'm biting the bullet. The water heater GOES!! :rant: What a MISERABLE piece of crap. Kenmore Miser 6. Apparently, they've finally made water heaters so safe that the pilot light goes every chance it senses danger from the primordial ether. It's outa here. I've replaced every part on it -- TWICE, and now the little piezoelectric thing is gone or something. Not that that's a big deal to replace, but it probably isn't that, it's probably fouled at the "sparkplug" end of it, at the pilot light, so I'd have to take the stinking thing apart again. I refuse. I am not dealing with this water heater any longer. I am fearful that they don't make a guaranteed functioning water heater any more. They send out absolutely anything that comes off the assembly line, then "guarantee" it. I've read that you face a 40% failure rate on almost any appliance these days, because they've discovered that fewer than 10% of the customers go through the hassle it takes to make them cough up the return. It's depressing. I just know I'm going to get a new water heater that will break in two weeks, no matter what I pay for it. Depressing. :frown: The water heater that I replaced had been in there since 1957, some 63 years. No incidents. I replaced it because I was nervous about it failing. Nothing but problems since. I despair. :faint:

I'll probably stink on the course today, but maybe I'll play good. :lol:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Velvet in a Medico Medalist


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> I've read that you face a 40% failure rate on almost any appliance these days, because they've discovered that fewer than 10% of the customers go through the hassle it takes to make them cough up the return. It's depressing. I just know I'm going to get a new water heater that will break in two weeks, no matter what I pay for it. Depressing. :frown: The water heater that I replaced had been in there since 1957, some 63 years. No incidents. I replaced it because I was nervous about it failing. Nothing but problems since. I despair. :faint:


This is exactly why I won't buy a new furnace/AC until the one I have is unequivocally dead.


----------



## Stonedog

Artisan Blend in the basket this morning. Now I smell like latakia and smoke...


----------



## Chris0673

Squadron Leader in my Bjarne. A very much needed dose of vitamin N on a break from a BORING but needed class. Sigh.


----------



## Nachman

Stonedog said:


> Now I smell like latakia and smoke...


Isn't that redundant?


----------



## Stonedog

Nachman said:


> Isn't that redundant?


Yes, but if I said "Now I smell like orientals and smoke" someone would follow with an off color joke.


----------



## splattttttt

Stonedog said:


> Yes, but if I said "Now I smell like orientals and smoke" someone would follow with an off color joke.


Turkey


----------



## Stonedog

Well played.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Key Largo this morning in a Country Gent. I really should enjoy this one more often - very good.


----------



## steinr1

Stonedog said:


> *Artisan Blend* in the basket this morning. Now I smell like latakia and smoke...


Great stuff! I've been hitting it rather hard myself recently.

However, this morning it was Black Bogie Aromatic.


----------



## splattttttt

I've been puffin my brainz out all day so far. One of those days when you need to sample the stash.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Starting a beautiful Houston day with Old Joe Kranz in a Cob, with some cafe' cubano. :boxing:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Gatlinburlier Cumberland blend in a knockaround briar.


----------



## Stonedog

My PA-based Suicide Mixture (named because of the random contents, not its potency) in the Edward's bulldog.

This is such an exceptionally fine morning that I ended up driving an extra wide loop around the office park before resigning myself to a 10 hour day in front of the computer.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Early Morning Pipe with a pinch of Syrian Latakia in a Castello Sea Rock 33. Assisted by a steaming mug of Sumatra/Guatemalan coffee.


Castello SeaRock 33_10.01.2012 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## Thirston

Latakius Vituscan said:


> Early Morning Pipe with a pinch of Syrian Latakia in a Castello Sea Rock 33. Assisted by a steaming mug of Sumatra/Guatemalan coffee.


You have the best pics hands down. Very cool pipe shot.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Captain Black (white pouch) in a Dr. Grabow Duke. Kickin' it cheap style this morning.


----------



## steinr1

Robert Lewis Tree Mixture in a Myon Royale Bulldog.


----------



## Chris0673

Rediscovering the joy that is Angler's Dream


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in my only meer.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just loaded a bowl of FVF in a MM cob, and a bowl of Royal Yacht in it's dedicated acorn, and I'm off to Taos.

Several days of intense back pain put me off my feed, and as of this morning I'm down seven pounds. I'm gonna stuff myself in Taos... maybe even have some junk food (I haven't for months). An old friend called me last night, and let me know he's back in Taos for the weekend. He is a Jewish Hippy that goes by Dreaddy Dave. I'm gonna try and look him up too. He was talking about a new brew-pub that opened up near the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. It's supposed to have the best beer in Taos.


----------



## freestoke

I've had a bad back since 1961, when I learned that people who are 5'8" tall have GOT to stop playing basketball when they get to college. :lol: Getting up around around usually helps, though, Mark -- if you can stand the pain.

Just reading this, "Economic forecasters exist to make astrologers look good." Good line. :lol: This guy missed his calling, as much of a success as he might have been otherwise. When he left his position as Secretary of Labor, he joked in a radio review that I heard 10 or more years ago about suddenly being without his chauffeur, advisers, press corps and other people in attendance everywhere he went: He said he was suffering from a "detached retinue". :biglaugh: 

Heading to the course shortly, so I'll be cobbing along the fairways burning some from the Serial Aromatics Pouch, now mostly KK and Three Blind Moose, possibly a little 1Q remaining in there. And a dash from the Paper Plate Potpourri, just to give it some body.


----------



## Chris0673

Had a great bowl of Squadron Leader in my Bjarne Viking Classic while out drinking coffee with my Jeeping buddies.

Squadron Leader and Dunkin Donuts coffee...this could be the start of a beautiful relationship! lol


----------



## freestoke

With a fresh bowl of Irish Oak burning in the Bari Dana, I'm anticipating a great PLUS 70*F day on the course! With SUN!! And not much wind! :shock:

Coffee for the moment.


----------



## bluesman.54

Beautiful day here in Iowa! Going to the 70's, sunny and no wind. Since I usually work Sunday mornings, but am off due to a broken ankle, I am once again enjoying a tried and true favorite of mine -- Lane 1Q in my favorite Tim West Pipe with a cup of Italian Roasted coffee. 

For those of you who haven't tried Lane 1Q I highly recommend it. A nice full flavored smoke -- with no bite. A real joy. And search out Tim West pipes -- he is a true pipe craftsman. I probably have 60 pipes or more as I have been smoking them for over 40 yrears -- but this one of Tim's is one of my all time favorites. Nothing like spending the morning with a good friend...

Have a great day to all -- and don't forget to make time for a great smoke and relaxation. Sometimes we can take a break and the world can run on its own...sometimes...


----------



## Stonedog

The residents of Suwanee, GA woke up to mild temperatures and a very light rain this morning. The kids were still asleep and the wife was on the treadmill so I took advantage of the quiet time and sat on my back porch slowly enjoying my Savinelli churchwarden. The experience was, without a doubt, an order of magnitude better than any I've had while enjoying a pipe on my commute.


----------



## bluesman.54

Stonedog said:


> The residents of Suwanee, GA woke up to mild temperatures and a very light rain this morning. I took advantage of a quiet house and sat on my back porch slowly enjoying my Savinelli churchwarden. The experience was, without a doubt, an order of magnitude better than any I've had while enjoying a pipe on my commute.


That Savinelli Churchwarden is a great pipe. Smooth smoker with no bite once broken in. I love mine. An excellent choice!


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

It's a cool, breezy and partly sunny morning here in Sequim. Starting out the morning with Michael Enright of CBC Radio One Sunday Edition, a bowl of Robert McConnell Latakia Flake in a Pete Deluxe and a steaming mug of coffee.


Peterson Deluxe 205 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr

This weekend I've been working with a group of what's left of the logging industry on the Olympic Peninsula. These guys get together and set up for the Sequim Irrigation Festival Logging Show. Lots of demos, vintage and new logging trucks and equipment and feats of masculine prowess that will blow your mind.


DJB_2956_Logging Show SetUp Group 2013 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr

Later today The Loving Wife and I will continue to celebrate our 22nd year together. We'll take the canines to our property in Happy Valley for a romp through creeks, mud and tall grass. I'll be smoking and BBQing baby back ribs for dinner. A good time!

Have a great Sunday, pipers!


----------



## bluesman.54

WOW! What a beautiful pipe! And happy anniversary! My lovely bride and I just celebrated our 22nd anniversary the 12th of this month.


----------



## Desertlifter

Latakius Vituscan said:


> It's a cool, breezy and partly sunny morning here in Sequim. Starting out the morning with Michael Enright of CBC Radio One Sunday Edition, a bowl of Robert McConnell Latakia Flake in a Pete Deluxe and a steaming mug of coffee.
> 
> This weekend I've been working with a group of what's left of the logging industry on the Olympic Peninsula. These guys get together and set up for the Sequim Irrigation Festival Logging Show. Lots of demos, vintage and new logging trucks and equipment and feats of masculine prowess that will blow your mind.
> 
> Later today The Loving Wife and I will continue to celebrate our 22nd year together. We'll take the canines to our property in Happy Valley for a romp through creeks, mud and tall grass. I'll be smoking and BBQing baby back ribs for dinner. A good time!
> 
> Have a great Sunday, pipers!


Happy anniversary, and enjoy the reunion - as someone who grew up in the hills outside of Cathlamet, I know exactly where you are coming from.


----------



## MarkC

I'm just glad I read DJ's post _after_ work instead of before. Jealousy is not pretty....


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Bob's Chocolate Flake in a Dr. Grabow Royalton


----------



## freestoke

A DGT involving Stonehaven this morning, from the much-neglected Bari Dana pipe. All the talk about estate pipes and one almost never hears about Bari. This is actually one of my finest pipes and the one I picked as the pipe I would keep if I could have only one. It's also one of my oldest, dating back to late '70s, a marvelous smoker.

But I'm ready to move on to some Sugar Barrel, having been without any Middleton tobacco for a few days now, and time to crank up a cob. My pipe smoking has been minimal since the weird flu I encountered a few days back, that I mistakenly thought was food poisoning. Very weird flu. Never felt all that bad.


----------



## Chris0673

Too wet to smoke outside this morning. Bummer. Might have to go for a drive! lol


----------



## Stonedog

Old Gowrie in the Savinelli 811. 

Couldn't sleep last night so I went through several fingers of Gentleman Jack as I watched the latest Game of Thrones, several of the latest Spartacus episodes and ended with Woman in Black with Daniel Radcliffe. The Spartacus series is just a bloody, ridiculous in your face fictional account of the Third Servile War. It's sort of like watching a train wreck - I don't really want to but I can't stop. Woman in Black is the first horror movie I've seen in a long time that actually got to me (although the whiskey didn't help).

And today I'll pay for my lack of sleep...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Kentucky Planter in a Dr. G. Bent Rustic


----------



## splattttttt

Jon, if that was me, I would be absolutly useless today. I would also avoid posting on the forums I usually attent and especially this one. As this is the only forum that has a time limit on re edits


----------



## Stonedog

Hmmm, now I'm re-reading my post to see if I should have edited anything out. :suspicious: :hmm:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Back with Royal Yacht in the meerschaum.



Gazing out the office window at all the beautiful sunshine - gonna make for a long day indoors.


----------



## karatekyle

Been on a binge of smoking lately, studying like a mad man for finals. O Chem today. I only need a 28% of the final to pass but a 58% will get me a grade I can be comfortable with. I hate chemistry, I just want to be done with this trash!


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Gazing out the office window at all the beautiful sunshine - gonna make for a long day indoors.


:ask: That is one clear office window, I must say. Interesting carpet. Certainly doesn't look like there's much of a dress code, either. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> Been on a binge of smoking lately, studying like a mad man for finals. O Chem today. I only need a 28% of the final to pass but a 58% will get me a grade I can be comfortable with. I hate chemistry, I just want to be done with this trash!


I liked chemistry early on, but found equilibrium equations tedious in the extreme. Sorta ruined it for me. I wanted it to be more like alchemy, retorts and Erlenmeyer flasks.

Wow. You can make 28% and still pass?! :shock: Now that's a grading curve. :lol:


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> :ask: That is one clear office window, I must say. Interesting carpet. Certainly doesn't look like there's much of a dress code, either. :lol:


Jim I had assumed you were following all the dailies, and would spot this photo from last night's pipe thread. 
I do seem pretty comfy though, huh? Might be nice to try "working" from home...


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Jim I had assumed you were following all the dailies, and would spot this photo from last night's pipe thread. *Might be nice to try "working" from home.*


Especially if you call that work. :tu Somehow I never checked last night's smoking journal. Sorry! No excuse!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Gatlinburlier Pistachio Peak in a bent Willard


----------



## Stonedog

Old Gowrie in the 811 again, this time DGT'ed overnight - very nice.


----------



## freestoke

Virtual crossposting from the night thread, I'm here to report on some Royal Yacht burning in the Darth Rader. Very nice. Early round today, then on to Utica, Oriskany, and suntan.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a MM cob during my drive up the mountain to work.


----------



## Nachman

My stomach wasn't too happy today, so I wanted something mild but without even a hint of sweetness so I popped open a jar of Walnut. It is not one of my favorite tobaccos, but was just what the doctor ordered today.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Wow. You can make 28% and still pass?! :shock: Now that's a grading curve. :lol:


No, that's me working my fool head off all semester! Passed easily, now on to tomorrow's tests: Microbial Physiology, Genetics, and Cellular Biology.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Gatlinburlier Arrow Almond in a Dr. G. with some decaf Starbucks breakfast blend


----------



## freestoke

karatekyle said:


> No, that's me working my fool head off all semester! Passed easily, now on to tomorrow's tests: Microbial Physiology, Genetics, and Cellular Biology.


Glad you did well on it, but it's still "different". Had I carried a 100% on every test going into the final but then failed it, I'd have had an F to show for it.

Just some plain ol' Sugar Barrel this morning.


----------



## Stonedog

When I went through my undergrad in Computer Science at GA Tech nearly everyone was watching the curve and calculating what was needed to yield a C, B or A depending on the class. Curves could be huge depending on the class or professor, especially in the common non-major requirements like Electromagnetism, Differential Equations, etc. Your discussion reminds me of the "good" old days...

Old Gowrie again, this time in the trusty CG. This blend has been moved into my top 5.



freestoke said:


> Glad you did well on it, but it's still "different". Had I carried a 100% on every test going into the final but then failed it, I'd have had an F to show for it.
> 
> Just some plain ol' Sugar Barrel this morning.


----------



## steinr1

Marking on a curve is pretty ubiquitous. I'm a bit concerned about it in certain cases. I really don't want to be treated by a doctor who just passed their finals (or perhaps worse - their Viva) on the curve on a result of, say, even 75%. Tough if you suffer from something in the missing 25%...

Wrong thread, but I tried a "musketball" of Germain's Rich Dark Flake in an S-M Marling's Make Lovat last night. I'll be rubbing out my tobacco in future...


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Glad you did well on it, but it's still "different". Had I carried a 100% on every test going into the final but then failed it, I'd have had an F to show for it.


And quite right too. The pendulum has just started to swing back in the UK towards one-shot final exams again, at least for grade schools. They were finding that students increasingly less well qualified for Further Education with staged and coursework based "exams". Coursework in particular proved itself to be of little use in assessing the true knowledge and potential of people. But then again, the modern view is that we don't want to brand anyone as a "loser". Especially where that is deserved. Coursework helps prevent that.


----------



## karatekyle

freestoke said:


> Glad you did well on it, but it's still "different". Had I carried a 100% on every test going into the final but then failed it, I'd have had an F to show for it.
> 
> Just some plain ol' Sugar Barrel this morning.


Yeah. Luckily, our final was only 300 of 1050 points for the class, the other three tests were 650. A few really good grades on those really took the pressure off.


----------



## Stonedog

steinr1 said:


> ....
> 
> Wrong thread, but I tried a "musketball" of Germain's Rich Dark Flake in an S-M Marling's Make Lovat last night. I'll be rubbing out my tobacco in future...


What went wrong?

I'm finding that Old Gowerie and it's semi-rubbed out flakes like to the wadded and stuffed with some authority (almost like a musket ball). Better burn and flavor.


----------



## steinr1

Stonedog said:


> What went wrong?
> 
> I'm finding that Old Gowerie and it's semi-rubbed out flakes like to the wadded and stuffed with some authority (almost like a musket ball). Better burn and flavor.


Just couldn't keep the damned thing alight. No problems in the same pipe when rubbed out. A bit more effort, but I'm happy to put in the work.

Clearly the pipe was a Barling's Make, not a Marling's Make. Perhaps that was the problem. I can't afford those as they have never been made.

I'm now awaiting the outrage of all Marling's Make pipe owners...


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> When I went through my undergrad in Computer Science at GA Tech nearly everyone was watching the curve and calculating what was needed to yield a C, B or A depending on the class. Curves could be huge depending on the class or professor, especially in the common non-major requirements like Electromagnetism, Differential Equations, etc. Your discussion reminds me of the "good" old days...


Got some Dart Mix in a cob and no darts! Too nice a day! :smile:

I'm not talking about a curve for the mark, though, Jon. I ran into that immediately, first semester, physics. We took the first exam a couple of weeks in. It was clear that I had not learned the material, despite being interested in the material and payed attention. I got it back with a 30 on it. Crushed. I'd never seen a 30. Hell, I'd hardly ever experienced anything in the 70s. I took my exam paper, my head tucked between my shoulders, went to the registrars office and switched to chemistry. Later that day, I found out it was the second highest grade in the class. :dunno: Oh well. Stephen Hawking seems to have filled in for me nicely.

Hey, I believe in the curve! :tu But, if you finish in the bottom on the exam, with a terrible score, showing no grasp of the subject whatsoever, you fail, no matter what you did coming in. This defends against other people doing your homework, assuming homework means anything. Weekly exams can give some weight to a shallow understanding of a limited set of the material, too, where the student really didn't "know" what he was doing.

By the way, the notorious "getting copies of the exam questions" almost doesn't make sense in the context of my college schooling. Every exam was unique. The cheating scandals of recent years wouldn't have even been possible. One couldn't come into class knowing the questions, because the professor only mimeographed the questions right before coming into class -- and they'd have probably been handwritten.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Just couldn't keep the damned thing alight. No problems in the same pipe when rubbed out. A bit more effort, but I'm happy to put in the work.


I think you may be misunderestimating the truthiness of musketballistication, viz., just how tight a musketball needs to be. It's pretty tight, relative to what you'd pack a full fill of tobacco, but it still has an easy draw at this, what would be, for a normally filled pipe of ribbon, neutron star density. Otherwise, the smoke is sorta "draughty" and hot. I'm starting to get the hang of it, though. p


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Hey, I believe in the curve! :tu But, if you finish in the bottom on the exam, with a terrible score, showing no grasp of the subject whatsoever, you fail, no matter what you did coming in. This defends against other people doing your homework, assuming homework means anything. Weekly exams can give some weight to a shallow understanding of a limited set of the material, too, where the student really didn't "know" what he was doing.


I'm not getting this. Are you talking about cutting up the (probably) Gaussian distribution of the actual exam results to ensure that a given proportion of the students get A, B, C, etc. regardless of the median or skew of the distribution? I think perhaps not. I've never agreed with that type of scheme as it allows a poor cohort to "over-perform" and one that is generally high achieving get a bad deal.

In a vague attempt to keep on-thread, I just finished a walk on the Downs in the company of a meerschaum Dublin (or is it some form of Zulu) of Ennerdale Flake.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> I think you may be misunderestimating the truthiness of musketballistication, viz., just how tight a musketball needs to be. It's pretty tight, relative to what you'd pack a full fill of tobacco, but it still has an easy draw at this, what would be, for a normally filled pipe of ribbon, neutron star density. Otherwise, the smoke is sorta "draughty" and hot. I'm starting to get the hang of it, though. p


I am probably not doing correctly. I screwed up the ball pretty tight and placed it in the pipe resting just off the heel, gripping the sides. The draw seemed normalish. I was able to keep the ball alight, but it started to get a bit too hot. I'm sure it would be bliss if I got it right.

I am however, very lazy and will probably stick to what works for me and not put in the effort.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> I'm not getting this. Are you talking about cutting up the (probably) Gaussian distribution of the actual exam results to ensure that a given proportion of the students get A, B, C, etc. regardless of the median or skew of the distribution?


To allay any fears that I am off thread, I'm onto another cob of Dart Mix. p Quasi-musketballed. I can musketball ANYTHING! :tu

Actually, yes, I guess I am doing just that. The curve defends against the situation I arrived at, while attending William and Mary. I had Prof. Haley, "The Comet", for second semester calculus. A friend in the dorm had Prof. Wang, I think his name was. I tutored this friend, hours on end, helping him with his homework. Thick as a brick, but he did try. I made a D, which was the second highest grade in my class, "The Comet" handing out 1 C, 1 D, and 22 Fs. The C came from a high school graduate going directly into summer school with an 800 (perfect) on his math SAT. Prof Wang gave out no grade lower than a C, with my friend making an A. Statistically speaking , a given class will contain a Gaussian distribution of good and bad students -- more or less. At least on a curve, you don't get completely shafted, relative to the other professors' rigor or lack thereof. Or perhaps I should say, merely for the rigor, not as likely to get shafted.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> To allay any fears that I am off thread, I'm onto another cob of Dart Mix. p Quasi-musketballed. I can musketball ANYTHING! :tu
> 
> Actually, yes, I guess I am doing just that. The curve defends against the situation I arrived at, while attending William and Mary. I had Prof. Haley, "The Comet", for second semester calculus. A friend in the dorm had Prof. Wang, I think his name was. I tutored this friend, hours on end, helping him with his homework. Thick as a brick, but he did try. I made a D, which was the second highest grade in my class, "The Comet" handing out 1 C, 1 D, and 22 Fs. The C came from a high school graduate going directly into summer school with an 800 (perfect) on his math SAT. Prof Wang gave out no grade lower than a C, with my friend making an A. Statistically speaking , a given class will contain a Gaussian distribution of good and bad students -- more or less. At least on a curve, you don't get completely shafted, relative to the other professors' rigor or lack thereof. Or perhaps I should say, merely for the rigor, not as likely to get shafted.


I can see your point in this situation.

And to ensure that this post conforms to standards, I'm off for a bowl of Rich Dark Flake. Fully rubbed out in the same pipe I used in the "Great Musketball Disaster of '13" (as it will be known henceforth). I anticipate success.


----------



## bluesman.54

I am intriqued by the many different tobaccos smoked by the same people on different days. I was laways told it took at least three bowls of the same tobacco in the same pipe to truly taste the tobacco. Other wise you were tasting a combination of the old and new tobacco. Any thoughts on that? It would certainly seem to open up the pleasure of pipe smoking if this isn't true.

Also I have always smoked fairly expensive briar pipes -- I have some that are 40 plus years old and they smoke like a charm. But I am further intriqued by the number of mentions of cob pipes on this thread. Are you talking corn cob pipes? Are they really that good? Maybe I need to broaden my experience and try one -- or isn't it worth it?

Thank you for taking the time to be patient with me and reply to my questions.

Michael


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> I am intriqued by the many different tobaccos smoked by the same people on different days. I was laways told it took at least three bowls of the same tobacco in the same pipe to truly taste the tobacco. Other wise you were tasting a combination of the old and new tobacco. Any thoughts on that? It would certainly seem to open up the pleasure of pipe smoking if this isn't true.


:dunno: The point is certainly moot whether tasting the "pure" tobacco is all it's cracked up to be -- at least in most cases. I mix a lot of tobaccos anyhow, never mind one after the other in the same bowl. I use a different pipe for this or that, but a lot of my smoking is pretty indiscriminate -- guess I'm just an easy smoke. I wouln't smoke Stonehaven in an Ennerdale ghosted pipe...probably. :lol: But if I did, I'd still probably like it. Bacon is a good additive and it's good on its own, too. Like that.


----------



## bluesman.54

Everything goes better with Bacon! That is a beautiful pipe in your picture. I'm jealous! Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Michael



freestoke said:


> :dunno: The point is certainly moot whether tasting the "pure" tobacco is all it's cracked up to be -- at least in most cases. I mix a lot of tobaccos anyhow, never mind one after the other in the same bowl. I use a different pipe for this or that, but a lot of my smoking is pretty indiscriminate -- guess I'm just an easy smoke. I wouln't smoke Stonehaven in an Ennerdale ghosted pipe...probably. :lol: But if I did, I'd still probably like it. Bacon is a good additive and it's good on its own, too. Like that.


----------



## Nachman

Cobs are not elegant, but they smoke well. If you buy one, get a Missouri meerschaum. The Chinese made ones are junk.


----------



## splattttttt

bluesman.54 said:


> I am intriqued by the many different tobaccos smoked by the same people on different days. I was laways told it took at least three bowls of the same tobacco in the same pipe to truly taste the tobacco. Other wise you were tasting a combination of the old and new tobacco. Any thoughts on that? It would certainly seem to open up the pleasure of pipe smoking if this isn't true.
> 
> Also I have always smoked fairly expensive briar pipes -- I have some that are 40 plus years old and they smoke like a charm. But I am further intriqued by the number of mentions of cob pipes on this thread. Are you talking corn cob pipes? Are they really that good? Maybe I need to broaden my experience and try one -- or isn't it worth it?
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to be patient with me and reply to my questions.
> 
> Michael


Michael, you're right that a certain blend will begin to flourish when smoked out of the same pipe consecutively. Why so many will dedicate a pipe to certain blends, or a particular blend of a particular brand for that matter.
On cobs. Yes, there's a certain nuances one will notice from a clean cob with any given blend. And are certainly one of the best participants to dedicate to a one off blend due to their economic state and nature.


----------



## bluesman.54

Thanks!



splattttttt said:


> Michael, you're right that a certain blend will begin to flourish when smoked out of the same pipe consecutively. Why so many will dedicate a pipe to certain blends, or a particular blend of a particular brand for that matter.
> On cobs. Yes, there's a certain nuances one will notice from a clean cob with any given blend. And are certainly one of the best participants to dedicate to a one off blend due to their economic state and nature.


----------



## bluesman.54

Thanks. That's what I'll do!



Nachman said:


> Cobs are not elegant, but they smoke well. If you buy one, get a Missouri meerschaum. The Chinese made ones are junk.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> To allay any fears that I am off thread, I'm onto another cob of Dart Mix. p Quasi-musketballed. I can musketball ANYTHING! :tu
> 
> Actually, yes, I guess I am doing just that. The curve defends against the situation I arrived at, while attending William and Mary. I had Prof. Haley, "The Comet", for second semester calculus. A friend in the dorm had Prof. Wang, I think his name was. I tutored this friend, hours on end, helping him with his homework. Thick as a brick, but he did try. I made a D, which was the second highest grade in my class, "The Comet" handing out 1 C, 1 D, and 22 Fs. The C came from a high school graduate going directly into summer school with an 800 (perfect) on his math SAT. Prof Wang gave out no grade lower than a C, with my friend making an A. Statistically speaking , a given class will contain a Gaussian distribution of good and bad students -- more or less. At least on a curve, you don't get completely shafted, relative to the other professors' rigor or lack thereof. Or perhaps I should say, merely for the rigor, not as likely to get shafted.


Both instructors are incompetent, at least in their approach to grading. Unless things were very, very odd that term...


----------



## splattttttt

Isn't referencing to educational backgrounds against Puff rules?


----------



## ProbateGeek

bluesman.54 said:


> Thanks. That's what I'll do!


It may be just me, but of all the cobs I have (six, I believe) the Country Gentleman is by far the best and most reliable smoker; I have two of them. And since it hasn't been said yet, the only thing not good about a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe is the crappy stem it comes fitted with; apologies to those who like them. I think we all would encourage you to pick up a Forever Stem (here: 'Forever' Stems), assuming once you try a cob you agree with us that they're smokeworthy.

I can only go a couple of days with briars before I reach for a Country Gentleman, like this banded one with a tortoise Forever Stem.


----------



## steinr1

splattttttt said:


> Isn't referencing to educational backgrounds against Puff rules?


In Jim's case, the "Haley" is the actual discoverer of the eponymous comet and "Wang" is the discoverer of... well... the wang. I think that it would be churlish to find fault in referencing these historical figures. Sort of like giving Plato a hard time for mentioning the foibles of his old teacher Socrates.

STET


----------



## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> In Jim's case, the "Haley" is the actual discoverer of the eponymous comet
> STET


I didn't know Jim was that old :drum:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Kentuck Planter in a Brewster


----------



## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> In Jim's case, the "Haley" is the actual discoverer of the eponymous comet
> STET


I didn't know Jim was that old :drum:


----------



## Chris0673

Think I'm going to give some DMP a try this morning after my physical therapy appt.


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> I didn't know Jim was that old :drum:


I was there when they were putting the comet together! As for Wang, how soon we forget the Wang computers, eh?

But Mark is right. Both professors were completely incompetent graders. Although a decent enough teacher, Haley was pretty much insane as far as I could tell. I got every answer right on one test -- every answer -- and he gave me a mark in the low 70s somewhere. Didn't like my artwork. :lol:

Sugar Barrel redux this lovely day. About the only complaint would be that it might be a little windy today.


----------



## splattttttt

Oh, that Wang :ranger:


----------



## Stonedog

Strictly on topic:

Good morning fellow forum members! Old Gowrie again in the CG.


----------



## steinr1

Beautiful sunny spring day here in The South of England. I'm celebrating with a bowl of Germain's Royal Jersey Perique Mixture in an S-M Barling's Make Guinea Grain Straight Apple. Lovely little pipe bought for about £10 delivered. eBay is a fine place...



freestoke said:


> As for Wang, how soon we forget the Wang computers, eh?


Certainly not forgotten and possibly not gone. A Wang machine used to be in my late father-in-law's loft and a Zenith CPM O/S machine as well as much else. Probably still there. If only I'd kept my Science of Cambridge (Sinclair) Mk14a bare board Z80 computer; my first "PC". It featured a mighty 256, count them (it won't take long), BYTES of RAM. And you tell the youth of today that, and they won't believe you...



> Both professors were completely incompetent graders. Although a decent enough teacher, Haley was pretty much insane as far as I could tell. I got every answer right on one test -- every answer -- and he gave me a mark in the low 70s somewhere. Didn't like my artwork. :lol:


Funny how these things still rankle after all these years. I had a great (unintelligibly Glaswegian) Maths teacher in Secondary school. We once took an exam with 108 questions on it. As most of the class got marks in the 70s at best he decided to simplify things and give the mark as a percentage. I got 108. Consequently he had to work out the real percentage score for the whole class of about 30. He gave me 86% for being a smart-arse and making him work. Seemed fair to me (still the best mark by a wide margin), but *I* know I got 108% in that exam...


----------



## freestoke

Speaking as an iconoclastic pedant, I think that Middleton tobaccos get a short shrift in the pipe smoking world and that everyone should smoke at least one bowl a day, barring illness or injury, either straight up or mixed with something more substantial (say Dark Birdseye or Kendal's Kentucky), preferably in a cob. Hitting the 56 year old PA, right now, in the Country Gentleman, walking the talk.

By everyone, of course I mean men, women and children over the age of eight. Every session of Congress should open with all the Senators and Congressmen and aides and gallery firing up their USA made Missouri Meerschaums with an American made codger burley. A new MM, a small sample of Middleton, a box of matches with official USA insignia, and a pipe nail would be part of the hand-out goodies for the Congressional Visitors' Tour.


----------



## Nachman

steinr1 said:


> In Jim's case, the "Haley" is the actual discoverer of the eponymous comet and "Wang" is the discoverer of... well... the wang. I think that it would be churlish to find fault in referencing these historical figures. Sort of like giving Plato a hard time for mentioning the foibles of his old teacher Socrates.
> 
> STET


Let us not forget the untiring work of Dr Wanker.


----------



## splattttttt

Nachman said:


> Let us not forget the untiring work of Dr Wanker.


Didn't he work in collabiration with Dr. Titzslinger?
Had an Epiphany on my commute out of an estate I'm refurbeshing that comin along quite nicely.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> Let us not forget the untiring work of Dr Wanker.


Not an uncommon surname in Germany. There are many Dr Wankers. In fact, Germany is a country that is full of Wankers. Our own Wankers are not to be ignored. Wherever in the world you go, there will always be at least one Wanker.

I once worked for a German manager. He needed to have the locals customs explained to him. In the UK, one answers the phone with a polite "Hello" (although I sometimes go with A Graham Bell's prefered "Ahoy hoy") . In Germany, it is common to bark out your surname. He answered the phone with a loud and sharp "Scheit!"

(I thought I would add: A good translation of "Scheit" would be "******". Doesn't get much better.)


----------



## ProbateGeek

The Royal Yacht for my morning commute.



I would certainly not hesitate to pick up another Stanwell Antique estate pipe - this one is perfect, and my best smoker.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm off to Taos this morning. Kat is working and I got the day off, so I'm going to Taos to do the bimonthly shopping. 

I plan to stroll the plaza too. Spring has hit, the ice and snow has melted, and the tourists (and cold intolerant hippies) have arrived. I'm bringing my two biggest pipes. One is a MM and the other is an enormous paneled Sav billiard. The billiard is filled with Billy Budd, and the MM with Ennerdale Flake. I've freaked out hippies before by smoking Latakia around them, I'm hoping for an even better reaction with the Ennerdale.

The tourists are entertaining also. Taos gets normal tourists (mostly from TX and OK), but Taos also gets "wannabee hippy type tourists". They are fun to strike up conversations with and to send off on entertaining missions. Such as approaching a drum-circle of folks that obviously don't live here and tell them that the front lawn of the fanciest hotel, or the lobby of the Taos County Sheriff is "a major intersection of the largest Ley Lines in the area"... "an amazingly powerful and Spiritual place". LOL. So much fun.


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> I've freaked out hippies before by smoking Latakia around them, I'm hoping for an even better reaction with the Ennerdale.
> 
> The tourists are entertaining also. Taos gets normal tourists (mostly from TX and OK), but Taos also gets "wannabee hippy type tourists". They are fun to strike up conversations with and to send off on entertaining missions. Such as approaching a drum-circle of folks that obviously don't live here and tell them that the front lawn of the fanciest hotel, or the lobby of the Taos County Sheriff is "a major intersection of the largest Ley Lines in the area"... "an amazingly powerful and Spiritual place". LOL. So much fun.


Confusing hippies is fine sport (although a bit too close to dynamiting fish in a barrel). If they are unable to "find their centre" by smell they will indeed be confused. Ennerdale will certainly do the trick.

The real treat will come when they start telling you that they can "feel the power" of the fictitious features. What fun!

Not the morning, but I too am set to smoke Ennerdale. Started on this a couple of days ago after a long hiatus. We must be connected by Ley Lines.


----------



## bluesman.54

Now that right there -- is hilarious. Thanks!



steinr1 said:


> Confusing hippies is fine sport (although a bit too close to dynamiting fish in a barrel). If they are unable to "find their centre" by smell they will indeed be confused. Ennerdale will certainly do the trick.
> 
> The real treat will come when they start telling you that they can "feel the power" of the fictitious features. What fun!
> 
> Not the morning, but I too am set to smoke Ennerdale. Started on this a couple of days ago after a long hiatus. We must be connected by Ley Lines.


----------



## bluesman.54

Thank you for taking the time to reply to this. You have convinced me. I have many, many fine briar pipes but I will now search for a Country Gentleman. Bad stem would be a deal breaker for me though, so I especially appreciate the link to better stems. Do you order one specifically for the Country Gentlman -- or do they all fit as is?



ProbateGeek said:


> It may be just me, but of all the cobs I have (six, I believe) the Country Gentleman is by far the best and most reliable smoker; I have two of them. And since it hasn't been said yet, the only thing not good about a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe is the crappy stem it comes fitted with; apologies to those who like them. I think we all would encourage you to pick up a Forever Stem (here: 'Forever' Stems), assuming once you try a cob you agree with us that they're smokeworthy.
> 
> I can only go a couple of days with briars before I reach for a Country Gentleman, like this banded one with a tortoise Forever Stem.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Most all the MM cobs are "filtered", though I don't know if anyone uses the filters. I don't. The Forever Stems for any filtered cob, such as the Country Gentleman, fit any other filtered cob. You're probably safe ordering the filtered. Here's more info: Filtered/Unfiltered

Also, there is a list of all the "filtered" cobs along the right hand side of this page: 'Forever' Stems


----------



## bluesman.54

Thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time and effort to reply and send the information.

Michael



ProbateGeek said:


> Most all the MM cobs are "filtered", though I don't know if anyone uses the filters. I don't. The Forever Stems for any filtered cob, such as the Country Gentleman, fit any other filtered cob. You're probably safe ordering the filtered. Here's more info: Filtered/Unfiltered
> 
> Also, there is a list of all the "filtered" cobs along the right hand side of this page: 'Forever' Stems


----------



## freestoke

Glorious weather, stretching past the week forecast. Really nice out there! Having some 56 year old PA, courtesy of Dan, in the Country Gentleman. Coffee, coffee, coffee!


----------



## Stonedog

ProbateGeek said:


> Most all the MM cobs are "filtered", though I don't know if anyone uses the filters. ...


Lately I've been using the Savinelli balsa inserts in my MM cobs. I find the draw is a little too open when using the stock stems without a filter. I've also noticed that filterless stock stems collect moisture more than unfiltered stems. The balsa inserts counteract that nicely.

I will enjoy no pipe this morning as the weather is unseasonably cool and rainy.


----------



## Nachman

I cut a pipe cleaner in half and fold a half pipe cleaner into V and insert it in the shank instead of a filter. It makes for a good dry smoke without having to run a pipe cleaner during the smoke.


----------



## Chris0673

Some 50 year old PA in my MM Country Gentleman (thanks @pipinho) and some Dunhill EMP in my Meer. Also three big cups of Dunkin Donuts Hazelnut coffee. It's been a good morning!


----------



## steinr1

A few bowls of Ashton Artisan's Blend while watching the old crocks rattle by on the London-Brighton HCVS run. Beautiful warm and sunny day.


----------



## freestoke

Sugar Barrel to start off another perfect golf day. Phil Harris once said, "I always shoot in the 70s. Any hotter or colder and I don't play." He'd be out there this week! Perfecto. No wind to speak of today or yesterday, either. :smile: 

Was missing Morgan the Traveler, one of our cats, all night. She was locked in the garage. I feel terrible. out: Cats are pretty resilient though -- I like her chances of recovery. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

A bowl of FVF in a Peterson Belgique.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Sugar Barrel to start off another perfect golf day. Phil Harris once said, "I always shoot in the 70s. Any hotter or colder and I don't play." He'd be out there this week! Perfecto. No wind to speak of today or yesterday, either. :smile:
> 
> Was missing Morgan the Traveler, one of our cats, all night. She was locked in the garage. I feel terrible. out: Cats are pretty resilient though -- I like her chances of recovery. :lol:


Don't act too guilty; cats love that martyr stuff...


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning Puff!

Lacrosse in the rain yesterday, but I was proud of our high school club team. They defeated two of their arch rivals and silenced the obnoxious parents from the second team. It was a great day despite the weather.

Not so memorable bowl of my random mixture in the basket pipe. I think it needs a thorough cleaning as I'm getting a lot of tar and various ghosts rather than the baccy I wished I was enjoying.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Good morning all, not sure what the hell I'm gonna have. My choices are slim. I may end up smoking a cigarette.

I really just came on in here to say hi, and wish everyone fair winds on a Monday!


----------



## freestoke

Stoking up some Irish Oak. Not a lot left of this, so I anticipate that my litter of jars will drop by one come Wednesday. Next head on the chopping block, a smallish amount of Patriot Flake. In order to give me some motivation, I'm not going to open the PA until I empty the Patriot Flake. Going to have to construct a new Dart Mix today.


----------



## splattttttt

Wiseguy1982 said:


> Good morning all, not sure what the hell I'm gonna have. My choices are slim. I may end up smoking a cigarette.
> 
> I really just came on in here to say hi, and wish everyone fair winds on a Monday!


Don't do it LOL. Hello!


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> Stoking up some Irish Oak. Not a lot left of this, so I anticipate that my litter of jars will drop by one come Wednesday. Next head on the chopping block, a smallish amount of Patriot Flake. In order to give me some motivation, I'm not going to open the PA until I empty the Patriot Flake. Going to have to construct a new Dart Mix today.


I didn't think you could make dart mix without PA?


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I didn't think you could make dart mix without PA?


:spy: Hmmm...:ask: I don't know if there's PA in this or not. Probably. Could be Sir Walter Raleigh, too, but I can't remember. About the only two ingredients I'm sure of are Three Blind Moose and KK. sigh. My brain has become a mere sieve.

But, I think that's as good an excuse to open a tub as I've come up with yet, so PA it is! :tu

And I think I won't wait. PA in the 4Dot on the way. p


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoying a bowl of Lane 1Q in my favorite Tim West Pipe. Big bowl, deep bend....heaven on earth!


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> :spy: Hmmm...:ask: I don't know if there's PA in this or not. Probably. Could be Sir Walter Raleigh, too, but I can't remember. About the only two ingredients I'm sure of are Three Blind Moose and KK. sigh. My brain has become a mere sieve.
> 
> But, I think that's as good an excuse to open a tub as I've come up with yet, so PA it is! :tu
> 
> And I think I won't wait. PA in the 4Dot on the way. p


Jim, I wish I could follow this post of yours. Really want to try what you like. Just can't make heads or tails as to what it is.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Gatlinburlier Cumberland in a Dr. G Duke


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> Jim, I wish I could follow this post of yours. Really want to try what you like. Just can't make heads or tails as to what it is.


Prince Albert in a tub. Kendal's Kentucky, a nice burley from GH&Co. Three Blind Moose, an aromatic from 4noggins. These and other tobaccos have been the backbone of Dart Mix, a blend I put together ad lib to smoke while playing darts. There is no accounting for taste, but I think it tastes pretty good, has some nicotine content (the KK), and a very pleasant room note.


----------



## Stonedog

University Flake in the MM Patriot this morning with a hint of Lakeland thanks to previous bowls of LA Flake. I haven't seen it lately, but when I first joined Puff many people said cobs don't ghost. I've got an MM Egg ghosted by the extremely HTF Barlog mixture and now this Patriot.


----------



## freestoke

Just spent half an hour looking for the Dart Mix recipe. :lol: I did remember that it also contains Five Brothers, but can't find the specific formulation of this last batch, even though I know I posted it. sigh. No matter, the new one will be fine, I'm sure. 

Just made three small samples out the remainder of the old batch, to be dispatched this afternoon. lane: Right now, some fresh PA from a new tub! p


----------



## splattttttt

Jim, I wish we were neighbors... Darts! LOL


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> Jim, I wish we were neighbors... Darts! LOL


I'm in my 59th year of standing at the oche. I have a 12 dart 501, a 12 dart cricket, quite a few 3 dart 101s, a handful of 6-dart 301s, 1 throw of 6 bulls, and I've taken out everything except 167. Sounds like I can throw a little, but I can't really. I suck now. :lol: Throw enough darts, good things occasionally crop up. :shock: For example, my one out from 160 took place in the following manner: My partner was a member of US dart team, Billy Glover. My opponents were Tim Schools, another US team player, and "Rocket", some local Dallas thrower about my strength. Trying for T20, T20, D20, I spasmed into the double bull with my first dart. Calmly regrouping, I threw T20 and another DB. :lol: And I've yet to do it properly. 

More of this freshly opened PA! Excellent! And I've pulled out a pouch of the original 5B for the Dart Mix. :tu


----------



## bluesman.54

You have intriqued me. I ordered two Country Gentlemans and the bits you recommended. After 40 years of smoking briar pipes I am looking forward to this new experience. Again -- thank you for taking the time to reply and furnish the info you did Brother. I sincerely appreciate your efforts.

Michael



ProbateGeek said:


> It may be just me, but of all the cobs I have (six, I believe) the Country Gentleman is by far the best and most reliable smoker; I have two of them. And since it hasn't been said yet, the only thing not good about a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe is the crappy stem it comes fitted with; apologies to those who like them. I think we all would encourage you to pick up a Forever Stem (here: 'Forever' Stems), assuming once you try a cob you agree with us that they're smokeworthy.
> 
> I can only go a couple of days with briars before I reach for a Country Gentleman, like this banded one with a tortoise Forever Stem.


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> I'm in my 59th year of standing at the oche. I have a 12 dart 501, a 12 dart cricket, quite a few 3 dart 101s, a handful of 6-dart 301s, 1 throw of 6 bulls, and I've taken out everything except 167. Sounds like I can throw a little, but I can't really. I suck now. :lol: Throw enough darts, good things occasionally crop up. :shock: For example, my one out from 160 took place in the following manner: My partner was a member of US dart team, Billy Glover. My opponents were Tim Schools, another US team player, and "Rocket", some local Dallas thrower about my strength. Trying for T20, T20, D20, I spasmed into the double bull with my first dart. Calmly regrouping, I threw T20 and another DB. :lol: And I've yet to do it properly.
> 
> More of this freshly opened PA! Excellent! And I've pulled out a pouch of the original 5B for the Dart Mix. :tu


I once got a friend in the head. He was behind me. Try that Jim LOL


----------



## Wiseguy1982

freestoke said:


> I'm in my 59th year of standing at the oche. I have a 12 dart 501, a 12 dart cricket, quite a few 3 dart 101s, a handful of 6-dart 301s, 1 throw of 6 bulls, and I've taken out everything except 167. Sounds like I can throw a little, but I can't really. I suck now. :lol: Throw enough darts, good things occasionally crop up. :shock: For example, my one out from 160 took place in the following manner: My partner was a member of US dart team, Billy Glover. My opponents were Tim Schools, another US team player, and "Rocket", some local Dallas thrower about my strength. Trying for T20, T20, D20, I spasmed into the double bull with my first dart. Calmly regrouping, I threw T20 and another DB. :lol: And I've yet to do it properly.
> 
> More of this freshly opened PA! Excellent! And I've pulled out a pouch of the original 5B for the Dart Mix. :tu


All I understood from this post, Jim, is that you had some more PA.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Stonedog said:


> University Flake in the MM Patriot this morning with a hint of Lakeland thanks to previous bowls of LA Flake. I haven't seen it lately, but when I first joined Puff many people said cobs don't ghost. I've got an MM Egg ghosted by the extremely HTF Barlog mixture and now this Patriot.


Whoever said that was wrong mate. I once smoked Ennerdale in a cob. What do you think happened?


----------



## bluesman.54

I am a Noobie. Would you please explain what you mean by the term "Ghosted"? Thanks.

Michael



Stonedog said:


> University Flake in the MM Patriot this morning with a hint of Lakeland thanks to previous bowls of LA Flake. I haven't seen it lately, but when I first joined Puff many people said cobs don't ghost. I've got an MM Egg ghosted by the extremely HTF Barlog mixture and now this Patriot.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> I am a Noobie. Would you please explain what you mean by the term "Ghosted"? Thanks.
> 
> Michael


The smell of certain tobaccos stays in the pipe, binding with the char or the shank wood. Can be pretty awful in estate pipes that haven't been cleaned. Personally, I can't imagine LF ghosting anything, but then I like *Ennerdale*. :lol: For me, ghosting doesn't seem to affect much, since I just burn it away with a few bowls of PA or Five Brothers and enjoy the extra flavor. If it's something I can't tolerate, I probably wouldn't have smoked much of it anyhow, to the phantasm wouldn't have gotten in too deep, my Ennerdale pipe is the Szabo, not so much because I worry about it, but a pipe having entertained *Ennerdale* is no longer allowed to be smoked indoors. I also smoke 1792 in the Szabo. Love 'em both! I generally don't smoke anything new and weird in a briar, but use one of my many cobs. Ghosting is one of the reasons people dedicate pipes to particular tobaccos in general.


----------



## MarkC

splattttttt said:


> I once got a friend in the head. He was behind me. Try that Jim LOL


Sounds like my bowling...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Frog Morton Celler in a MM cob


----------



## freestoke

Wiseguy1982 said:


> All I understood from this post, Jim, is that you had some more PA.


Dartspeak.

Opening with PA in the 4Dot and lots of coffee. :cp


----------



## freestoke

Cleverly turning the duplicate into a second post. Added some 5B to the PA for a bonus morning lift. Gotta get the Royal Yacht out of the sloop here directly.


----------



## splattttttt

MarkC said:


> Sounds like my bowling...


Now that's a different animal right there
Getting ready for a Honeydew breakfast. Was great dir dinner last night too


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> The smell of certain tobaccos stays in the pipe, binding with the char or the shank wood. Can be pretty awful in estate pipes that haven't been cleaned. Personally, I can't imagine LF ghosting anything, but then I like *Ennerdale*. :lol: For me, ghosting doesn't seem to affect much, since I just burn it away with a few bowls of PA or Five Brothers and enjoy the extra flavor. If it's something I can't tolerate, I probably wouldn't have smoked much of it anyhow, to the phantasm wouldn't have gotten in too deep, my Ennerdale pipe is the Szabo, not so much because I worry about it, but a pipe having entertained *Ennerdale* is no longer allowed to be smoked indoors. I also smoke 1792 in the Szabo. Love 'em both! I generally don't smoke anything new and weird in a briar, but use one of my many cobs. Ghosting is one of the reasons people dedicate pipes to particular tobaccos in general.


What Jim said. Basically a "ghost" is the residual essence from a strongly flavored blend like an English or Lakeland.

PA in the Savinelli 811 this morning.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Royal Yacht in the dedicated bent acorn during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## bluesman.54

Thank you for taking the time to reply to this -- and for your patience in explaining it. Thanks again.

Michael



freestoke said:


> The smell of certain tobaccos stays in the pipe, binding with the char or the shank wood. Can be pretty awful in estate pipes that haven't been cleaned. Personally, I can't imagine LF ghosting anything, but then I like *Ennerdale*. :lol: For me, ghosting doesn't seem to affect much, since I just burn it away with a few bowls of PA or Five Brothers and enjoy the extra flavor. If it's something I can't tolerate, I probably wouldn't have smoked much of it anyhow, to the phantasm wouldn't have gotten in too deep, my Ennerdale pipe is the Szabo, not so much because I worry about it, but a pipe having entertained *Ennerdale* is no longer allowed to be smoked indoors. I also smoke 1792 in the Szabo. Love 'em both! I generally don't smoke anything new and weird in a briar, but use one of my many cobs. Ghosting is one of the reasons people dedicate pipes to particular tobaccos in general.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Condemnation in CBD Moorgate, accompanied by Café Bustelo brewed in an Imusa perculator. Good morning!


----------



## ProbateGeek

El wedo del milagro said:


> Royal Yacht in the dedicated bent acorn during my morning commute up the mountain.


I've been smoking a lot of Royal Yacht the last two days. I've finally figured this is #1 on my list - at least this week - and perfection in a Country Gent.


----------



## ProbateGeek

bluesman.54 said:


> You have intriqued me. *I ordered two Country Gentlemans* and the bits you recommended. After 40 years of smoking briar pipes I am looking forward to this new experience. Again -- thank you for taking the time to reply and furnish the info you did Brother. I sincerely appreciate your efforts.
> 
> Michael


My latent grammarian notions want me to pluralize this as "two Countries Gentleman". But that's just weird.

You may find the first few smokes taste a bit of corn (if the cob was not sufficiently dried - one of mine did), and toward the end of each bowl you'll get a taste of wood as the part of the stem that protrudes into the bowl is slowly burned away. Once that's complete, the Countries Gentleman smoke like a charm.

Enjoy! And please post pictures of your stem(s) when available.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

ProbateGeek said:


> My latent grammarian notions want me to pluralize this as "two Countries Gentleman". But that's just weird.
> 
> You may find the first few smokes taste a bit of corn (if the cob was not sufficiently dried - one of mine did), and toward the end of each bowl you'll get a taste of wood as the part of the stem that protrudes into the bowl is slowly burned away. Once that's complete, the Countries Gentleman smoke like a charm.
> 
> Enjoy! And please post pictures of your stem(s) when available.


Wouldn't it technically be Country Gentlemen?


----------



## ProbateGeek

Wiseguy1982 said:


> Wouldn't it technically be Country Gentlemen?


I used to go with "gentlemen" in the plural, but the more I smoke the CGs the more I consider "gentleman" to be almost adjectival, not to mention complimentary. And any phrase containing a postpositive adjective should take its plural on the noun at its beginning.

I obviously need more Royal Yacht to kick in the intellectual afterburners.


----------



## bluesman.54

Once again thanks for taking the time to reply and the info. I will keep it in mind. As to pics -- I am going to have to buy a camera just for this forum. I still shoot film -- a lot of B&W -- and have my own darkroom. But to participate and be a good BOTL I see the time has come where I am forced to go digital. Sheesch!!!! Who'd a think it?



ProbateGeek said:


> My latent grammarian notions want me to pluralize this as "two Countries Gentleman". But that's just weird.
> 
> You may find the first few smokes taste a bit of corn (if the cob was not sufficiently dried - one of mine did), and toward the end of each bowl you'll get a taste of wood as the part of the stem that protrudes into the bowl is slowly burned away. Once that's complete, the Countries Gentleman smoke like a charm.
> 
> Enjoy! And please post pictures of your stem(s) when available.


----------



## MarkC

I hear you, Michael. I never had any desire for a digital camera until I joined this site!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A bowl of Troost in a MM bent cob


----------



## Wiseguy1982

ProbateGeek said:


> I used to go with "gentlemen" in the plural, but the more I smoke the CGs the more I consider "gentleman" to be almost adjectival, not to mention complimentary. And any phrase containing a postpositive adjective should take its plural on the noun at its beginning.


Very well. This really brought me back to 5th-8th grade English class!


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> I used to go with "gentlemen" in the plural, but the more I smoke the CGs the more *I consider "gentleman" to be almost adjectival,* not to mention complimentary. And any phrase containing a postpositive adjective should take its plural on the noun at its beginning.
> 
> I obviously need more Royal Yacht to kick in the intellectual afterburners.


:spy: It's a model name, with "Country Gentleman" itself being adjectival in nature, so that using it alone to represent the object becomes -- if memory serves, which it frequently does not -- an adjectival noun phrase. Obviously, an apostrophe won't do, so maybe we could take the sheepish way out (one sheep, two sheep) and say six Country Gentleman. The thoroughgoing pedant would dispense with the shorthand altogether and call it six Country Gentleman pipes.

I think a bowl of RY in the CG would hit this spot right now to start the day.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> :spy: It's a model name, with "Country Gentleman" itself being adjectival in nature, so that using it alone to represent the object becomes -- if memory serves, which it frequently does not -- an adjectival noun phrase. Obviously, an apostrophe won't do, so maybe we could take the sheepish way out (one sheep, two sheep) and say six Country Gentleman. The thoroughgoing pedant would dispense with the shorthand altogether and call it *six Country Gentleman pipes*.
> 
> I think a bowl of RY in the CG would hit this spot right now to start the day.


Six Hick Pip(e)s


----------



## splattttttt

more 221b Series Honeydew with my cherry for breakfast again today. This is a very high fat content smoke and perfect for early spring mornings.


----------



## Stonedog

Being a product of Georgia public education in the 80's anything but Six Country Gentlemen just sounds wrong if not pretentious.

I had me some of that Old Gow-reee in a Savunelleee ya'll.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Being a product of Georgia public education in the 80's anything but Six Country Gentlemen just sounds wrong if not pretentious.


Six ******* social climbers.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Six ******* social climbers.


Now that's downright insulting.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Now that's downright insulting.


Good to hear. Thought I might be losing my touch. :smile:


----------



## MarkC

steinr1 said:


> Six Hick Pip(e)s


Anybody else old enough to see this and have "HIX NIX STIX PIX" flash before your eyes?


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Anybody else old enough to see this and have "HIX NIX STIX PIX" flash before your eyes?


Hmm...the first thing that pops into my mind is Mr. Mxyzptlk. Maybe I'm *too* old. :lol:

My first cup of coffee with a bowl of PA in the 4Dot. As soon as I'm awake, I need to go reinforce the swing I discovered in the back yard *after* golf yesterday. Hopefully the rain will hold off until a little later, since there are errands filling up the morning. I need "people" to do these things for me.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Kentucky Planter in a Medico Double-Dri


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Good to hear. Thought I might be losing my touch. :smile:


No worries there Jim, you've still got it.

Old Gowrie (again...) in the Leonessa dublin.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht in a CG this morning. My regime is so predictable, but when I depart from it I'm always disappointed. Tried some Royal Viking for yesterday's commute - NOTHING like Royal Yacht, and the bowl went out the car window before I was even halfway through. To be replaced by something truly "royal".


----------



## madbricky

Had a head spinning bowl of D&R Rimboche in the MM legend. Loses a little spice with age. Still the best Perique you can buy.


----------



## karatekyle

London Mixture this morning.


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> Royal Yacht in a CG this morning. My regime is so predictable, but when I depart from it I'm always disappointed. Tried some Royal Viking for yesterday's commute - NOTHING like Royal Yacht, and the bowl went out the car window before I was even halfway through. To be replaced by something truly "royal".


*Royal* Jersey - Perique perhaps?


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Just spent half an hour looking for the Dart Mix recipe. :lol: I did remember that it also contains Five Brothers, but can't find the specific formulation of this last batch, even though I know I posted it. sigh. No matter, the new one will be fine, I'm sure.
> 
> *Just made three small samples out the remainder of the old batch*, to be dispatched this afternoon. lane: Right now, some fresh PA from a new tub! p


One of which just landed on my desk. Now, I'm very curious as to what is in here, because I admit it smells really, really good. I'm betting at a minimum there is some Three Blind Moose in here. While I usually avoid anything approaching the "aromaticized", if this has a little punch do it (and knowing Jim, and darts, it should), I will most likely make a fine meal of it.

THANKS, JIM! p

EDIT: according to an older post by Jim, this is: Prince Albert + Kendal Kentucky + Three Blind Moose, possibly more? From the aromas alone I would say it could use a tad more KK, but otherwise very nice. I will be trying this out on the ride home tonight.

I always thought Kendal Kentucky was dark-fired Virginias (and Kendal Dark a mix of dark-fired and air-cured Virginias), yet I see Burley mentioned a lot with the KK. Why might that be?


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> One of which just landed on my desk. Now, I'm very curious as to what is in here, because I admit it smells really, really good. I'm betting at a minimum there is some Three Blind Moose in here. While I usually avoid anything approaching the "aromaticized", if this has a little punch do it (and knowing Jim, and darts, it should), I will most likely make a fine meal of it.
> 
> THANKS, JIM! p
> 
> EDIT: according to an older post by Jim, this is: Prince Albert + Kendal Kentucky + Three Blind Moose, possibly more?


Pretty sure there is PA, but not positive. Maybe SWR? KK, FiveB, definitely. Anything beyond the Three Blind Moose and KK and codger burley will be fairly strong, whatever it is. Could even have IF or LF in it. NOt a powerhouse, but a good smoke for darts. Hope you like it!

Smoke a ton out of the pouch today, another KK mix. About six or seven small cobs full. Tonight, the Royal Yacht!


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Hmm...the first thing that pops into my mind is Mr. Mxyzptlk. Maybe I'm *too* old. :lol:


I can't remember off hand when he first appeared, or what year Yankee Doodle Dandy came out (the headline 'hix nix stix pix' was explained in a funny scene); about the same time, weren't they?

Hmmm...it's technically morning, and as I'm posting here already (and don't want to follow my own post from last night on the 'tonight' thread...): Balkan Sasieni in my Altinok meer. I know everyone says virginia's benefit the most from aging, and long range, I'm sure they're right, but three years on this stuff is _mighty_ fine.


----------



## splattttttt

I think Jim is onto something here.
Looking forward to a trifecta of Billy bud and Blk Cav with B&B's best of the rest, thrown into the bag where the last smidgen of Penzance sent to me by Dan R. came in.
Should make for a fine early Sat. brunch from my refubed Kwoody. Humm` what an aroma there be here.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I know everyone says virginia's benefit the most from aging, and long range, I'm sure they're right, but three years on this stuff is _mighty_ fine.


I've read things here and there that seem to indicate that after a year or two the law of diminishing returns sets in. Might be as good as it will ever be, Mark! :tu

A 4Dot/PA for me this morning and then I'm finishing the Irish Oak.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

FVF in my new Dr G. grand duke.

It was an impulse buy at Walgreens yesterday. It's good sized, rusticated, long-stemmed and attractive. I can actually fit my little finger in it, which I can not do to half my pipes.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

A hot and steaming mug of Ethiopian coffee is helping to jump-start this morning. Puffing on a bowl of Black House with a pinch of Syrian Latakia in a Worobiec Gdanska.


WOROBIEC GDAŃSKA by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

I know it's not morning, but I'm slow to post. Couple of bowls of Irish Flake in the meer. Enjoying the weather, and about to go out for an early Mother's Day dinner.


----------



## splattttttt

Latakius Vituscan said:


> A hot and steaming mug of Ethiopian coffee is helping to jump-start this morning. Puffing on a bowl of Black House with a pinch of Syrian Latakia in a Worobiec Gdanska.
> 
> 
> WOROBIEC GDAŃSKA by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


And it it is again Sir DJ...


----------



## DanR

ProbateGeek said:


> One of which just landed on my desk. Now, I'm very curious as to what is in here, because I admit it smells really, really good. I'm betting at a minimum there is some Three Blind Moose in here. While I usually avoid anything approaching the "aromaticized", if this has a little punch do it (and knowing Jim, and darts, it should), I will most likely make a fine meal of it.
> 
> THANKS, JIM! p
> 
> EDIT: according to an older post by Jim, this is: Prince Albert + Kendal Kentucky + Three Blind Moose, possibly more? From the aromas alone I would say it could use a tad more KK, but otherwise very nice. I will be trying this out on the ride home tonight.
> 
> I always thought Kendal Kentucky was dark-fired Virginias (and Kendal Dark a mix of dark-fired and air-cured Virginias), yet I see Burley mentioned a lot with the KK. Why might that be?


Had a very exciting day today, as for the first time EVER my wife came in from the mailbox (smelling the envelope as she entered) and says, "it looks like you got some tobacco from a friend (another deep whiff of the envelope), and it smells really good!"

Looks like I am one of the privileged few to join in the "dart mix" sampling. Not too aromatic, but just enough. It really does smell delightful. I am saving it for my morning coffee, so I will report in the morning! Thanks Jim!! :thumb:


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> I've read things here and there that seem to indicate that after a year or two the law of diminishing returns sets in. Might be as good as it will ever be, Mark! :tu


Then I'd better smoke fast... :lol:


----------



## madbricky

Good morning fellas. My daughter graduates from UI urbana-champaign today at the very top of her class. The youngest and my baby. I broke out my favorite little Irish pipe and had one of Altadis chocolate truffle (bulk) an absolute prefect blend from P&C and followed it up with strong coffee and a bowl of Picayune from D&R that had been mellowing out for ac year. It's a head spinning blend of St. James Perique and sweet Virginia and others. Smoking the good stuff on a great day is the best thing in life.


----------



## freestoke

madbricky said:


> Good morning fellas. My daughter graduates from UI urbana-champaign today at the very top of her class.


Outstanding! Literally! :lol: A morning bowl of PA in the 4Dot for me.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

madbricky said:


> Good morning fellas. My daughter graduates from UI urbana-champaign today at the very top of her class.


:clap2:

Congrats!

I have a bowl of Early Morning pipe in a Dr. G Royalton


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of something I packed last night whilst tippling. 

I have no idea what it was, but it was very good. I smoked it in a MM cob while driving to work this morning.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Looks like I am one of the privileged few to join in the "dart mix" sampling. Not too aromatic, but just enough. It really does smell delightful. I am saving it for my morning coffee, so I will report in the morning! Thanks Jim!! :thumb:


More than welcome! Think I'll have some Royal Yacht in the Darth Rader! (Thanks, Dan! :tu)


----------



## DanR

Enjoying my Dart Mix with some black coffee, and I must say that this is a delightful blend. Not that I don't have confidence in Jim's tobacco mixing abilities, but this is much better than I anticipated - like, Damn Good! I only say that because I've mixed plenty of scraps together in the past, and they are rarely as good as their original components. Where do I place my order?


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Where do I place my order?


4noggins, I guess. :smile: Three Blind Moose is the "secret ingredient", I'd say. Just mixed up the new batch and again not bad at all. Testing my first bowl of it, with the eminently fine smoker, the Two Dot apple. The real test will be a Legend at the oche. :lol: This one has 2 parts KK, 1 part 5B, 1 part PA and 1 part 3BM. I've already forgotten what the previous one tasted like. :lol: Maybe it had SWR instead of PA, though. I'll go the SWR route the next batch and compare, probably about August or September.

Really glad you liked it, Dan! :yo:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

splattttttt said:


> And it it is again Sir DJ...


That blend, Jack, may have had a pinch of Plutonium, hence the glow!

What a morning! It's a very typical spring day here in the NorthWest. Overcast, 64°F/17.8°C, winds calm and drops of water are dripping from the fir needles...and the GREEN...emerald all around. And the birds, ravens, crows, Mourning Doves, little songbirds, all are adding to the enchantment of this magic morning. I'm starting off the morning with MacBaren HH Vintage Syrian in a CAO meerschaum and a steaming mug of Ethiopian coffee.


CAO Meerschaum_05.20.2012_e by GoerzDagor, on Flickr

Later this morning I'll be taking The Loving Wife to a Mother's Day brunch. Then the rest of the day will involve more pipes and perhaps some Oriental mixtures with Syrian Latakia. This will be a good day to continue with _Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis_ by Timothy Egan.


----------



## bluesman.54

You sure do have some beautiful pipes! Thanks for posting the pictures! I really enjoy them.



Latakius Vituscan said:


> That blend, Jack, may have had a pinch of Plutonium, hence the glow!
> 
> What a morning! It's a very typical spring day here in the NorthWest. Overcast, 64°F/17.8°C, winds calm and drops of water are dripping from the fir needles...and the GREEN...emerald all around. And the birds, ravens, crows, Mourning Doves, little songbirds, all are adding to the enchantment of this magic morning. I'm starting off the morning with MacBaren HH Vintage Syrian in a CAO meerschaum and a steaming mug of Ethiopian coffee.
> 
> 
> CAO Meerschaum_05.20.2012_e by GoerzDagor, on Flickr
> 
> Later this morning I'll be taking The Loving Wife to a Mother's Day brunch. Then the rest of the day will involve more pipes and perhaps some Oriental mixtures with Syrian Latakia. This will be a good day to continue with _Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis_ by Timothy Egan.


----------



## splattttttt

I think the pipes do help illustrate the vistas in all their photographic manners. "Plutonium" you say? Never thought about what it would taste like?, but it does have a nice effect on the wood for sure DJ


----------



## freestoke

Trying a little Sugar Barrel this morning with my coffee. Not much Vitamin N, but I stoked up pretty well before crashing. The IO is finally finished. :smile:

Really disappointed that Garcia bit the dust yesterday. I disliked Tiger Woods while he was still an "amateur", so I'm never happy to see him win. (In case you haven't already heard me bitching about this, his father took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Cobra Golf for Woods to play their driver while he was still an "amateur". In my opinion, Tiger should be stripped of his US Amateur titles.)

Terry, you said, "I always thought Kendal Kentucky was dark-fired Virginias (and Kendal Dark a mix of dark-fired and air-cured Virginias), yet I see Burley mentioned a lot with the KK. Why might that be?" I think KK is ALL burley, isn't it? I was under the impression that "Kentucky" was a type of burley -- and that's all that's listed for the content at tabakrevs. Yeah, it's not a ripper blend, but I chain smoke it playing darts. A higher Vitamin N content would probably gang up on me and give me the twitches at the oche. :lol: Anyhow, hope it served you well. :yo:


----------



## Stonedog

Some thoroughly dried University Flake in an MM Egg this morning. For my tastes, Uni Flake really needs a wide bowl...

I finally tried some Robusto from Pease last night. This is a complex blend and I'm not sure the small bowl of my Savinelli CW did it justice (is there a theme here?). I can't wait to get to know this blend in a wider bowl.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> . . .Terry, you said, "I always thought Kendal Kentucky was dark-fired Virginias (and Kendal Dark a mix of dark-fired and air-cured Virginias), yet I see Burley mentioned a lot with the KK. Why might that be?" I think KK is ALL burley, isn't it? I was under the impression that "Kentucky" was a type of burley -- and that's all that's listed for the content at tabakrevs. Yeah, it's not a ripper blend, but I chain smoke it playing darts. A higher Vitamin N content would probably gang up on me and give me the twitches at the oche. :lol: Anyhow, hope it served you well. :yo:


Here's the description of Kendal Kentucky from tobaccoreviews.com: "Kendal Kentucky is a full bodied, full strength tobacco of 100% African grown (Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania) variation of the actual Kentucky seed. These tobaccos are fire-cured which gives them their distinctive aroma and flavor. This is a fairly strong, but exceptionally cool tobacco *for the lovers of dark-fired Virginias*."

And for Kendal Dark: "Same as Dark Flake in a very fine or shag cut." The only tobacco listed in contents is Viriginia. 
But Dark Flake? Lists both Burley and Virginia. What the hell?

I know I have read more than once that Kentucky is fire-cured Burley, but I've come to the conclusion that I may never know for sure. I'll just shut up and smoke...

I had two bowls of Dart Mix while running errands yesterday, by the way. It smokes very well, with a very pleasant room (or car, in my case) note. I think the version you sent me was probably with SWR instead of PA, as I did notice a very slight bite to it (SWR does that to me). That Three Blind Moose is almost edible - I'm thinking for me though I might have to mix it with something stronger. Ever tried three parts Irish Flake to one part 3BM?


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Ever tried three parts Irish Flake to one part 3BM?


No -- but I fully intend to! :smile: Yeah, I can't figure "Kentucky" out either. I went in quest for the answer back when, but couldn't solve the riddle. I guess it seems like something called "Kentucky" would be other than a Virginia, but who knows? Canada geese are all born in the US, so they're natural US citizens, not Canadians. Go figure. :dunno:

The new batch seems to be a bit stouter, so it may have less 3BM and more KK and 5B in it than the old, but it's still not bad! p


----------



## MarkC

ProbateGeek said:


> I know I have read more than once that Kentucky is fire-cured Burley, but I've come to the conclusion that I may never know for sure. I'll just shut up and smoke...


I hear you; I threw away my scorecard.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Kentucky Planter in a MM Cob


----------



## freestoke

Got up late today. :smile: Gonna crank up some RY to get the blood flowing. Pretty nice day, if a little cold. Maybe the par 3 and the range today. Gonna play Rome Country Club tomorrow, where I was club champion back in -- :shock: -- 1989. Yeah, before some of you were born. :lol: Really nice layout!


----------



## Stonedog

Old Gowrie again (yes, there is a pattern here) in the Edward's 1/4 bent bulldog.

Today I will sit in front of a computer in a conference room for at least 10 hours. To shake things up tomorrow I will sit in front of a computer for at least 10 hours, but in a different conference room.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Today I will sit in front of a computer in a conference room for at least 10 hours. To shake things up tomorrow I will sit in front of a computer for at least 10 hours, but in a different conference room.


Stop it, I'm having flashbacks! :lol: Which reminds me of a story! I worked mostly with the government as a contractor, so I wound up in these interminable meetings sometimes. A govie coworker faced these continuously, and complained that he would have to get up and go to the bathroom sometimes because they'd go two or three hours non-stop. I informed him that it was illegal to keep a govie's nose to the grindstone for over 50 minutes at a time, and that the law dictated 10 minute breaks. He looked it up, found out I was right, and demanded and got 10 minute breaks per hour for everybody who was involved with the "Slavemaster". They've probably repealed that by now, huh? :smile: I learned about it in the service, when they were giving us training on zero defects, where gong too long without a break leads to accidents -- and really stupid decisions.

More RY!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Bob's Chocolate Flake in the dedicated Hilson Dublin.


----------



## ProbateGeek

More Royal Yacht for me this morning, as well, in the well-colored meer.


----------



## Sniper2075

I'm late in posting this but had some Anniversary Kake in a MM Legend on my drive to work.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Velvet in a Dr. G Duke


----------



## freestoke

Good morning! Probably going to rain on our parade around Rome Country Club, with big wind. "If there's no rain or wind, there's no golf" as the inventors say. :spy: Not much rain, but the extra wind should make up for it. I'm filing suit against Canada with the International Weather Court! I've had all's I can stand and I can't stands no more! :lol:

Gonna start with some PA in a Pride and a quick gallon of coffee.


----------



## freestoke

Wow, a dupe for my first post of the day.  This does not bode well for the day. :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

SG Chocolate Flake. On to the other conference room today...


----------



## freestoke

Found an old jar of Patriot Flake. Been a while since I've smoked this type of tobacco and it's nice for a change. Even cranking up one of my first string smokers for the job, the Bari Dana.


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> Gonna play Rome Country Club tomorrow, where I was club champion back in -- :shock: -- 1989. Yeah, before some of you were born. :lol:


Hummm, to be 24 yrs old again...


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> Hummm, to be 24 yrs old again...


I'd settle for twice that! :lol: Golf is canceled by the weather. :frown: Miserable wind and rain and nobody feels like facing it.

Think I'll double smoke the Bari Dana with some RY this time.


----------



## steinr1

An aromatic morning (and afternoon) with Peterson Special Reserve 2012 from a Barling Scalloped Meerschaum Straight Billiard. Highly recommended!


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> I'd settle for twice that! :lol:


I think I'd prefer it; 24 would have me surrounded by battleship grey again...


----------



## splattttttt

MarkC said:


> I think I'd prefer it; 24 would have me surrounded by battleship grey again...


Yehp! 24 I was dirt poor. Working every waking hour of the day and my kids didn't even know I was their daddy. Best part, I ain't a grand dad yet!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Bosphorus Cruise in a MM cob


----------



## steinr1

Warrior Plug in a small (Size 2) Yeco Junior Straight Billiard.

I'm working my way through the tail end of some jars in order to qualify to open a new tin or two. SG Balkan Flake, Ashton Artisan's Blend, Fox's Dorisco Mixture, SG Black XX, GH Black Bogie and Brown Bogie Rum ropes - all good stuff, luckily.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> *I'm working my way through the tail end of some jars in order to qualify to open a new tin or two. * SG Balkan Flake, Ashton Artisan's Blend, Fox's Dorisco Mixture, SG Black XX, GH Black Bogie and Brown Bogie Rum ropes - all good stuff, luckily.


Those last three curl toes a skosh, too! :tu I have a tiny piece of Happy Bogie in jar which needs emptying. Think I'll tackle that next bowl, as soon as I wake up with this Sugar Barrel and some coffee. Other than the Royal Yacht, I've been smoking on the mild side the past week or so. This has to end. :sl


----------



## Stonedog

Old Gowrie in the Sav 811 and life is good.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Black House with a pinch of Syrian Latakia in a Peterson's Sherlock Holmes.


Peterson's Sherlock Holmes_3367 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## splattttttt

@DJ we need a group shot of your pipe collection please.


McL Grand Orientals Black Sea Sokhoum out of the most funnest smokin pipes I've ever had the pleasure of smokin from... A Tim Thorp Braggy Nose Warmer. Unfortunately, I chipped the tip off the stem while running a cleaner through it grrrr


----------



## freestoke

I've waited too long for the Happy Bogie, needing to eat some lunch first. I'll stick with the relatively mild Royal Yacht until I've had some victuals.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Those last three curl toes a skosh, too! :tu I have a tiny piece of Happy Bogie in jar which needs emptying. Think I'll tackle that next bowl, as soon as I wake up with this Sugar Barrel and some coffee. Other than the Royal Yacht, I've been smoking on the mild side the past week or so. This has to end. :sl


Funnily enough, for me, the ropes pale into insignificance against the Balkan Flake - that one has been kicking my arse, but I'm not really big on Latakia and that's what it is.


----------



## karatekyle

Popped a year old tin of London Mixture to walk to the library today. Mmm! Beautiful day.


----------



## Desertlifter

Wessex burley flake.

Nope - not slices. Flake.

Yum.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Desertlifter said:


> Wessex burley flake.
> 
> Nope - not slices. Flake.
> 
> Yum.


OK.

I've done some searching and had no luck at the 4 venders I do business with.

I've been smoking stupid amounts of PA recently because of a burley craving that hasn't quit for a few weeks. Please, please, please gimme the fatty hook-up on high-grade burley. What do I just GOTTA try, and where do I get it?

Hehe. Thank you, to you, Brian, and to anyone else with suggestions.


----------



## ProbateGeek

El wedo del milagro said:


> OK.
> 
> I've done some searching and had no luck at the 4 venders I do business with.
> 
> I've been smoking stupid amounts of PA recently because of a burley craving that hasn't quit for a few weeks. Please, please, please gimme the fatty hook-up on high-grade burley. What do I just GOTTA try, and where do I get it?
> 
> Hehe. Thank you, to you, Brian, and to anyone else with suggestions.


The only (I think) burley flake I've had is Solani Aged Burley Flake - good enough for me to order 3 tins (from smokingpipes.com). But now you've got me in the mood for PA...


----------



## El wedo del milagro

ProbateGeek said:


> The only (I think) burley flake I've had is Solani Aged Burley Flake - good enough for me to order 3 tins. But now you've got me in the mood for PA...


Sounds good to me. I'll pack a bowl of PA in my meer and go outside and take a look at Saturn and the moon in the 8" reflector. (It's astronomy weather again... a balmy 53 deg out here tonight).


----------



## Desertlifter

El wedo del milagro said:


> OK.
> 
> I've done some searching and had no luck at the 4 venders I do business with.
> 
> I've been smoking stupid amounts of PA recently because of a burley craving that hasn't quit for a few weeks. Please, please, please gimme the fatty hook-up on high-grade burley. What do I just GOTTA try, and where do I get it?
> 
> Hehe. Thank you, to you, Brian, and to anyone else with suggestions.


You want the good news or the bad news?

Okay - the bad news. The blend I was puffing on was part of a blind trade, and hasn't been made for many years. Gotta love geezer-baccy. Picture a milder ODF. I could swear that it had Latakia - I thought it was JKP at first. No Latakia. All burley.

Wessex makes a burley slice now instead, but I've not tried it. I'm thinking that I need to try Solani Aged Burley Flake - this was NOTHING like your OTC burley.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Desertlifter said:


> . . . I'm thinking that I need to try Solani Aged Burley Flake - this was NOTHING like your OTC burley.


Yup. That's ABF - nothing like any burley I'd ever had before. Do give it a try.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Thank you, Gents.

I have two new burleys to try now.


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> OK.
> 
> I've done some searching and had no luck at the 4 venders I do business with.
> 
> I've been smoking stupid amounts of PA recently because of a burley craving that hasn't quit for a few weeks. Please, please, please gimme the fatty hook-up on high-grade burley. What do I just GOTTA try, and where do I get it?
> 
> Hehe. Thank you, to you, Brian, and to anyone else with suggestions.


To my mind, the Holy Grail of Burleys is Edgeworth Sliced. Not made for a good few years but it does apparently pop up as vintage tins and pouches in the US. The ready rubbed isn't worth a damn.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Velvet in a MM hardwood


----------



## Stonedog

I enjoyed the last of the Old Gowrie that I haven't jarred up for aging.

With all this talk of high end burleys, I think I will pop the tin of year old ABF I received a few days ago.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Here's the description of Kendal Kentucky from tobaccoreviews.com: "Kendal Kentucky is a full bodied, full strength tobacco of 100% African grown (Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania) variation of the actual Kentucky seed. These tobaccos are fire-cured which gives them their distinctive aroma and flavor. This is a fairly strong, but exceptionally cool tobacco *for the lovers of dark-fired Virginias*."


I'll see your Kendal's Kentucky and raise you one Solani Aged Burley Flake: "This blended flake contains dark brown Burley from Kentucky, light Burley from Brazil, and white Burley from *Malawi* (southeast Africa). Will developed a unique toasting process to make the blend slightly sweet."

:fencing:

Now I'll have a bowl of the mysterious Prince Albert, which some claim contains a smidge of Virginia. :lol:


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

Torben Dansk No. 6 English Delight in a Caminetto.


Caminetto2 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


----------



## ProbateGeek

While not as pretty as DJ's wares, the Country Gent burns the 1792 Flake well.



Happy Friday, gents.


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

steinr1 said:


> To my mind, the Holy Grail of Burleys is Edgeworth Sliced. Not made for a good few years but it does apparently pop up as vintage tins and pouches in the US. The ready rubbed isn't worth a damn.


This is as close as I have come to Edgeworth...just the thin. However, Robert, you've got me to thinking about the weed...


Edgeworth Plug Slice_Larus_DJB3481 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr


Tobacco Workers Intl Union_DJB3485 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr



ProbateGeek said:


> While not as pretty as DJ's wares, the Country Gent burns the 1792 Flake well.
> 
> 
> 
> Happy Friday, gents.


On the contrary, Terry, a very pretty pipe! Who is the dapper smoker?

Happy Friday!


----------



## steinr1

Ogden's Walnut Flake in a small straight Billiard. It's been a long time since I smoked some of this stuff. Very fine indeed. I've just packed another bowl...


----------



## freestoke

Actual WALNUT flavored? Or is it just a name like the Middleton Walnut, that's a street name. I've had a few Ogden's samples and liked them immensely. For me this morning, it's just a basic cob of PA and plenty of coffee. Two of the cats were monsters last night, finally threw the miscreants out about 3.


----------



## Chris0673

Some Dunhill EMP in my Wizard pipe as I enjoy national go topless day (Jeeps). I'll probably get rained on but it's the first time in eight years I'm able to celebrate this most hallowed of holidays.


----------



## freestoke

The old Jeeps were pretty cool, the new SUV ones, not even a little bit. A pickup truck with power windows and air-conditioning is not a Jeep. :nono: Anyhow, hope it doesn't rain on your parade, Chris! :smile:

For some reason, this TwoDot of Royal Yacht is kicking me in the shins. :ask: Another cup of coffee to settle me down. :cp


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Actual WALNUT flavored? Or is it just a name like the Middleton Walnut, that's a street name. I've had a few Ogden's samples and liked them immensely. For me this morning, it's just a basic cob of PA and plenty of coffee. Two of the cats were monsters last night, finally threw the miscreants out about 3.


Not the US pouch blend. I'm puffing away at this today in a bent Jima (@Chris0673 - Chris, how are you getting on with your Jima? I'm very fond of mine.)

A slightly fuller review than "Very fine indeed"...

Walnut Flake is an Old School British Virginia/Burley Flake. Used to be one of my go-to tobaccos in the good old days; the lastest batch isn't quite as good in my opinion. Short and narrow ragged flakes of mid/dark brown colour with flecks of lighter and darker in it. Rubs out easily, packs easily; perfect humidity straight from the pack (two rows of flakes in a small foil sealed plastic tray in a pouch) - but I don't ever feel the need to dry tobacco. It's definitely nutty and with the name being what it is, you can easily imagine walnuts. Quite dry and woody, so the nuts are obviously still in their shells. The burley bitterness (just a touch) adds to the effect. I'm sure that this flake used to be more oily and stronger (On reflection, I'm positive - darker too). Still an iron fist in a velvet glove; a lot of nicotine. Very cool and VERY slow burning - it used to be a favourite with old duffers due to its economy. The initial impression is that this is a Lakeland blend with all that implies, but it isn't. Some of the casing elements are clearly similar, but this is not floral beyond what the tobaccos themselves bring and precious little of that. This is driven by the tobaco, not the casing and certainly not any topping. I'm struggling to make comparisons. Maybe St Bruno, but lighter and nuttier and without the fruity notes. An austere tobacco, nothing like Edgeworth which has recently been discussed (and is definitely the best burley blend ever made...), but has the same "hair-shirt, straight tobacco" qualities. Again, "Very fine indeed".


----------



## Torque

Peterson Irish Flake in my trusty cob and a venti cup of starbucks. These nice little saturday morning moments _almost_ make the work week worth it. It's a little bit rainy here in mid George so the temperature is just about perfect at 63, think I'll retire to the porch and watch the squirrels play.


----------



## freestoke

Sounds most excellent, Robert! :tu Might want to cut and paste that into the reviews section. It deserves wider circulation. 

I'm embarrassed to say that I can't remember who sent me this Patriot Flake, but it has hit the spot each time the past few days that I've had a bowl. The Diplomat endured some channel dredging with the drill the other day and has been a charm since. p


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Sounds most excellent, Robert! :tu Might want to cut and paste that into the reviews section. It deserves wider circulation.


Done and done (with a little modification). Glad you enjoyed it. Must post more reviews; the area seems a bit neglected.

Just came in from the shed after the Jima-full of Walnut Flake. I was astounded to find that the small bowl of this pipe had lasted well over an hour (with many relights - this blend tends to this, but what of it?). Most tobaccos don't last more than half that long. The old misers were obviously correct.

This is STRONG stuff. I won't be smoking again until well into the evening.


----------



## Chris0673

freestoke said:


> The old Jeeps were pretty cool, the new SUV ones, not even a little bit. A pickup truck with power windows and air-conditioning is not a Jeep. :nono: Anyhow, hope it doesn't rain on your parade, Chris! :smile:


Jim, I have a 2001 TJ. No she's not an old CJ or an old Willy's but she's my baby. She has never left me sitting and will go [email protected] near anywhere I ask her to go.

BTW, that Dunhill EMP went real nice in my Wizard pipe! Got a lot of complements on it this morning. The more I smoke my long pipes the more I like them. I almost never get tongue bite and the smoke is always nice and cool.


----------



## Nachman

When I was 17/18 I had a WWII surplus Willys. If I remember right, it would go about 45 wide out. If you weren't in a hurry, it would take you anywhere. We used to take rides through the woods, up steep hills, through swamps. I eventually broke the transmission. We worked on it for a few weeks, but those old Jeep transmissions had a million parts in them and we could never get it right.


----------



## freestoke

Chris0673 said:


> Jim, I have a 2001 TJ. No she's not an old CJ or an old Willy's but she's my baby. She has never left me sitting and will go [email protected] near anywhere I ask her to go.


Yeah, that's Jeep-like, Chris. I was thinking of one of these:










NOT a Jeep, no matter what you say! :nono:


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> NOT a Jeep, no matter what you say! :nono:


Reminds a bit of these, huh?


----------



## Chris0673

freestoke said:


> Yeah, that's Jeep-like, Chris.


A little more than Jeep_like_ I'd think! lol


----------



## MarkC

Looks like a jeep to me! Now, that abomination that Jim posted is another matter...

It's funny how vehicles change over time. I was telling someone about twenty years younger than I am about hitting the south Georgia swamps in a Ford Ranger, and I realized pretty quickly I had to explain that the Ranger hadn't always been just another version of a little Toyota pick up.


----------



## freestoke

Chris0673 said:


> A little more than Jeep_like_ I'd think! lol


Except for that sissy roll bar. oke: A real Jeep is insanely dangerous to ride in and that looks suspiciously on the safe side. Is the front rack for carrying a beer keg or body, drying wet clothing...? :spy: I feel like Niles Crane. :lol: I honestly cannot imagine what such a weird-shaped thing would be for, especially right in front of the headlights.

The last of the jar of Patriot Flake burning in the Diplomat, on my third cup of coffee, watching Graham McDowell struggling againstThongchai Jaidee.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Yeah, that's Jeep-like, Chris. I was thinking of one of these:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NOT a Jeep, no matter what you say! :nono:


Not a Wrangler, but still a Jeep Jim. The new GC with its Mercedes ML lineage is one fine vehicle and much better than the 05 WK Grand Cherokee I'm driving now.


----------



## DanR

I can't believe you guys are still talking about Jeeps, when all I can think about is how to get the word out on national "go topless" day! :biggrin:

About to finish up the scraps from my Marlin Flake with another cup of black coffee.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Not a Wrangler, but still a Jeep Jim. The new GC with its Mercedes ML lineage is one fine vehicle and much better than the 05 WK Grand Cherokee I'm driving now.


'American Motors set up the first automobile-manufacturing joint venture in the People's Republic of China on January 15, 1984.[23] The result was Beijing Jeep Corporation, Ltd., in partnership with Beijing Automobile Industry Corporation, to produce the Jeep Cherokee (XJ) in Beijing. Manufacture continued after Chrysler's buyout of AMC. This joint venture is now part of DaimlerChrysler and DaimlerChrysler China Invest Corporation. "

It can't have air conditioning, power windows OR be made in China. Fiat/Daimler Benz on top of that. Fine vehicle or not, it's not a Jeep. :fencing:

And just to show how fair I am, this is NOT a Cadillac! It's a pickup truck with air conditioning and power operated, heated leather seats. :frown:










We definitely need a "pipe pointing" icon. :lol: Now I'll light up another bowl of Sugar Barrel, smug in my justifiably self-righteous appraisal of the situation. p


----------



## Latakius Vituscan

This morning I'm starting out with two mugs of Columbia coffee, one in each hand, and GL Pease Renaissance (2002) in a Comoy's Tradition 133.


Comoy's Tradition 133 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr

I had a 1944 Willys GP in the early 1970's. First thing I did was get a local welder to fabricate a roll cage, from the frame, then added a set of seat restraints. The thing was great if you weren't particular about sudden and horrific death! I loved it. Just enough room in it for my photographic equipment, a va-va-voomish female accessory, my dog, the cooler and the ammo case packed with pipes and tobacco.


----------



## Chris0673

freestoke said:


> Except for that sissy roll bar. oke: A real Jeep is insanely dangerous to ride in and that looks suspiciously on the safe side. Is the front rack for carrying a beer keg or body, drying wet clothing...? :spy: I feel like Niles Crane. :lol: I honestly cannot imagine what such a weird-shaped thing would be for, especially right in front of the headlights.


That "weird shaped thing" is to keep the Jeep from rolling end over end when going down a particularly steep rock "staircase". Ask me how I know this! lol


----------



## Chris0673

Latakius Vituscan said:


> This morning I'm starting out with two mugs of Columbia coffee, one in each hand, and GL Pease Renaissance (2002) in a Comoy's Tradition 133.
> 
> 
> Comoy's Tradition 133 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr
> 
> I had a 1944 Willys GP in the early 1970's. First thing I did was get a local welder to fabricate a roll cage, from the frame, then added a set of seat restraints. The thing was great if you weren't particular about sudden and horrific death! I loved it. Just enough room in it for my photographic equipment, a va-va-voomish female accessory, my dog, the cooler and the ammo case packed with pipes and tobacco.


DJ, it could not have been a Willy's GP. The Jeeps made by Willy's were designated "MB". Ford made the "GP". Either way...I am envious. My dream car is a 1942-44 Willy's MB. I love the old Jeeps. And although I don't have pics, I was smoking my MM Country Gentleman whilst tooling down the road with the top down yesterday!


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Yeah, that's Jeep-like, Chris. I was thinking of one of these:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NOT a Jeep, no matter what you say! :nono:


And definitely not a Land Rover. Again one of the proper ones, not those based on the architypal "Chelsea Tractor", the Range Rover. Mk1 or 2 LWB Diesel by preference. Mk3 came with a plastic dash and ain't a Land Rover... Rubbish diesel engines (and the petrol not much better), transmission that leaks profusely by design, slow, vibratory and very, very good. There is nothing you can't fix on them with a bit of ingenuity. I've seen pictures of suspension wishbones replaced with carved hardwood. "Inspired" by the Willys Jeep but a much more practical vehicle for more than light, off-road transport. A Land Rover will go anywhere and do anything. The mud-pluggers tool of choice. Defenders are just fashion accessories as far as I'm concerned.

And with the Land Rover in mind, I'll change my signature...


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Latakius Vituscan said:


> This morning I'm starting out with two mugs of Columbia coffee, one in each hand, and GL Pease Renaissance (2002) in a Comoy's Tradition 133.
> 
> 
> Comoy's Tradition 133 by GoerzDagor, on Flickr
> 
> I had a 1944 Willys GP in the early 1970's. First thing I did was get a local welder to fabricate a roll cage, from the frame, then added a set of seat restraints. The thing was great if you weren't particular about sudden and horrific death! I loved it. Just enough room in it for my photographic equipment, a va-va-voomish female accessory, my dog, the cooler and the ammo case packed with pipes and tobacco.


DJ, all of yer pipes are beautiful, but that one is my favorite! It's stunning.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

For yall arguing about cars, here is my take on it all.

It doesn't matter what ya drive, as long as it's a rat-rod. 

Yer rims better be flat red, extra points given for mounting HUGE antique truck rims on it. Yer vehicle better be painted flat black, extra points awarded for shooting a coat of clear-coat to show off killer patina instead of painting. Don't add to the vehicle, only remove objects and body parts. The vehicle you use to build yer rat-rod should be well-loved, extra points for vehicles over 70 years old. 

Extra points for: American beer cans used as risers, doing yer own welding, boilerplate, and side-pipes or stacks.

All points deducted for automatic transmissions (you weenie...) :amen:


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> For yall arguing about cars, here is my take on it all.
> 
> It doesn't matter what ya drive, as long as it's a rat-rod.
> 
> Yer rims better be flat red, extra points given for mounting HUGE antique truck rims on it. Yer vehicle better be painted flat black, extra points awarded for shooting a coat of clear-coat to show off killer patina instead of painting. Don't add to the vehicle, only remove objects and body parts. The vehicle you use to build yer rat-rod should be well-loved, extra points for vehicles over 70 years old.
> 
> Extra points for: American beer cans used as risers, doing yer own welding, boilerplate, and side-pipes or stacks.
> 
> All points deducted for automatic transmissions (you weenie...) :amen:


I think the sort of thing you are after is a special cobbled together by an Australian chap (if I remember rightly). Long, long, LONG Edwardian Lanchester chassis with chain drive, Zeppelin aero engine and minimal bodywork. Ornamental brakes. Engine braking is sufficient. From memory, the engine ran out of breath at about 1000rpm and was geared for 120mph at 800 rpm. Son, you can't beat cubes...

I'll try to dig out some photos.

Old vehicles should be maintained and USED. Polishing should be limited to going over with an oily rag. As for "automatic transmission", what's that?


----------



## Chris0673

El wedo del milagro said:


> For yall arguing about cars, here is my take on it all.
> 
> It doesn't matter what ya drive, as long as it's a rat-rod.
> 
> Yer rims better be flat red, extra points given for mounting HUGE antique truck rims on it. Yer vehicle better be painted flat black, extra points awarded for shooting a coat of clear-coat to show off killer patina instead of painting. Don't add to the vehicle, only remove objects and body parts. The vehicle you use to build yer rat-rod should be well-loved, extra points for vehicles over 70 years old.
> 
> Extra points for: American beer cans used as risers, doing yer own welding, boilerplate, and side-pipes or stacks.
> 
> All points deducted for automatic transmissions (you weenie...) :amen:


How's this?


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Chris0673 said:


> How's this?


Out-Fricken-Standing!

The antique tractor seat for the gunner is genius. It is a bit more polished than the sort of thing I'd build, but I like it!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Velvet in a Dr. G Color Duke


----------



## freestoke

Latakius Vituscan said:


> This morning I'm starting out with two mugs of Columbia coffee, one in each hand, and GL Pease Renaissance (2002) in a Comoy's Tradition 133.


First, gorgeous pipe, DJ! :tu Second, I get to pass along ANOTHER spelling flame, one I recently suffered at the hands of Terry. :sl "Col*o*mbian"

PA in a plain CG. And Colombian. :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

I went with a 50/50 mix of PA and 1Q this morning. It bit a little but was an otherwise pleasant and light start after a long weekend.

Regarding all of this Jeep and Rover nonsense, I believe George Ball once said "Nostalgia is a seductive liar." If the latest Grand Cherokee (which Jim mistakenly calls a truck) can conquer the Rubicon it's Jeep enough for today's world and will be a hell of a lot more comfortable and reliable than an 80's era (or older??) Wrangler, not to mention Range Rover. If Chrysler (and therefore Jeep) hadn't benefited from their brief affair with Daimler it would be in a very sorry state. As it stands we have a new Wrangler with a new (and possibly better) engine, the new Grand Cherokee (and Durango) and a host of rather nice full size chars in the Chrysler stable.


----------



## steinr1

Last day of work today after resigning three months ago! It's finally over. I suppose I may have to start again sometime, but for the moment... IT'S OVER!!!!!

Spent the day smoking several bowls of Germain's Rich Dark Flake and some Fox's Dorisco Mixture. Time well spent.



Stonedog said:


> Regarding all of this Jeep and Rover nonsense, I believe George Ball once said "Nostalgia is a seductive liar."


While I can't argue that vehicles have become more sophisticated, powerful and (initially) reliable, this is not nostalgia. I know (too many) people who run Land Rovers which are over 40 years old (and some over 50) for very practical reasons. I very much doubt that any of the modern crop of off-roaders will be around in 2050. The sophistication is a double-edged sword. These vehicles rely heavily on the manufacturer's support which is short lived; the primitive vehicles will go on forever using basic workshop techniques. Land Rovers and Willys Jeeps are still in serious service all over the world for the simple reason that it is possible to keep them running. Mk1 Land Rover or Land Rover Defender? If I had to run a utility vehicle in a remote location (like my friends on the Isle of Eigg or Skye), the Mk1 wins hands down. For taking your kids to school in gentile Surrey, the Defender is the tool of choice. (But why? Most "off-roaders" never make it off-road.)


----------



## bluesman.54

I am jealous that you retired. Six more years for me. Enjoy your retirement with many bowls that are pleasing and long lasting. All the best in your retirement!



steinr1 said:


> Last day of work today after resigning three months ago! It's finally over. I suppose I may have to start again sometime, but for the moment... IT'S OVER!!!!!
> 
> Spent the day smoking several bowls of Germain's Rich Dark Flake and some Fox's Dorisco Mixture. Time well spent.
> 
> While I can't argue that vehicles have become more sophisticated, powerful and (initially) reliable, this is not nostalgia. I know (too many) people who run Land Rovers which are over 40 years old (and some over 50) for very practical reasons. I very much doubt that any of the modern crop of off-roaders will be around in 2050. The sophistication is a double-edged sword. These vehicles rely heavily on the manufacturer's support which is short lived; the primitive vehicles will go on forever using basic workshop techniques. Land Rovers and Willys Jeeps are still in serious service all over the world for the simple reason that it is possible to keep them running. Mk1 Land Rover or Land Rover Defender? If I had to run a utility vehicle in a remote location (like my friends on the Isle of Eigg or Skye), the Mk1 wins hands down. For taking your kids to school in gentile Surrey, the Defender is the tool of choice. (But why? Most "off-roaders" never make it off-road.)


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> Last day of work today after resigning three months ago! It's finally over. I suppose I may have to start again sometime, but for the moment... IT'S OVER!!!!!
> 
> Spent the day smoking several bowls of Germain's Rich Dark Flake and some Fox's Dorisco Mixture. Time well spent.


Good for you, sir! _< what I really mean is: you lucky bastard! >_
Here's to many, many bowls of your favorite blends...



steinr1 said:


> I very much doubt that any of the modern crop of off-roaders will be around in 2050.


Yes. This is the reason I would pay AT LEAST today's Volvo prices for a brand new 1989 Volvo 240. Before everything went power this and power that, before everything under the bonnet (that one's for Robert) was loaded with computer chip sensors. I know how to crank down a window by hand, thank you very much. My '98 V70 has just hit 250,000 miles, but swapping out the damn sensors is getting to make it less practical to keep it running.

Still looks good, though.

Royal Yacht in the meer, for a pleasant Monday morning drive in.


----------



## steinr1

bluesman.54 said:


> I am jealous that you retired. Six more years for me. Enjoy your retirement with many bowls that are pleasing and long lasting. All the best in your retirement!


Steady! Not retirement, just happy unemployment. I'll need to get back to it at some point, but for the moment, I'd rather be ragged than work for my *EX*-employers (and better still, with my wife at work, I'll be a kept man...)

Thanks for the thought, though :lol:


----------



## bluesman.54

Then I hope your new found peace of mind is all that you desire it to be and you still enjoy many bowls that are pleasing and long lasting. All the best to you as you enter this new phase...



steinr1 said:


> Steady! Not retirement, just happy unemployment. I'll need to get back to it at some point, but for the moment, I'd rather be ragged than work for my *EX*-employers (and better still, with my wife at work, I'll be a kept man...)
> 
> Thanks for the thought, though :lol:


----------



## splattttttt

"Akept man"? LOL, when I was a young man, I actually thought I could make it happen. Not so innocent these days now and retirement it self seams far off. Thankfully, there are many smoke trails to help with dreaming my life away.
Enjoy it while you can Robert. And that Germain's Rich Dark Flake really does sound tasty in the reviews. I've read it's very similar to Esoterica's Stonehaven, but can't actually verify it personally :boohoo:


----------



## Desertlifter

Temporally deprived posting - deal with it.

Enjoyed a bowl of Old Dublin this morning.

There's just something about a light English blend in the morning that is ....... glorious.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A bowl of SPS Kentucky Planter in a Dr. G Duke


----------



## steinr1

Fox's Dorisco Mixture in a Myon Royale Bulldog.

Thanks to all for the good vibes on my (temporary) early retirement. So far, life as a Kept Man has been sweet - no 0515 alarm.


----------



## Stonedog

Peterson's Perfect Plug in an MM Legend this morning.

Tomorrow is the last day of the school year here in Gwinnett County. Starting Thursday I can wake up at a more reasonable 6:30 to 7am and still make it to the office on time. I used to favor fall and winter, but summer is becoming my favorite season now that I have high school aged children.

EDIT: As soon as I saw this I remembered someone mentioned rat rods in this thread and had to post it:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Royal Yacht in the dedicated bent acorn during the drive to work up the mountain this morning.

There is a motorcycle rally this weekend in the town I work in. The first few years it was fun, but now it's just LOUD and inconvenient.


----------



## bluesman.54

Finally I received some "flake" to enjoy with a favorite pipe --- and see what it is that you guys seem to love.

Any advise for a first time flake smoker?

Thanks for your input and patience with my questions.

Michael


----------



## El wedo del milagro

bluesman.54 said:


> Any advise for a first time flake smoker?


Sure. For maximum flavor (but more difficult lighting and more relights) just "fold and stuff" the flake.

You can also "rub out" the flake into something approaching ribbon. It will light easier and have a more mild flavor.


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> Royal Yacht in the dedicated bent acorn during the drive to work up the mountain this morning.
> 
> There is a motorcycle rally this weekend in the town I work in. The first few years it was fun, but now it's just LOUD and inconvenient.


*RANT MODE*

I hope at least it's a "real" motorcycle rally. Nothing worse than having a bunch of fat, middle-aged wannabe "bikers" sipping Chardonnay, loudly reminiscing about their guided "adventure" with their rented "Hogs" (probably some Suzuki cruiser - "They're just like Harleys but SOOO much more reliable...") to the Algarve or whatever the equivalent in the US might be ("The food's FANTASTIC and it's SOOO inexpensive. We found a local bar where you can get the authentic experience - not like those DREADFUL tourist places.")

Thankfully, I recognise that I'm too old, too fat and like my Chardonnay too much to attend rallies anymore.

*/RANT MODE*

I'm off to the porch to scowl at passerbys (no reason - they just annoy me these days) and smoke an S-M Barling's Make Lovat full of Germain's Rich Dark Flake.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> I'm off to the porch to scowl at passerbys (no reason - they just annoy me these days) and smoke an S-M Barling's Make Lovat full of Germain's Rich Dark Flake.


Excellent ranting, Robert. We had a redo of Woodstock at the airbase back in '99 ( called Woodstock 99, of course). Nightmare. About the only thing good to come out of it was a cartoon by a local that ran on the editorial page of the Rome Daily Senile. There are three middle aged couples, dressed circa 1969, beads and headbands, grey hair, pot bellies, flowers in the ladies' hair, all drinking beer straight out of the bottle (having it raw, as it was known at the time). Wonderful cartooning. One of the guys is saying, "I hear there's some bad antacid going around." And you think motorcycle rallies are irritating? :nono:

I'm here with the Dart Mix, Terry's Bolstered Variation, and an Old Mil.


----------



## bluesman.54

Mark,

Thank you. I received some Davidoff Flake Medallions which I am enjoying in one of my Dunhill pipes. I am wondering about the ghost effect from all the 1Q I have smoked in it. It is no where near as sweet as the 1Q I am used to smoking-- but the full flavor is an absolute delight. So far -- no bite -- just a great fulll flavored smoke. I just wadded up a piece and a half and loaded it into the pipe. No relighting issues so far -- but it is burning very slow. A great change of pace. Thank you once again for the advise. I cold easily get used to this!

Michael



El wedo del milagro said:


> Sure. For maximum flavor (but more difficult lighting and more relights) just "fold and stuff" the flake.
> 
> You can also "rub out" the flake into something approaching ribbon. It will light easier and have a more mild flavor.


----------



## bluesman.54

Jim,

I really like the pipe in your picture. What kind is it and where was it made? Do you smoke it often?

Michael



freestoke said:


> Excellent ranting, Robert. We had a redo of Woodstock at the airbase back in '99 ( called Woodstock 99, of course). Nightmare. About the only thing good to come out of it was a cartoon by a local that ran on the editorial page of the Rome Daily Senile. There are three middle aged couples, dressed circa 1969, beads and headbands, grey hair, pot bellies, flowers in the ladies' hair, all drinking beer straight out of the bottle (having it raw, as it was known at the time). Wonderful cartooning. One of the guys is saying, "I hear there's some bad antacid going around." And you think motorcycle rallies are irritating? :nono:
> 
> I'm here with the Dart Mix, Terry's Bolstered Variation, and an Old Mil.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Jim,
> 
> I really like the pipe in your picture. What kind is it and where was it made? Do you smoke it often?
> 
> Michael


:ask: What picture?


----------



## bluesman.54

The one on the left with your profile info...



freestoke said:


> :ask: What picture?


----------



## splattttttt

It's just a default img that Puff uses to identify its members who've exceeded a certain number of pipe trades I think. Deff a srtight billiard with an awesome smooth glossy finish thoug. Has to be a E. Nording but I can't really tell for sure. Here's one similar...


----------



## MarkC

steinr1 said:


> *RANT MODE*
> 
> I hope at least it's a "real" motorcycle rally. Nothing worse than having a bunch of fat, middle-aged wannabe "bikers" sipping Chardonnay, loudly reminiscing about their guided "adventure" with their rented "Hogs" (probably some Suzuki cruiser - "They're just like Harleys but SOOO much more reliable...") to the Algarve or whatever the equivalent in the US might be ("The food's FANTASTIC and it's SOOO inexpensive. We found a local bar where you can get the authentic experience - not like those DREADFUL tourist places.")
> 
> Thankfully, I recognise that I'm too old, too fat and like my Chardonnay too much to attend rallies anymore.
> 
> */RANT MODE*
> 
> I'm off to the porch to scowl at passerbys (no reason - they just annoy me these days) and smoke an S-M Barling's Make Lovat full of Germain's Rich Dark Flake.


I remember mentioning having a bike to someone once who then asked "do you have a Harley?". I said, no, I have a Kawasaki. The garage already had a grease spot when I moved in...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

What's do a labrador and a Harley have in common?... They both like riding in the back of pick-ups.

SPS Bosphorus Cruise in a MM bent cob


----------



## steinr1

MarkC said:


> I remember mentioning having a bike to someone once who then asked "do you have a Harley?". I said, no, I have a Kawasaki. The garage already had a grease spot when I moved in...





Tobias Lutz said:


> What's do a labrador and a Harley have in common?... They both like riding in the back of pick-ups.


Steady... I've got a Hardly Driveable that is both oil-tight and reliable.

It's a Harley AMC badged Aermacchi 350 SS Sprint...

Ashton's Artisan's Blend in a Myon Royale Straight Bulldog.


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> It's just a default img that Puff uses to identify its members who've exceeded a certain number of pipe trades I think.


Yeah, if you hover over it with the mouse, it says "Puff Pipe Trader". Great looking Nording, Jack, but whatever it is, I don't have one. :lol:

Waking up with some SB in the 4Dot this morning. Coffee. Having a very hard time achieving full consciousness this morning.


----------



## Stonedog

Stop talking about motorcycles people. After 8 or 9 years of forgetting about them I've got the bug again. Never ridden in my life but the KLR 650 is calling to me.

PA/Nutty Cut/Uni Flake/Brown Bogie cocktail in the bulldog this morning. Damn fine mixture, I ended up driving bout 10 miles out of my way just to finish it.


----------



## MarkC

My riding days are in the past, I'm afraid. I got rid of my last bike about five years ago when I moved to Oregon, and wanted to replace it eventually. But I'm fifty-five, and with my health problems, a fall would probably shatter my skeleton at this point. Not worth the risk anymore.

More Astley's 55...


----------



## karatekyle

London Mixture in the Pete Killarney today. A surprisingly good smoke, never been the biggest fan of my Peterson. Might have to put it to work more often after this morning!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Robert: It's a real MC rally, with real bikers. We will host 15, or 16 thousand of them this long weekend. Yes, there will be some CPA's and dentists here in black leather, but there will also be Hell's Angles, Banditos, Mongols, etc. They will drink and drug all weekend, not sleep, and cruise every street in town 24/7. The decibel level will stay around 100Db 24/7 till it's over. 

Jim: I find it difficult to believe that pretentious, elderly hippies could come close to the same level of annoyance as what I described above. Plus, it was a one time event 14 years ago... this rally happens every year.


So far I've had a bowl of Bayou Morning in a Dr G during my drive up the mountain to work, and a bowl of PA on a cob to celebrate feeding breakfast to the whole hotel.


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoying my first bowl of St. Peter 41 Cube Cut in a new MM bent Country Gentleman. Man -- I really like those pipes and am dedicating some to specific tobaccos the Brothers mention on this list. This is great for me. Still can't get over it though. A Corn cob pipe -- Who'd a thunk it? And still cleaning my other briar and meershaum according to the sticky Blaylock up some time ago. I canot believe all the new things this forum has brought me. Thank you for you patience with me and all you share.

Michael


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> Jim: I find it difficult to believe that pretentious, elderly hippies could come close to the same level of annoyance as what I described above. Plus, it was a one time event 14 years ago... this rally happens every year.


Having a bowl of 5B in the 4Dot with a Sugar Barrel bottom liner. Pretty good, with the sugar taste wafting up early on. As for Woodstock 99, old hippies would have been okay, probably, it was the nouveau hippies that were the problem, people who weren't even born in 1969 and wouldn't know a peace protest from a crowd waiting for tickets to the Superbowl. I'm not saying Woodstock the First was altogether pleasant, but the one here was rather violent, a few murders, rapes, and lots of arson (setting a bunch of tractor trailers on fire at the end). They also leveled 3 acres of virgin timber so they could put tents, wiping out a legally set aside bird sanctuary with lots of rarish birds living there. (They actually paid friends and family to chop them down and sell the wood on top of it. Many people in the area would have harvested the trees for nothing and made their money selling the timber, but then friends and family wouldn't have been able to turn a dishonest buck, now would they?) The whole shebang was run by the biggest criminals in the area, and they managed to funnel all the profits to New Jersey. The only good thing was that it cost them a fortune to clean up the trash, an operation that took literally months. As for noise, I live about 6 miles from the runway as the crow flies. Very loud at 3 in the morning and deafening right next to it on the golf course. But like you say, it was a one time disaster. You do have my sympathies having to cope with it every year!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Wow!

Jim, that's crazy.

At the risk of jinxing us, murder, rape and arson are NOT expected at the Memorial Day Rally. But, there will be about 16 thousand Harleys, and maybe two of 'em will have mufflers. The cruising up and down every street will go on 24/7 and the noise won't stop. I've become quite accustomed to a quiet lifestyle. After 12, or so, hours of the constant thumping noise I'll be ready to throw up, and either scream or cry.

Oh well, such is life.:???:


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> It's a real MC rally, with real bikers...


My sympathies. Hugely entertaining to be part of, but clearly a pain in the arse for everyone else. It may be of some comfort to know that, without doubt, _someone_ will ride their bike diagonally across the pitch, demolishing many tents. Also hugely entertaining if it doesn't include your tent.



> I find it difficult to believe that pretentious, elderly hippies could come close to the same level of annoyance...


Yes they can. These types fail to see that "The Man" has won the argument outright. Not only that, but they themselves are (quite happily) part of "The Man" now (There may be rare exceptions - but I don't care.) In the UK these are people who believe that they haven't sold out, but take social benefits from the State to maintain their pretense of an agrarian ideal. Threaten to withdraw their payment and watch them howl. But I'm with Jim in seeing the wannabes as even more annoying with their loathsome designer-hippy fripperies. "Amusing" hats being worst of all. I'd accept a lot of stolen timber in an exchange for a No-Hat guarantee.



> But, there will be about 16 thousand Harleys, and maybe two of 'em will have *mufflers*


Potato, potato, potato...

My Laverda sets off car alarms as it passes. It's magic!


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> Having a bowl of 5B in the 4Dot with a Sugar Barrel bottom liner. Pretty good, with the sugar taste wafting up early on. As for Woodstock 99, old hippies would have been okay, probably, it was the nouveau hippies that were the problem, people who weren't even born in 1969 and wouldn't know a peace protest from a crowd waiting for tickets to the Superbowl. I'm not saying Woodstock the First was altogether pleasant, but the one here was rather violent, a few murders, rapes, and lots of arson (setting a bunch of tractor trailers on fire at the end). They also leveled 3 acres of virgin timber so they could put tents, wiping out a legally set aside bird sanctuary with lots of rarish birds living there. (They actually paid friends and family to chop them down and sell the wood on top of it. Many people in the area would have harvested the trees for nothing and made their money selling the timber, but then friends and family wouldn't have been able to turn a dishonest buck, now would they?) The whole shebang was run by the biggest criminals in the area, and they managed to *funnel all the profits to New Jersey*. The only good thing was that it cost them a fortune to clean up the trash, an operation that took literally months. As for noise, I live about 6 miles from the runway as the crow flies. Very loud at 3 in the morning and deafening right next to it on the golf course. But like you say, it was a one time disaster. You do have my sympathies having to cope with it every year!


That's all you had to say Jim.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> That's all you had to say Jim.


A few pictures worth a few thousand words.




























And the temp on the runway had to be running around 120*. Gosh, how much fun can you possibly have, with water at a $5 a bottle, beer at $10? And no toilet facilities. They were worried about cholera and dysentery for a while.


----------



## bluesman.54

I can only tink of two words --- disgusting and criminal. Horrific also comes to mind.



freestoke said:


> A few pictures worth a few thousand words.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And the temp on the runway had to be running around 120*. Gosh, how much fun can you possibly have, with water at a $5 a bottle, beer at $10? And no toilet facilities. They were worried about cholera and dysentery for a while.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> A few pictures worth a few thousand words.


OK. That is bad.

The festivals and rallies I used to go to were, in general, good natured, non violent and non destructive. Even at the Bulldog Bash, run by "The England" - our local Angel Chapter - there was rarely trouble. The hippy festivals, until commercialised, were simply a bit disorganised. I've only got good memories of those times (Turning up at Stonehenge in 1980, I think, to find that the girl who had "organised" our tent had neglected to bring any poles for it. I thought it packed on the bike rather too easily. A few nights spent in a canvas bag...)


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Dunhill EMP in a MM cob


----------



## steinr1

Dunhill Standard Mixture in an Old Mokum ceramic pipe.


----------



## splattttttt

@freestoke; Jim... I do NOT!, hold you responsible. I'm sure you were disappointed at those "unruly hippies" and just wondering how it all went wrong :nod:.

Ready for the first inning with cubed Tambo wielding an E. Nording straight billiard poised for the Stockton roll cake rub and P&C's rest of the best to load up the bases.


----------



## MarkC

bluesman.54 said:


> I can only think of two words --- disgusting and criminal. Horrific also comes to mind.


Ah. So _that's_ Nickelback.


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> @freestoke; Jim... I do NOT!, hold you responsible. I'm sure you were disappointed at those "unruly hippies" and just wondering how it all went wrong :nod:.


That's not what MY *Whole Earth Catalog *said should happen! :hippie:

Think I'll have some Royal Yacht. Slept late today! :smile: Nice rainy night.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

A bowl of Bagpipers Dream in a Dr G on the drive up the mountain to work.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Same old comfortable rut - Royal Yacht in the meer. Really tired of the incessant rain and gloom - you'd think after 18 years in the Pacific Northwest I'd be used to it, but the South Texan in me is craving some sun and heat.


----------



## splattttttt

ProbateGeek said:


> Same old comfortable rut - Royal Yacht in the meer. Really tired of the incessant rain and gloom - you'd think after 18 years in the Pacific Northwest I'd be used to it, but the South Texan in me is craving some sun and heat.


Human nature always looks else where. Think of those poor souls drenched insweat looking for a bit of that cool shade to rest in? Plus you don't have bugs there. Just snails LOL
My Sockton R Cake got hot, so I put it down ) :


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Same old comfortable rut - Royal Yacht in the meer.


From When Alfred Dunhill opened his shop on Duke Street in 1907 it was not a pipe shop, to be sure a scattering of pipes were offer :

*...a few years later, in 1912, bespoke blending took a back seat again as Alfred Dunhill introduced his first pre-packaged 'name' blends: "Royal Yacht", "Cuba" and "Durbar". And priced not at the "My Mixture" 10/8 but at the very considerable premium of 16/- per lb for "Durbar" and 21/- per lb for "Royal Yacht" and "Cuba".
*

"Royal Yacht" was first produced in 1912, exactly 101 years before the discovery of the Higgs Boson. Coincidence?

Royal Yacht makes you smarter. Think I'll boost my IQ a few points right now.


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> From When Alfred Dunhill opened his shop on Duke Street in 1907 it was not a pipe shop, to be sure a scattering of pipes were offer :
> 
> *...a few years later, in 1912, bespoke blending took a back seat again as Alfred Dunhill introduced his first pre-packaged 'name' blends: "Royal Yacht", "Cuba" and "Durbar". And priced not at the "My Mixture" 10/8 but at the very considerable premium of 16/- per lb for "Durbar" and 21/- per lb for "Royal Yacht" and "Cuba".
> *
> 
> "Royal Yacht" was first produced in 1912, exactly 101 years before the discovery of the Higgs Boson. Coincidence?
> 
> Royal Yacht makes you smarter. Think I'll boost my IQ a few points right now.


 in that case...


----------



## ProbateGeek

splattttttt said:


> in that case...


Guess I'll just have to be stupid till I get back to the car for the evening commute. 
That's okay - I'm used to it.


----------



## splattttttt

ProbateGeek said:


> Guess I'll just have to be stupid till I get back to the car for the evening commute.
> That's okay - I'm used to it.


That's one smart commuter :car:


----------



## steinr1

Black Bogie Aromatic in a thimble-bowled (actually much smaller than that) Ropp Prince. Kickstarter for the morning.


----------



## freestoke

Barely getting over 50 today, with big wind and some rain. Golfless. out: Got an early bowl of Sugar Barrel burning and a nice fresh cup of coffee to overcome the bleak weather. We need a lot of rain to get the gardens started right, though. :tu


----------



## Nachman

Yesterday morning we had 6.8 inches of rain in three hours. Missed my doctors appointment and smoked RY inside. For some reason my wife doesn't mind the room note of RY. Today pleasant and seventies. MM965 for the AM pipe.


----------



## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> Black Bogie Aromatic in a thimble-bowled (actually much smaller than that) Ropp Prince. Kickstarter for the morning.


I love little pipes my self. This Tim Thorpe would also make for a real tight fitting thimble if I do say so my self.
In fact, I just finished some rolled up Stonehaven gifted to me by our good BOTL Dan R.
Win Win


----------



## bluesman.54

Great picture -- beautiful pipe! Thank you for sharing. And another new tobacco to conteplate! Life is Good!



splattttttt said:


> I love little pipes my self. This Tim Thorpe would also make for a real tight fitting thimble if I do say so my self.
> In fact, I just finished some rolled up Stonehaven gifted to me by our good BOTL Dan R.
> Win Win


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoying a bowl of Peter St 41 Cube Cut in a Country Gentleman as I work on the computer. Life really is Good!


----------



## steinr1

splattttttt said:


> I love little pipes my self. This Tim Thorpe would also make for a real tight fitting thimble if I do say so my self.


But that's ENORMOUS.

*THIS* is a small pipe...

View attachment 77627


Yeco Junior Straight Prince by Ropp
4 3/4 inch length overall.

(And what's with the Edgeworth Sliced tin? Are you taunting me?)


----------



## Sniper2075

Man, I think I would trade the weather here for 50 and raining myself, yesterday's high was 100 in the shade. Lucky for me I have my smoking room kinda setup so I can smoke inside and not roast. Need to put in a proper exhaust fan in the ceiling though so I don't have to open the window and use the window fan, brings in too much hot outside air.


----------



## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> But that's ENORMOUS.
> 
> *THIS* is a small pipe...
> 
> View attachment 77627
> 
> 
> Yeco Junior Straight Prince by Ropp
> 4 3/4 inch length overall.
> 
> (And what's with the Edgeworth Sliced tin? Are you taunting me?)


Actually identical Robert. Bowl dept is 1" and ID is 3/4 w/an overall length of 4.3/4" Mine's a chode though LOL Your's on the other hand is extremely neat looking.


----------



## steinr1

splattttttt said:


> Actually identical Robert. Bowl dept is 1" and ID is 3/4 w/an overall length of 4.3/4" Mine's a chode though LOL Your's on the other hand is extremely neat looking.


Not to get into a "mine's smaller than yours" debate, but *mine's smaller than yours* :lol:. As always (and as you point out), it's not just about length - girth is equally important. I/D is 17mm without cake, 14mm-ish with and depth is also 17mm. That's about 5/8 inch for each dimension in good old Imperial measure. I use the pipe for ropes and plugs exclusively as it is useless for anything else. Still smokes for about 20 minutes, though. Talk about pipe smoking being inexpensive - I could stave off nicotine cravings for a month with just 50g of Black Bogie. A single bowl often leaves me reeling. I am clearly worthless and weak.

btw - I also use a small pipe for our local Stonehaven equivalent (Germain's Rich Dark Flake), an S-M Barling's Make Lovat. That stuff puts down the cake in spades; the bowl is rapidly getting smaller still...


----------



## splattttttt

Thanks Robert :caked: good lesson here. More puddin, then cake. And I have some more Tonehaven.


----------



## freestoke

A second bowl of RY in an X-out Legend. Coffee is good this morning, Colombian. (Check out that demonstration of orthographic enlightenment, Terry! :nod


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> A second bowl of RY in an X-out Legend. Coffee is good this morning, Colombian. (Check out that demonstration of orthographic enlightenment, Terry! :nod


Oh, I always notice such things, my friend.

And will join you with RY and coffee - just waking up at 9:40 on a Saturday. 
Nice. Weighed in at 178 this morning - down 29 pounds this year. Feeling virile, and only a baker's dozen to go.


----------



## freestoke

On my second cup of coffee and second pipe, first the 4Dot with SB, now the CG with -- yeah -- RY. p

I just saw it again, that bizarre UPS commercial about shipping your golf clubs ahead so you don't have to hassle with them on business trips. Three guys see their boss checking in without his clubs. They assume that they weren't supposed to bring their clubs, which they are lugging through the hotel lobby when they see him. Two out of three succeed in throwing their clubs into a conveniently located fountain with surrounding pool. (Nice digs for a business trip, I'd say, doubtless with private, world class golf laid on.) The one who misses with his bag toss turns to blame the other two for bringing their golf clubs. Beyond the silliness, I guess the guy accusing the others, while denying his own complicity in the dastardly plan to golf on a "business trip", is "okay" with the viewing public. I think I'd fire the guy. He's a weasel. And if I were one of the other two guys I wouldn't be playing any more golf with him. Judging from that spastic throw I'd bet he's absolutely terrible and probably cheats, so they wouldn't be giving up much.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Anniversary Kake in a cob during the morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Late posting, but two bowls of a 3-way mix of PA, tambo and 5B in the meer. With lots of French roast, black.
I'm awake.


----------



## steinr1

Louisiana Flake in a Ropp Racine de Vielle Souche Montagnarde. The old Algerian briar of these pipes works splendidly; not a great example of these - I've got better - you can see a small chunk of wood has broken away from an old flaw. Smokes faultlessly, however.

View attachment 77676
View attachment 77677


btw - Does anyone else use these Whitecross wind-guards? They do the job as far as I'm concerned although they do scrape at the cake where the spring-loaded mountings sit in the bowl.


----------



## MarkC

I haven't jumped into that area of pipe paraphernalia, but judging by my journey so far, it's only a matter of time...

Starting the day with a bowl of Montgomery.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Frog Morton's Cellar in a MM cob


----------



## freestoke

The antepenultimate bowl of RY from this jar, with one can remaining in the stash. Hopefully the peaches and cherries survived the cold last night. A light frost might have done them in, though. And the peppers might have dropped their flowers and early fruit, so we need a late-ending summer for them to max out. The official "last day of frost" is June 1st around here, so it's nothing unusual for sure. Smooth sailing here on out though, except for the slugs and snails and birds and squirrels and...


----------



## El wedo del milagro

A small bowl of Anniversary Kake in a Peterson Belgique.

It's a beautiful day, and warm . 74 degrees already outside on the porch.

I'm enjoying not hearing thousands of Harleys.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Smooth sailing here on out though, except for the slugs and snails and birds and squirrels and...


...humans.

My parents had a small cherrry tree stolen from their front garden. Worth all of £20. They previously had all the spent heads of a patch of poppies snapped off. We assume for the opium. I despare of humans.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Dunhill EMP in a Gatlinburlier house pipe


----------



## Stonedog

50/50 mix of PA and 1Q this morning. This will be a 3 day week for me, but I've got to cram 5 days of work into it. Wish me luck...


----------



## freestoke

Damn! A stupid bunch of rain is moving in two hours from now! :rant: Right in the middle of the day. :rant: Ruins everything. Did NOT expect a solid rain shield heading this way, judging from the 30% prediction. out: (But, I am still a big fan of the Weather Service. :smile: They're right on the money most of the time, they really are.)

PA in a Forever-equipped Pride and Colombian cafe'.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Stonedog said:


> 50/50 mix of PA and 1Q this morning. This will be a 3 day week for me, but I've got to cram 5 days of work into it. Wish me luck...


I've tried to explain this concept to my wife- you work harder on the front end and rush to catch up on the back end, so the time off doesn't mean someone else does the work for you. Good luck!


----------



## freestoke

Now for something entirely different -- SB with a few coins of Happy Bogie to up the ante. Interesting. And more Colombian! :cp

The guy that won the Colonial this weekend, Boo Weekly, celebrated with a victory dinner at Taco Bell. :biglaugh: Hope he showed some class and tipped everybody in the place a Franklin. Which puts me in mind of Wayne Levi, the only guy ever allowed to wear blue jeans on tour. This guy lives about 20 miles from here and a lot of the golfers around here know him and have played with him. He gives Jack Benny a run for the money! :lol: The guy who used to drive the limo to the airport in Syracuse, a fellow golfer, once told me that he drove Wayne back and forth from the airport many times, including when he won. At the time when he was the number one money winner on tour, after winning his fourth tournament of the year, Mickey picked him up in the limo (which, BTW, was a broken down Ford station wagon, not an actual limo), drove him home and, like every other time, got NO TIP! :tsk: Wow. There are other local Wayne Levi stories about his legendary miserliness. He was not popular on tour.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Mayor's Chocolate Flake in a Falcon.

I will be glad to kill this jar and be able to open a jar of Bob's Chocolate Flake, it's my favorite.


----------



## splattttttt

@[QUOTE="freestoke, post: 0"]Wayne Levi, :lol: The guy who used to drive the limo to the airport in Syracuse, a fellow golfer, once told me that he drove Wayne back and forth from the airport many times, including when he won. At the time when he was the number one money winner on tour, after winning his fourth tournament of the year, Mickey picked him up in the limo (which, BTW, was a broken down Ford station wagon, not an actual limo), drove him home and, like every other time, got NO TIP! :tsk: Wow. . He was not popular on tour.[/QUOTE]Heat similar stories about Bill Cosby[QUOTE="freestoke, post: 0"]There are other local Wayne Levi stories about his legendary miserliness[/QUOTE]Miserable bastid. Obviously not a piper... LOL; Great story Jim!


----------



## splattttttt

@freestoke


freestoke said:


> Wayne Levi, :lol: The guy who used to drive the limo to the airport in Syracuse, a fellow golfer, once told me that he drove Wayne back and forth from the airport many times, including when he won. At the time when he was the number one money winner on tour, after winning his fourth tournament of the year, Mickey picked him up in the limo (which, BTW, was a broken down Ford station wagon, not an actual limo), drove him home and, like every other time, got NO TIP! :tsk: Wow. . He was not popular on tour.


Heard similar stories about Bill Cosby


freestoke said:


> There are other local Wayne Levi stories about his legendary miserliness


Miserable bastid. Obviously not a piper... LOL Great story Jim!


----------



## ProbateGeek

splattttttt said:


> Obviously not a piper... LOL Great story Jim!


Perhaps Jim could round up his mailing address - a good half dozen pipe tobacco bombs could bring him around?
Sad.


----------



## splattttttt

ProbateGeek said:


> Perhaps Jim could round up his mailing address - a good half dozen pipe tobacco bombs could bring him around?
> Sad.


Sined... A neighbor who knows better lol


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Captain Black (white pouch) in a Dr. G bent Duke.


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning Puff!

Looks like we're in for some rain down here in Norcross. Doesn't matter to me, I'm stuck in a conference room all day anyway...

Nutty Cut in my Edward's bulldog.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Perhaps Jim could round up his mailing address - a good half dozen pipe tobacco bombs could bring him around?
> Sad.


I would be astounded if you could turn him into a smoker. Waste of money. Case in point: A friend of mine and his wife joined the Levis for an evening of fine dining at what passes for a good restaurant around here, The Boar's Head. Their specialty is prime roast beef, served family style, with bowls of vegetables, potatoes, etc. on the table. While the other three ordered King/Queen sized prime roast beef, Wayne ordered a hotdog off the children's menu, with a side of macaroni and cheese.

I have to gratuitously add that playing in a team event at RCC, my partner noted that he had played with Wayne the previous year at the same course and that I had shot the same score, but that I "got around the course a lot easier than he did." So I owe Wayne an indirect compliment, but I can't think of one.

On to another bowl of KK.


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> So I owe Wayne an indirect compliment, but I can't think of one.
> 
> On to another bowl of KK.


Here's one Jim. Thank him for showing you how not to be... Oh, it's just been the Stockton for the past few days. What a nice rut to be stuck in.


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> Here's one Jim. Thank him for showing you how not to be...


I've never seen him in person and don't plan to. :lol:

A smidgen of RY left in the jar, a smidgen of PA and 5B filler. Not bad! p


----------



## karatekyle

Had a bowl of RY yesterday and was astounded how chocolaty it had become after a year or so of age. This morning was some MM965 in the rain, a favorite combination of mine. Rainy days make 965 smell amazing.


----------



## bluesman.54

Thoroughly enjoying a bowl of RY -- thanks to ProbateGeek -- in a meerschaum. What a great smoke. Full, great flavor. I can see this being a favorite!


----------



## splattttttt

bluesman.54 said:


> Thoroughly enjoying a bowl of RY -- thanks to ProbateGeek -- in a meerschaum. What a great smoke. Full, great flavor. I can see this being a favorite!


Damn... I/m gonna open that 09 tin of RY soon.


----------



## bluesman.54

I assure you -- you'll be glad you did! Enjoy! Or -- if you don't want it send it to me!! 



splattttttt said:


> Damn... I/m gonna open that 09 tin of RY soon.


----------



## splattttttt

bluesman.54 said:


> I assure you -- you'll be glad you did! Enjoy! Or -- if you don't want it send it to me!!


I just got back from checking on it and the tin is caved in really good. Fathers Day perhaps?


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Bosphorous Cruise in a MM Hardwood.


----------



## freestoke

Got some SB burning in the 4Dot, watching them warm up for the Memorial, and having been to the range lately I would like to know why amateur golfers (even good ones), completely destroy the practice areas. Why isn't there a poster where you buy the balls that tells you how to practice? I mean, the divots are EVERYWHERE, one at a time. Infuriating, because it becomes difficult to find anywhere to stand! Haven't ANY of these people ever seen the pros practice on TV? You almost never see the "trench" at the range, meaning that there is almost never anybody there doing it right. Hate it. Most of them should know better, but then I suspect only one in ten knows how to properly repair a pitch mark on the green any more. The collapse of civilization in microcosm. :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

SG Chocolate Flake, properly dried and cubed, in the tiny MM Pony Express. 

I plan to take tomorrow off and visit Day One of the annual Blade Show here in Atlanta. I will be taking my father and my son as this is turning into a family tradition for us. If there are any other knife knuts here on the pipe side, I plan to visit the Spyderco booth and pick up a Goddard sprint run or maybe a Manix 2. The real fun though is visiting all of the custom makers' tables. I have a soft spot for the handmade multi-blades...


----------



## steinr1

Stonedog said:


> SG Chocolate Flake, properly dried and cubed, in the tiny MM Pony Express.
> 
> I plan to take tomorrow off and visit Day One of the annual Blade Show here in Atlanta. I will be taking my father and my son as this is turning into a family tradition for us. If there are any other knife knuts here on the pipe side, I plan to visit the Spyderco booth and pick up a Goddard sprint run or maybe a Manix 2. The real fun though is visiting all of the custom makers' tables. I have a soft spot for the handmade multi-blades...


I do like a well made blade.

Just prior to my resignation, I took to thumbing through "Knives 2013" at work to see if that would unnerve anyone.


----------



## Stonedog

steinr1 said:


> I do like a well made blade.
> 
> Just prior to my resignation, I took to thumbing through "Knives 2013" at work to see if that would unnerve anyone.


Did it work? I've always wondered if people on your side of the pond are more easily concerned with the idea of pocket knives. About 10 years ago I had friend from Gislingham come visit. He took a small pen knife (Victorinox keychain knife) back and felt a bit scandalous about it.


----------



## steinr1

Stonedog said:


> Did it work? I've always wondered if people on your side of the pond are more easily concerned with the idea of pocket knives. About 10 years ago I had friend from Gislingham come visit. He took a small pen knife (Victorinox keychain knife) back and felt a bit scandalous about it.


Sadly, they thought it was pretty much on-messsage for me.

We've got some fairly reasonable (as far as I'm concerned) regulations about knive sale and carrying knives here. No sale to under 18 year olds - even cutlery. You can only carry knives (apart from under 3 inch folders) if you have a "good reason" - Courts to decide if necessary. Some types of knives are banned from sale; I'm not sure of the status of knives already in collections, but this is normally OK for other banned things. No automatic knives, no concealed blades, butterfly knives, no push knives, Samurai swords made after 1954, etc. Nothing that would limit any legitimate use of a knife or collector of non-lethal purpose blades.

We have relatively little knife crime...


----------



## Stonedog

steinr1 said:


> ...
> 
> We have relatively little knife crime...


 That term is foreign to me, but it's probably better to step around the deeper political and cultural discussion that could ensue.

I visited England and Scotland in the mid 80's. I was 12 or 13 at the time and one of my souvenirs was a cheap balisong (or butterfly knife) that I picked up in a shop in Edinburgh. I guess things have changed in the last few decades.


----------



## karatekyle

EMP this morning. Absolutely amazing day.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a 50/50 mix of 5B and PA in a cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


----------



## freestoke

I've had a background thing for knives forever. As a kid, I practiced knife throwing with a Bowie knife and marine bayonette, along with the Boy Scout knife. Loved mumbleypeg. (And don't give me any other spellings or put a "t" in it.)

I keep my knives sharp and almost needed therapy when I lost one of my pocket Victorinox a couple of years ago. One becomes attached to a knife you've had for thirty years, ya know? I have a Sabatier chef's knife, which, if stolen, would force me to stop cooking. Bought it new in 1969. 

And my morning in another time zone smoke is some KK in a cob, with an Old Mil.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Loved mumbleypeg. (And don't give me any other spellings or put a "t" in it.)


There are no other spellings!

I'm not into knives myself (says the man who can spot four different pocket knives from where he's sitting); I realized early on that I just didn't have the patience or focus for carving or whittling. And as I moved out of the "country" environment when I left high school, I haven't had to gut a fish in many, many years. I'm going to have to correct that one of these days...


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> I've had a background thing for knives forever. As a kid, I practiced knife throwing with a Bowie knife and marine bayonette, along with the Boy Scout knife. Loved mumbleypeg. (And don't give me any other spellings or put a "t" in it.)
> 
> I keep my knives sharp and almost needed therapy when I lost one of my pocket Victorinox a couple of years ago. One becomes attached to a knife you've had for thirty years, ya know? I have a Sabatier chef's knife, which, if stolen, would force me to stop cooking. Bought it new in 1969.
> 
> And my morning in another time zone smoke is some KK in a cob, with an Old Mil.


A man way ahead of our time.
Just pipe 'n it


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Bosphorous Cruise in a MM cob


----------



## MarkC

Balkan Sasieni in an Altinok meer.


----------



## freestoke

A beautiful day, but 'tis going to be hot. Just as we were getting going on the tilling, the stupid primer bulb went. :rant: Gotta drive all the way to Verona to get another one if we're going to get the rest of the gardens in. Rats. Oh well, for now I'll draw on this bowl of PA for strength, delivered from the redoubtable 4Dot.

And poor Morgan has eye problems. out: Trying to decide if I want to call for a vet appointment or see if she improves. Not sick, just "funny lookin'".


----------



## bluesman.54

Peter St. 41 Cube cut in one of my favorite old smooth Caminettos. Tis a grand morning!


----------



## Stonedog

Gentleman Caller from C&D in the Edward's bulldog this morning. Thanks again DanR for the sample. 

Heading down the Blade show in an hour and then tomorrow morning we're flying out to LA and Santa Barbara for a week of vacation. Well, I'll be working but the family will be off doing their thing...


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht purring in the meer. Some good news (I think) this morning: Capstan & Three Nuns at Smoking Pipes .com


----------



## karatekyle

Enjoyed a Punch this morning with coffee. It had a very... artistic burn line.

Now for London Mixture, after a quick snack.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Bagpiper's Dream in a MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> And poor Morgan has eye problems. out: Trying to decide if I want to call for a vet appointment or see if she improves. Not sick, just "funny lookin'".


if it isn't an allergic reaction, some probiotic or some yougurt (plain) might help.


----------



## MarkC

ProbateGeek said:


> Royal Yacht purring in the meer. Some good news (I think) this morning: Capstan & Three Nuns at Smoking Pipes .com


Interesting. Now, if someone who smokes Capstan can try a tin (when available) and let us know how Mac Baren did on this one...


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> if it isn't an allergic reaction, some probiotic or some yougurt (plain) might help.


Well, two of the other three cats had the same thing going on, and it turned out they've been passing a mild cold around. Got a vitamin supplement to help fight it. No big deal, but it looked bad. Was worried it was conjunctivitis or something.

SCRAMBLE this morning! :banana: Gotta get crackin'! Quick bowl of PA and now I'm into the shower and out the door!


----------



## steinr1

splattttttt said:


> if it isn't an allergic reaction, some probiotic or some yougurt (plain) might help.


 @freestoke

Jim, if you go down this line, PLEASE post a video of you putting yoghurt in a cat's eyes (I'm assuming that this is for topical application). If you can still operate a PC after being scratched to death. Pills hidden in, well, ANYTHING are hard enough. My cat was able to eat the doped morsel and then, minutes later, spit out the pill.


----------



## MarkC

I never had any luck with that 'hide it in the food' trick either. Just put on the gloves and long sleeved shirt and dive in...


----------



## bluesman.54

A beautiful sunny, slightly cool morning here in beautiful downtown Luzerne, Iowa! Watching clouds go by as I enjoy, 1792 Flake -- once again, thank you ProbateGeek for sharing this wth me -- in my Churchman's Meerschaum, and sip on one of my favorites, Starbucks Verona coffee. 

This 1792 may very well be the best pipe tobacco I have ever experienced. Paired with a good coffee it is a true gourmet treat. If you haven't tried 1792 -- I cannot encourage you strongly enough to do so. Sip it -- just as you do your coffee -- retrohale (this is a must to complete the experience) -- and for a brief moment -- enjoy the great pleasures we have the opportunity to enjoy today. Life really is Good! I hope everyone has a fantastic day.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

steinr1 said:


> Jim, if you go down this line, PLEASE post a video of you putting yoghurt in a cat's eyes (I'm assuming that this is for topical application). If you can still operate a PC after being scratched to death. Pills hidden in, well, ANYTHING are hard enough. My cat was able to eat the doped morsel and then, minutes later, spit out the pill.


I have a black and grey tabby spitfire named Queen Victoria. She is ferocious. I have quite a few scars she gave me while she was still very young before she mellowed (slightly). Kathleen's hound dog gives her LOTS of room and respect.

A couple of years ago a neighbor's pitbull mix came in my yard and attacked her while she was on a light cable sunning herself in the front yard. She got bad lacerations on one of her back legs. The pit-mix lost an eye, got an ear notched, and had his testicals so chewed upon that he had to be neutered.

When I grabbed her, she let go of his balls, but didn't bite me... even with her injuries, she still didn't bite me. I had to give her antibiotics for a couple weeks. The "Greenie Treat" pill casings worked for a few days, but then she wouldn't eat them anymore. So I just tucked her under an arm, put one of the pills in her mouth, and pushed it down her throat with my little finger. To my amazement she never bit me, she just gave me the stink-eye. I figure she realized that she'd never find better staff than I, so she just took the man-handling.

To stay on-topic: I smoked a bowl of Bagpipers Dream (bottom half of bowl) with the top half Anni Kake during my morning commute.


----------



## Nachman

This morning I tried a new, to me, tobacco, Esoterica Blackpool. It is a hot pressed Virginia with a light licorice topping. The scent of the topping is not too apparent in the jar. I smoked it in a size six billiard so I had close to an hour to get acquainted with it. It is of medium strength and has a pleasant enough room note. The top third of the pipe, the licorice was not really noticeable in the flavour, but could be detected in the mouth feel. It felt like eating licorice does on the tongue. I imagine if you pushed it, it would really bite. As I smoked past the half way mark I started to notice the taste of licorice, and by the end the flavour was quite strong. I continued to have a licorice taste in my mouth for about two hours after smoking. The tobacco is top quality, but the overall result was weird. Perhaps if I smoke it in a smaller pipe it will work out better.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> This morning I tried a new, to me, tobacco, Esoterica Blackpool. It is a hot pressed Virginia with a light licorice topping. The scent of the topping is not too apparent in the jar. I smoked it in a size six billiard...


What's the "format" of this tobacco, Nick? I find that I can only smoke ribbon-cut in anything large. But then, I've only experienced tobacco as flake of various shapes and ribbon-cut of various thickness (maybe some qualifies as shag). None as "cake" - or is it "kake"?

An interesting sounding tobacco, but I'm (also?) not sure that it would be for me.


----------



## Nachman

steinr1 said:


> What's the "format" of this tobacco, Nick? I find that I can only smoke ribbon-cut in anything large. But then, I've only experienced tobacco as flake of various shapes and ribbon-cut of various thickness (maybe some qualifies as shag). None as "cake" - or is it "kake"?
> 
> An interesting sounding tobacco, but I'm (also?) not sure that it would be for me.


It's a ready rubbed flake. I think they call it a broken flake, but that would imply, to me, large chunks. It is completely rubbed out.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I never had any luck with that 'hide it in the food' trick either. Just put on the gloves and long sleeved shirt and dive in...


I've been at cat medicating for a while and have become a master with the pill popper gizmo. I have one cat I have to wrap in a towel to do it, but in general a good grip on the scruff of the neck to bend their head back and I can pop it back far enough so they can't spit it out. Two of the four I have now offer almost no resistance to anything. One is difficult, the other one dangerous (but really a sweet cat as long as you're not trying to shove her into a carrier or shove something down her throat). All females, and female cats seem generally more laid back than males. In any case, the stuff they gave me is a gel in a tube, and I put 1.25 ml into a needless syringe and squirt it their mouth. They don't seem to have any luck at all spitting it out or even mind much.

I putting some PA in the 4Dot, recovering from a rough outing in the first scramble of the year. I hit good tee shots and couple of nice wedges, but that was it. And made a few putts. But we played poorly in general. Fun though! :smile:


----------



## splattttttt

I once had a female butterscotch Persian/Himalayan that was as ferocious as the Lucifer him selfl. She was always great with me though. And totally hated children.
Anyhow Jim, a little yogurt goes a long way. And they really love it.
Full VA all day whiles hosting a private paintball for my crew, till the all Habano HERF festivities begin later on tonight.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

AK in a MM cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Bosphorous Cruise in a Gatlinburlier house pipe


----------



## bluesman.54

Tobias,

Thank you for the GREAT bomb you sent me. Since I am not allowed yet to post on the Bomb thread -- I haven't been a member long enough -- I'll properly thank you on the "What are you smoking" forum. However I cannot thank you enough for your extremely generous gift!

Michael



Tobias Lutz said:


> SPS Bosphorous Cruise in a Gatlinburlier house pipe


----------



## Tobias Lutz

bluesman.54 said:


> Tobias,
> 
> Thank you for the GREAT bomb you sent me. Since I am not allowed yet to post on the Bomb thread -- I haven't been a member long enough -- I'll properly thank you on the "What are you smoking" forum. However I cannot thank you enough for your extremely generous gift!
> 
> Michael


As my two year old would say "share is fun" :biggrin:. Enjoy


----------



## bluesman.54

Have no doubt -- I will enjoy! Your two year old is wise beyond his/her years! Thank you!



Tobias Lutz said:


> As my two year old would say "share is fun" :biggrin:. Enjoy


----------



## steinr1

Tobias Lutz said:


> As my two year old would say "share is fun" :biggrin:. Enjoy


Funny, my boys at two years old mainly said "*MINE!*"


----------



## MarkC

No kidding; most two year olds I know wouldn't give you a gram of their tobacco. Ungrateful little wretches...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

MarkC said:


> No kidding; most two year olds I know wouldn't give you a gram of their tobacco. Ungrateful little wretches...


My son is really more into small batch bourbons- you'll never be able to get him to part with his cabinet. :biggrin:

Velvet in a Medico Medalist


----------



## splattttttt

Tobias Lutz said:


> My son is really more into small batch bourbons- you'll never be able to get him to part with his cabinet. :biggrin:
> 
> Velvet in a Medico Medalist


Meh; none of my offsprings sport vices. Just sharp tounes.

Just rubbed some Stonehave (TY DanR.) to pair with a full bent Royal House LTD for it's second voyage so far. I thimk I really like this one.


----------



## freestoke

Grabbed the Darth Rader first thing this morning, loaded it up with KK and I'm off and running! Coffee, of course. :cp


----------



## ProbateGeek

_Et tu, Jim?
_
:mmph:


----------



## freestoke

I'm sorry, Terry. I feel like the guy who says he's forced to drive the Cadillac because all his Mercedes are in the shop. out:

Finally decided to get ProV1 (not the V1x) for my season ball. Been 30 years since I've played Titleist, but it was the only ball I played during my "prime". It'll be good to see that logo again. Maybe I'll have a resurgence. :lol:


----------



## bluesman.54

Obviously -- you have raised your son well. Great job Dad!



Tobias Lutz said:


> My son is really more into small batch bourbons- you'll never be able to get him to part with his cabinet. :biggrin:
> 
> Velvet in a Medico Medalist


----------



## karatekyle

EMP in a Sas this morning. I can't get enough of these cool, overcast days.


----------



## steinr1

I'm rather surprised that no-one has mentioned it yet (maybe a timezone thing), but today is obviously the anniversary of the D-Day landings which marked the beginning of the end of the European campaigns of WWII.

In honour of this event, I brought out one of my most treasured pipes. A rather ordinary and battered Ropp Straight Apple. What makes it special is that it is roughly inscribed with the names of the towns of the Tunisian campagn (not the right theatre or quite the right period, but it's the best I can do). It reads like a map of the Allied advance in that campaign and I can only hope that this pipe gave comfort to a combatant in those hard times. I'm grateful and honoured to smoke it.

View attachment 77949
View attachment 77950


----------



## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> I'm rather surprised that no-one has mentioned it yet (maybe a timezone thing), but today is obviously the anniversary of the D-Day landings which marked the beginning of the end of the European campaigns of WWII.
> 
> In honour of this event, I brought out one of my most treasured pipes. A rather ordinary and battered Ropp Straight Apple. What makes it special is that it is roughly inscribed with the names of the towns of the Tunisian campagn (not the right theatre or quite the right period, but it's the best I can do). It reads like a map of the Allied advance in that campaign and I can only hope that this pipe gave comfort to a combatant in those hard times. I'm grateful and honoured to smoke it.
> 
> View attachment 77949
> View attachment 77950


That's right Robert.. Strangely enough, D Day is hardly ever considered here (U.S.) as much as our many other traditionally celebrated military achievements/ holidays. 
Considering the poorly estimated 60.000 allied combined forces that lost their lives that day in what was to be a surprise attack... It makes me shudder at the thought of what might have happened otherwise.
Still, I'm with you that on that this day, if not more than other day ever... Remembering D Day should be more than a mark in the history books.
D Day should be considered as a world wide achievement for what was the fight for a free world. 
Something that to this day, is still being kept under wraps ) :

Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Normandy 1944


----------



## Tobias Lutz

steinr1 said:


> I'm rather surprised that no-one has mentioned it yet (maybe a timezone thing), but today is obviously the anniversary of the D-Day landings which marked the beginning of the end of the European campaigns of WWII.
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> My family has always made a point to observe the anniversary because my father landed on the beaches the day following. He said that you could almost not take a step without touching a fallen soldier from the previous day. My friends always thought I was weird for remembering WWII dates because I grew up in the 80s and 90s, but my father was 61 and my mother was 30 when she became pregnant with me and so I was always "torn" between two generations in the things that were emphasized to me as a youth. Thanks for acknowledging the day.
> 
> SG Navy Flake in a Dr. G Royalton


----------



## freestoke

I think part of the reason the US doesn't celebrate D-Day as much as others is because we have to share credit with the Allies. Even the Russians were involved, on the Eastern Front, massing troops for the "pincer" and preventing Germany from adding to troops to the western coast during the weeks and days leading up to the invasion. We all know how the US felt about the Russians a few years afterward. Several spies were also sent on virtual suicide missions with false intelligence, aiming to be caught to mislead the Third Reich about both the point of invasion and the timing, causing the Germans to misplace their defenses -- and they were British spies. Americans don't like to share credit. 

Hey, it's my first pipe and coffee of the morning -- still in the early morning grump. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Cool pipe Robert! My Grandpa joined the navy in the 20's. He was one of the "old guys" by the time WW2 started. He spent the war on Destroyers in the Pacific Theatre.

I had a bowl of RY in the dedicated bent acorn during my morning commute up the mountain.


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## Nachman

I have been smoking GLP Westminster. I smoked it as a substitute for Dunhill London Mixture while it was unavailable stateside and haven't touched it since the return of Dunhill. It is no London Mixture, but still a decent tobacco and I decided I needed to start making a dent in it since I have over two pounds in the cellar.


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## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> In honour of this event, I brought out one of my most treasured pipes. A rather ordinary and battered Ropp Straight Apple. What makes it special is that it is roughly inscribed with the names of the towns of the Tunisian campagn (not the right theatre or quite the right period, but it's the best I can do). It reads like a map of the Allied advance in that campaign and I can only hope that this pipe gave comfort to a combatant in those hard times. I'm grateful and honoured to smoke it.


Excellent, Robert! A splendid implement. :tu

A couple of stories you might not have ever heard, unless you've read my noodling on the net over the past 20 years.

While much of the credit is given to Montgomery's raising the spirits of the troops with his charisma, he should be given more credit for plugging the security leak from an American liaison officer. A colonel, he was present at all the briefings early on, given to the commanders that would be on any given mission. He went to his tent after every briefing, radioed an American destroyer off shore in the Mediterranean with the full details of the battle plan, and the report would be radioed to the Pentagon, to keep the American high command informed of the action. Germany was intercepting and decoding the messages practically in real time, encrypting them with the Enigma (code we didn't break until the very end of the war), and sending them off to Rommel. Perfect intelligence, the enemy's schedule of where they'd be when, and in what force. Rommel would set his tanks behind sand dunes along the attack route, let them get into a shooting gallery, pop up over the top and obliterate the tanks below, then turn tail and disappear into the desert. Foxy. His military genius is highly overrated. With that kind of information, anybody could have done it.

Back to the action, one of Montgomery's first actions was to limit the briefings to the individual tank commanders, and Col. Brand(?) was barred from the briefings. No more reports to the Pentagon. Montgomery went out and started kicking Rommel's butt immediately. Rommel wasn't so foxy when he didn't know they were coming! :lol:

A side piece of trivia! STP, the Andy Granitelli miracle, was invented by the Germans during WWII. The Panzer tanks in North Africa presented a difficult supply problem for the Germans. The heat would thin the oil and cause engines to fail. STP allowed Rommel to need less oil for his tanks and greatly simplified the supply situation with regard to parts replacement and the oil itself, needing less of both.


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## bluesman.54

What a great pipe. Did you buy it in an estate sale or were you part of the event and carved the names in yourself? Let us never forget what other have sacrificed so that we can live the privilaged life we do. Always be sure to thank a Vet when you meet one. Is is truly the least we can do.



steinr1 said:


> I'm rather surprised that no-one has mentioned it yet (maybe a timezone thing), but today is obviously the anniversary of the D-Day landings which marked the beginning of the end of the European campaigns of WWII.
> 
> In honour of this event, I brought out one of my most treasured pipes. A rather ordinary and battered Ropp Straight Apple. What makes it special is that it is roughly inscribed with the names of the towns of the Tunisian campagn (not the right theatre or quite the right period, but it's the best I can do). It reads like a map of the Allied advance in that campaign and I can only hope that this pipe gave comfort to a combatant in those hard times. I'm grateful and honoured to smoke it.
> 
> View attachment 77949
> View attachment 77950


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## steinr1

bluesman.54 said:


> What a great pipe. Did you buy it in an estate sale or were you part of the event and carved the names in yourself? Let us never forget what other have sacrificed so that we can live the privilaged life we do. Always be sure to thank a Vet when you meet one. Is is truly the least we can do.


The pipe is an estate one that I got as part of my "normal" collecting mania. The carving is period and "genuine" as far as I can tell; the date of the pipe is certainly pre-war. I've got quite a few others of similar date. When I got the pipe I was a bit annoyed at how beat up it looked; the seller hadn't mentioned that. I started to clean and polish it up. Then I put on my spectacles. Luckily before I had gone too far and destroyed the lettering which I had mistaken for general beating up. There are a few bits I can't make out, but "MANOUBA", "KAIROUAN", "KASSERINE", "LA KEF" (which is a misspelling of "EL KEF", I believe - or the French spelling) and "TUNIS" are very clear.

I've just had a bowl of Ogden's Walnut Flake from it. I'll have another, I think...


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## karatekyle

MM965 this morning. I always found this insipid when I first tried it. Now, it's one of my favorite pairings with coffee. How weird!


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## bluesman.54

What a remarkable find! A true piece of history. Enjoy and smoke it in good health always giving thanks that you are able to. I am relieved to hear that someone else has a "normal" collecting mania. I have often wondered if I was alone in this. The number of pipes I have is ridiculous -- and I keep buying. I don't really know anyone else who does this, so it is good to hear you collect as well. There is nothing like a good, well-made pipe. Each smokes it's own unique way and has it's own unique characteristics and story. Thank you for taking the time to reply.



steinr1 said:


> The pipe is an estate one that I got as part of my "normal" collecting mania. The carving is period and "genuine" as far as I can tell; the date of the pipe is certainly pre-war. I've got quite a few others of similar date. When I got the pipe I was a bit annoyed at how beat up it looked; the seller hadn't mentioned that. I started to clean and polish it up. Then I put on my spectacles. Luckily before I had gone too far and destroyed the lettering which I had mistaken for general beating up. There are a few bits I can't make out, but "MANOUBA", "KAIROUAN", "KASSERINE", "LA KEF" (which is a misspelling of "EL KEF", I believe - or the French spelling) and "TUNIS" are very clear.
> 
> I've just had a bowl of Ogden's Walnut Flake from it. I'll have another, I think...


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## Tobias Lutz

Bob's Chocolate Flake in a Gatlinburlier house pipe


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## freestoke

KK in the 4Dot. Coffee.


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## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> KK in the 4Dot. Coffee.


You're doing this out of spite, huh Jim? :mischief:

In lieu of KK this morning, and somewhat in Jim's honor, I smoked PA enhanced with 4 slices of Happy Brown Bogie on the drive in. The Stanwell Antique continues to smoke very, very well.


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## TanZ2005

Morning all, Today I am smoking in my Sav Sherwood, some Hearth and Home Stogie. Just got a small order today wanted to try out some of the Captain Black Dark didn't feel right only ordering that so I added in a couple small items seeing I had just placed an order around my BD. So added an oZ of RLP and 1-Q by Lane trying to keep it all Lane but then just noticed I had smoked my last bowl of the Stogie so had to add some in. So much keeping it Lane. Ok I know I talk to much but bear with me.

I smoke some things that I can find Local at times more then I do buying out. Sad part is local B&M here are really not that good for PIPE or Cigar however I did find they Carry Smokers Pride, This is a Lane Product so I have some of the SP Cherry and Black Cavendish. Ok so then I think hummmm can it be this CB Dark the same as the SP Black Cav. So yes I got on the Buy 3 get 3 free but really for the Price local it is like buying 1 1/2 and getting the others free so no real loss if it is the same. Just have more Mason jars of black Cav to smoke LOL. I am going to do a Taste of both here this weekend, Side by side in a Dr. Grabow Freehand pipe without a Filter, and again test them in an Omega no filter as well side by side.

Off the Tobacco track for a sec. Still have loads of work to do on the house. Have to Rewire, insulate, Windows and installing a Furnace. The Ac just went out so need to get that fixed this week or it is going to be a Rather hot one. Hot yesterday didn't cool much last night so house is still rather hot this morning. Loads of work to do before winter. Have a good day.

James


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## splattttttt

Hot in Oregon? Well, happy belated B-Day wishes brother. And good luck with the house.


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## freestoke

Not really rattling your cage, Terry, honest, but it's KK in the 4Dot again this morning. I've been spending all my time in the living room with the laptop and the jar is right here. Not much pipe variety, either, just the 4Dot and the Darth Rader and the Country Gentleman taking turns. Could be worse! Coffee is good this morning. :cp


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## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> Not really rattling your cage, Terry...


and, in my absence has Terry become compliant with the HPA, or is that smoke in his new pic?

1792 in a cob.


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## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> and, in my absence has Terry become compliant with the HPA, or is that smoke in his new pic?
> 
> 1792 in a cob.


Yo, Mari! :yo: He'll be happy you are 18th Century compliant this morning! :smile: I think I'm going to open a jar of SWR and be 17th Century compliant. p


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## bluesman.54

Finishing my composition for the weekend. To inspire me I am enjoying a bowl of 1792 in one of my favorite old large Caminettos. Life Is Good!


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## ProbateGeek

TTecheTTe said:


> and, in my absence has Terry become compliant with the HPA, or is that smoke in his new pic?
> 
> 1792 in a cob.


I had vowed not to shave until Mari rejoined us on Puff - welcome back.

Now. . . Where's my Gillette SuperSpeed?

(actually just an old pic)


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## steinr1

TTecheTTe said:


> and, in my absence has Terry become compliant with the HPA, or is that smoke in his new pic?
> 
> 1792 in a cob.


It is with some dismay that I need to point out that the HPA regulates _against_ these practices. In particular the wearing of whiskers in order to persuade belief in literally incredible acts of derrring-do in the service of Her Majesty's Royal Air Force. These characters are to be instructed to "fly their kites elsewhere".

Terry - to the soap, brush and razor, post-haste!


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## TTecheTTe

ProbateGeek said:


> I had vowed not to shave until Mari rejoined us on Puff - welcome back.
> 
> Now. . . Where's my Gillette SuperSpeed?
> 
> (actually just an old pic)


Sorry, but once NHL playoff season has commenced, law requires that you refrain from removing facial hair until after Lord Stanley's Cup is won (by the Hawks, of course).


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## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> Terry - to the soap, brush and razor, post-haste!


I am a man civilized - never on Saturdays.


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## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Not really rattling your cage, Terry, honest, but it's KK in the 4Dot again this morning. I've been spending all my time in the living room with the laptop and the jar is right here. Not much pipe variety, either, just the 4Dot and the Darth Rader and the Country Gentleman taking turns. Could be worse! Coffee is good this morning. :cp


I can't blame you, Jim.

After work yesterday I stopped by Rich's Cigar Store in downtown Portland, figuring they just might have something Kendal, either Kentucky or Dark. It's a big place - probably around 6,000 pipes in their inventory. I brought in my Stanwell Antique, and tested a couple of their blends while they searched their stock for some KK they swore they had seen recently tucked away in some cabinet somewhere. The blends I tried did not satisfy, and they never did find the KK.

Still, a decent way to spend an hour, and I did pick up a couple of "Italian" cigars (Toscani, out of Scranton, Pennsylvania) and a 5-pack of J. Fuego Origen Originals, which are hard to find these days.

I really do need to get a big order of Kendal Dark in soon.


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## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> Yo, Mari! :yo: He'll be happy you are 18th Century compliant this morning! :smile: I think I'm going to open a jar of SWR and be 17th Century compliant. p


Evidently I hallucinated as I thought I just saw a mention of Tambo; regardless, I was reminded to smoke it. First, however, I had to resume locating my AWOL clay pipe so that I could be historically compliant upon your suggestion. The clay and Tambo has been sorely neglected for several months, so I do appreciate the suggestions! ipe:


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## DECigar

Dan Tobacco Devils Holiday in my Savinelli Alligator Black


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## splattttttt

Glad to see you back Mari. You were missed. And if you have some Billibud and a black Cavandish, try mixing the with the Tambo. Nice treat.


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## steinr1

I'm about to slip a well-packed, slightly bent Rhodesian between my lips.

View attachment 78024


(Actually, it's a Bulldog, but that might sound a bit odd. SG Balkan Flake in the bowl.)


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## freestoke

KK in the 4Dot. Beautiful day on tap! :smile: Played well at the end yesterday, so maybe I can shoot a decent score today. Got my new Titleist ProV1 balls to bash around yesterday, so I won't be suffering with those lead center Chromes! :banana:


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## El wedo del milagro

Had a bowl of FVF in a Dr G during my morning commute.


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## El wedo del milagro

I usually don't start my second bowl of the workday until the afternoon, but I hit the "Annoying Phone Call Trifecta" this morning at work and needed a bowl of PA in a MM cob.

The Trifecta consists of "Question Lady", "Bug Ya to Death", and "Angry Entitled Cop".

"Bug Ya to Death" can be a woman or man, but was a man this morning. He called while I was cooking a hot breakfast for the entire hotel and wanted to make reservations. I told him he could give me his phone number and I'd call him as soon as I got a free moment, or he could check availability and make reservations at the 800 number or the website. He gave me his number, then called me two minutes later mad that I hadn't called him back yet. He called me every thirty to forty seconds... he called about ten times getting more abusive each time. The last time he called I took down his name, address, and phone number, then suggested politely he try the 800 number, or web site. He cussed me and said he wasn't gonna stop calling until I stopped cooking and take his reservation. I put him on the "Do Not Rent to List" and informed him so.

"Question Lady" isn't a bad person, but is awfully annoying. She is always female, and calls "With Just a Few Questions". She will ask me question "a", cut me off during my answer to ask question "b", cut me off during that answer to ask question "c", then cut me off to ask why I didn't answer her questions. It's always a woman, and it happens fairly often. I just don't understand the mentality at all. This morning's "Question Lady" was on her third cycle of the same questions when I couldn't take it any more. I told her I was super busy cooking a hot breakfast for the guests, and would she mind calling the 800 number? She said "I hope THEY will answer my questions" just before she hung up.

Then "Angry Entitled Cop" called. He wanted a police discount. I asked him if he had triple A, AARP, Harleys Owner Group, or was active duty or retired military. He said he had AAA and HOG, and he wanted both discounts AND a police discount. I told him we give ONE discount, and he qualifies. He started to verbally abuse me, I told him to call the parent-corporation and cuss them out instead. He told me if he caught me in Houston he was gonna shove his pistol up my arse and pull the trigger till it "clicked". I told him I have a recording of this call and I think I'll call the Houston PD. He hung up immediately.

Thank God all the guests here today are nice and fun!


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## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> I usually don't start my second bowl of the workday until the afternoon, but I hit the "Annoying Phone Call Trifecta" this morning at work...


Well handled and well deserved second bowl. Humans. What can you say...


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## splattttttt

Way to go Mark :thumb:


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## bluesman.54

Mark,

You handled those situations really well. Congratulations on keeping your cool -- and I hope that second pipe was relaxing. No doubt -- you earned it.

Michael


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## ProbateGeek

I agree with all the above - you kept your head (I couldn't have). But I think I'd turn on the answering machine till breakfast is done.


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## steinr1

SG Black XX in a tiny pipe.

Then, once the blood is pumping again, Dunhill Standard Mixture in a no-name meerschaum Straight Pot. Probably several bowls.

(Bloody cold today. It's June, I tell you, June!)


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## freestoke

I never ask enough questions, never remember about discounts, and give up easily since I hate talking on a phone to begin with. I'm your ideal caller, Mark! (I've been told I have a beautiful phone voice. )

After an opening bowl of KK in the 4Dot, I've dived straight into the Stonehaven in the FourDot Canadian. And fresh ground Colombian! :cp


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## Stonedog

Hi Everyone,

I'm back after a week long business trip. I didn't take a pipe with me but did manage to find an LP Undercrown which turned out be a decent smoke.

To kick off the week I grabbed a random bag from the samples DanR sent (cheers Dan!). Turned out to be C&D Berry Good, worked for me. It's definitely one of the more pleasant aros I've tried.


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## bluesman.54

A simple morning -- Royal Yacht in an unnamed meershaum that is one of my favorites and a cup of Starbucks Verona. Just letting time pass for a bit before it is off to the hospital and then an early afternoon trip to see my Bishop. Slow start to a busy day. Life is Good!


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## ProbateGeek

Irish Flake in the meer this morning, with some simple Liptons - the smell of the beeswax goes well with the Liptons. This pipe has a fairly large bowl, so let's just say I'm now wide awake and ready to go.



It's hard to believe when I got this pipe it was bone white.


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## freestoke

You know, I always suspected there was something in 1792 besides tobacco, possibly something orange. Has that meerschaum been subjected to 1792, Terry? 

Rain again, another two inches over the next couple of days. sigh. out: Right when I get my new ProV1's, too. out: I'm smoking some more Stonehaven, breaking out the Bari Dana. Haven't smoke the Bari Dana in weeks.


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## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> You know, I always suspected there was something in 1792 besides tobacco, possibly something orange. Has that meerschaum been subjected to 1792, Terry?


Only a couple of times with 1792. This started out as my English blend/Penzance pipe, but since I've seemed to have lost any cravings for latakia I now use it primarily for The Royal Yacht. I'm wondering how good some KK would be in it - hmmmm....

Why so orange, I dunno. I met a guy in a pipe shop last week with a meer coloring from the bottom up, black as coal. Perhaps it's the heavy volume of beeswax I have in this thing, making it easier to color? If you look at the pic above, you'll notice the bottom and shank are fairly splotchy. Up near the top of the bowl, however, those aren't splotches - that's beeswax oozing out of the meer (see the first three or four rows of holes from the top). Interesting material, for sure.


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## steinr1

Dunhill Standard Mixture in my old no-name meerschaum Pot. Not nearly as rich and creamy as Terry's pipe :lol:.


----------



## Stonedog

Half a bowl of DGT'ed Fillmore in the bulldog paired with a cup of strong coffee.


----------



## freestoke

Looks like one more blast of rain after noon, then it might finally stop raining. Filled the Darth Rader with KK, first thing this morning watching US Open coverage, smoked for over an hour. Went out, tried not very hard with a relight, so I figured it was done. sheesh. Had at least a third of a bowl left. The Darth Rader contains a worm hole, able to hold limitless quantities of tobacco. It looks "normal", too, like the CIA designed it to avoid it looking "suspicious". I think there's a secret button on it, that turns on the laser sword, but I haven't found it yet. 

There was nothing to be done but refill it with KK and start over with a fresh cup of coffee and watch some Open opining.


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## bluesman.54

On the way to the hospital to make my rounds and then off to my first session of rehab. But first -- a bowl of Peter St 41 Cube in a cob pipe. I still can't get over the enjoyment of a cob pipe. A fine thing it is indeed. Have a great day one and all.


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## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> I still can't get over the enjoyment of a cob pipe. A fine thing it is indeed.


I've only been smoking cobs for a couple of years. A veritable epiphany in smoking! p Think I'll fire up the Country Gentleman right now! More KK!!


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## bluesman.54

Enjoy! Thanks to your preference for KK and Terry's desire for it -- I just ordered some for myself. I am eager to try it. I love the Solvani Aged Burley -- so I am thinking I will also enjoy this.



freestoke said:


> I've only been smoking cobs for a couple of years. A veritable epiphany in smoking! p Think I'll fire up the Country Gentleman right now! More KK!!


----------



## ProbateGeek

bluesman.54 said:


> Enjoy! Thanks to your preference for KK and Terry's desire for it -- I just ordered some for myself. I am eager to try it. I love the Solvani Aged Burley -- so I am thinking I will also enjoy this.


You WILL like it, particularly in a Country Gentleman. Whether KK or Kendal Dark (my preference, but only slightly). Both are bright, clean, bordering on bitter-crisp (my word), and strong both in flavor and wallup.

Being by nature excessively lazy, I still haven't reordered any. I'm pushing the concept of DGT to the very limits here - it's been months. Pretty scary new territory for me. . .


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## bluesman.54

Right -- Kendal Dark -- I'm on it. Soon as they get Happy Brown Bogie back in stock I have to order again anyway. Picked up a new Country Gentleman today just for the ocassion (KK). Now it appears -- I need another. Is there no end?

Still -- that Ennerdale Flake -- if that is not directly from heaven -- than I suspect nothing is at all. MAN -- THAT IS GOOD!! I am delighted they had plenty of that on hand. Had they not -- it would have surely brought a tear to my eye...



ProbateGeek said:


> You WILL like it, particularly in a Country Gentleman. Whether KK or Kendal Dark (my preference, but only slightly). Both are bright, clean, bordering on bitter-crisp (my word), and strong both in flavor and wallup.
> 
> Being by nature excessively lazy, I still haven't reordered any. I'm pushing the concept of DGT to the very limits here - it's been months. Pretty scary new territory for me. . .


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Still -- that Ennerdale Flake -- if that is not directly from heaven -- than I suspect nothing is at all. MAN -- THAT IS GOOD!! I am delighted they had plenty of that on hand. Had they not -- it would have surely brought a tear to my eye...


Nothing like *Ennerdale*. Nope. :nono: I love it without reserve.


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## splattttttt

some fine BOTL (DR) passed some of this fine (Ennerdale Flake) Mana on to me some time back. Smoke of the Gods is what it is.


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## bluesman.54

One of the best things about this forum -- besides getting to know the great people -- is learning about all the different tobaccos that are out there -- and are so good. It has sure helped me out of the rut I was in and it is like descovering pipe smoking all over again. I have also been researching the different pipes that are mentioned and my collection is once again growing in leaps and bounds. I have become convinced that a good new tobacco -- or an old favorite and a good, well-made pipe are some of life's greatest treasures. Still can't figure out the cobs though. Who knew? How sweet it is!



freestoke said:


> Nothing like *Ennerdale*. Nope. :nono: I love it without reserve.


----------



## steinr1

splattttttt said:


> some fine BOTL (DR) passed some of this fine (Ennerdale Flake) Mana on to me some time back. Smoke of the Gods is what it is.


Do the Gods normally hang out in a French whore's boudoir? I do like Ennerdale, don't get me wrong...


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## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> Do the Gods normally hang out in a French whore's boudoir? I do like Ennerdale, don't get me wrong...


the tobacco Gods at Puff might?


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## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Do the Gods normally hang out in a French whore's boudoir?


Damn straight, says right there in *Bowlfinch's Mythology*. The gods are protecting France, because it's the last place on the planet where you can smoke, other than China. They gotta smoke SOMEWHERE!

Country Gentleman + Kendal's Kentucky, Breakfast of Runners Up.


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## freestoke

After a quick burn of PA in the Pride, I gotta break out some Stonehaven. 

And what's with pro basketball? AGAIN the Heat has lost, this time "ruined", to go along with "stunned", "slammed", "destroyed", "annihilated", "crushed", "surprised", "pounded", "walloped", and so forth. Seems strange that this team losing should be unexpected at this point, so what's with the "upset" slant on these headlines? That's at least 11 straight games they've lost in the playoffs, maybe 25. (I'd never know about this at all, but it shows up on the front page news. I also find it curious that the headlines never mention any of the other teams winning or losing, and no mention of who beat the Heat, either. :ask: Not that I care.) Any teams eliminated yet? First team to lose 30 games in a row drops out? How does it work these days, anyhow? :dunno:

A perfect musketball of Stonehaven now smoldering in the Bari Dana. Terrific! p


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## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> A perfect musketball of Stonehaven now smoldering in the Bari Dana. Terrific! p


I miss Stonehaven. For some reason I traded off my last 8oz last year and for the life of me I don't remember what I received in return. One of these days I'll learn to stop trading...

Manhattan Afternoon in the Savinelli 811 this morning. This was my first taste of C&D Virginia blend and I quite liked it. Thanks again DanR for the sample!


----------



## DanR

Go Spurs Go! - that's all that needs to be said there, Jim! I much prefer football, but since San Antonio doesn't have a home team, I go to a few NBA games during the season. Quite fun when live actually. I especially like that we have what I would consider, in my certainly unbiased view, a "classy" team and a wise coach. Coach Pop treats the star players the same way he treats the rookies, and that gives us a rock solid team where all the players are expected to work equally hard. 

Regarding Stoney, I'm starting to get low myself, Jon. It's been awhile since we've seen any shipments, so I'm thinking a new shipment (and the ensuing online fire sale) will start soon.

I'm off work today, so relaxing outside with my black coffee and some GH Louisiana Perique Flake (all of Robert's posts started a craving). Maybe the Ennerdale makes an appearance next... I think it's going to be a fine day!


----------



## freestoke

I'm losing my mind. I have seen *Caddyshack * at least 25 times. At least. Best golf movie ever. The US Golf Association has a bunch of public service announcements out to speed up play, with the slogan "While we're young!" being directed at people slowing up play, starring Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer and other notables. But...but...I thought Dangerfield's line, "Why we're still middle-aged!" You know, Rodney Dangerfield funny. Actually, no, it's "While we're young!" sigh. The little grey cells are not what they once were.

Gonna brace my brain with some more Stonehaven.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Cobbing Squadron Leader today and real excited about the opening faceoff tonight for Lord Stanley's Cup.


----------



## freestoke

"Cobbing". Good neologism. :tu

Audrey figured out the quote. I was conflating Caddyshack with Back to School, where he tells Sally Kellerman that he's looking for "the fountain of middle age". Mystery solved! :smile:


----------



## ProbateGeek

1. Thank God for Audrey - without her, our Jim would be lost.

2. Why did I received NO email updates when you guys posted today? Did I neglect to check a box recently? Come to think of it, I don't recall getting a single Puff email all day.

3. The Spurs - coaches and players alike - are RESPECTED. That's rare these days - so they usually have earned my fandom. Well, except for Ginobli. At times...

4. Think I'll now go 1792-cobbing myself!


----------



## steinr1

A little Dunhill Flake in A Butz Choquin Bent Auto-sport. It's windy.


----------



## Stonedog

McLelland Honeydew this morning. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this, but I could see myself ordering a tin or two.


----------



## freestoke

The US Open is getting clobbered with rain and unluckily ESPN is carrying the coverage. I HATE ESPN golf coverage. What the hell qualifies Mike Tirico to be golf announcer, anyhow? Been doing it for many years. Inexplicable. And Chris Berman...detestable, but whatcha gonna do, he owns ESPN. And, naturally, they switched right to basketball, which, like hockey, is still being played in June,, while sensible people everywhere stopped watching basketball last March. (I'm surprised there's no cross country skiing to fill in the dead air time.) But I couldn't help but notice...Miami vs Spurs, game -- FOUR!!! How is this possible? The Heat has now lost at least 20 games in a row since the playoffs began. :dunno:

Stonehaven in the Bari Dana. Oversmoking it after I ignored it for months. Great pipe!


----------



## splattttttt

C&D Epiphany that I started last night and finished this morning. Reminds me a lot of my Tambo mix. Followed by GLP Odyssey.

Jim, maybe female mud wrestling to fill in the gaps?

OT: any one not getting e-mail notifications like me here?


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> OT: any one not getting e-mail notifications like me here?


Terry complained about it. I have them turned off, so I wouldn't notice anything amiss.


----------



## splattttttt

Acadian Perique in my Popeye t 'mornin me thinx ipe:


----------



## ProbateGeek

splattttttt said:


> OT: any one not getting e-mail notifications like me here?


None for two days - I don't have time to hunt down the threads I'm subscribed to.Need a fix.

And speaking of fixes, I'm heading out of this indoor heat (mother-in-law and wife - must be lizards) for a stogie.


----------



## TTecheTTe

ProbateGeek said:


> None for two days - I don't have time to hunt down the threads I'm subscribed to.Need a fix.
> 
> And speaking of fixes, I'm heading out of this indoor heat (mother-in-law and wife - must be lizards) for a stogie.


Have you tried clicking on Profile and then Subscriptions? That's my M.O.


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> ...I'm heading out of this indoor heat (mother-in-law and wife - must be lizards) for a stogie.


I used to keep reptiles. A lot of reptiles. Rather than heat individual enclosures, I heated a whole room.

Wife and mother-in-law may well be reptiles. Mother-in-laws often are. Mine might not be, but she will extract your entire life story if you encounter her on a bus. I think she's an alien gathering information for the coming invasion.

May I be the first to welcome our new alien overlords.

A little Brown Bogie Rum as I eagerly await the Posty's arrival. More details later...

Text update just in...

Parcel due for delivery between 14:57 and 15:57. They are so precise. I've had a guy pitch up a minute or two early once. He had to wait until the earliest advertised time as his signing system wouldn't allow him to deliver early.


----------



## splattttttt

That's UPS for you *Rob*. Anxious to see what we got. Exiting indeed.
*Terry*, do you use hotmail.com for e-mail delivery. They're often picky how forums are set up.
*Mari*, I checked my settings to see if maybe my info was reset to default, but everything checked out ok.
Not long ago, my pc started showing the "allow" banner at the top of the page as to acknowledge that the site is safe. That I think is a Firefox related practice. It will show up when sites are deemed questionable, or contains adult related material.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Parcel due for delivery between 14:57 and 15:57. They are so precise. I've had a guy pitch up a minute or two early once. He had to wait until the earliest advertised time as his signing system wouldn't allow him to deliver early.


England was one of the first areas invaded, Robert. In-laws were so frequently the recipients of packages from the Royal Mail, that the postmen encountered them a lot. Aliens go crazy when things don't go according to schedule, and the resultant carnage made it hard to keep employees. They were forced to a tight schedule merely to survive, and probably have taken over UPS there, too. Obviously, they haven't arrived here yet -- maybe in the Northwest, though. Things seem to be running a bit more smoothly out there than in Alabama, New York or Washington, DC. Bring on the invasion! Things have to be better with new leadership.

A bowl of KK in the 4Dot to start my day. Sun!! The dam is flooding along with the Mohawk River about a half mile from here and on downstream. Nothing serious, but we did have rather a lot of rain yesterday.


----------



## steinr1

steinr1 said:


> Parcel due for delivery between 14:57 and 15:57.


Arrived bang on 1500...

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...e-tobacco-e-bay-acquisitions.html#post3860544


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Arrived bang on 1500...


I believe that's the photo that goes with the picture dictionary definition of "nosegay". :tu


----------



## El wedo del milagro

RY in the dedicated bent acorn, yadda yadda ya.

I'm gettin' too damn predictable. 

I vow to open a new tin when I get home from work. Something very different... maybe a Balkan.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> I believe that's the photo that goes with the picture dictionary definition of "nosegay". :tu


I like me snuff, me.

On a different track, what's the experience here with aging Stonehaven (as Rich Dark Flake is the same or as close as makes no difference)?

I've seen conflicting reports. Some say that it benefits (lots of lovely Virginias) and some that say it loses its sparkle. Will I need to smoke it as fast as possible? Not that I've got a problem with that...


----------



## TTecheTTe

Hot day on tap; 80F now w/high humidity; high heat alert again with another heat index of 102. It may be afternoon, but I'll call it morning as I just got up. Cobbing 1792 with some cafe' cubana.


----------



## Chris0673

Starting the day off with some Dunhill EMP in my MM Country Gentleman. A nice cup of Trader Joe's coffee goes very well with it.


----------



## freestoke

Go Phil! :banana: Yeah, THIS is US Open! :evil: The rough has been nothing lately, but the USGA is sick of all that low scoring,, obviously. :lol:

A bowl of HH Mature Va to start, but unsatisfactory. Weak tea for the US Open! KK will fill in the gap, using the Pride.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Borkum Riff for the purpose of a review. It's one of their three new blends "Orange and Honey" in a Dr. G (is there any other way to smoke an OTC ipe:?)


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Velvet in a Willard Adjustomatic.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Happy Father's Day! 'Lil hussy is having more of 'Gawath's SL the red pimped cob.

Mmmm, Velvet...is it red, Tobias? Loved your recent review; tempted to try it.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Rattray Hal o' the Wynd in a Medico Double-Dri


----------



## freestoke

Might finally get in some more golf today, the weekend being a total bust, except for watching the Open. Saturday would have been beautiful, but there were other things on tap. Got the CG burning the PA this morning, fresh coffee. Really would like to see some occasional sun this week.


----------



## Stonedog

University Flake in the Edward's Bulldog this fine Monday morning.


----------



## bluesman.54

Cobbing with a Forever stem a wonderful bowl of Davidoff Flake Medallions.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SG Navy Flake in a Gatlinburlier house pipe.


----------



## Torque

A little PA in my MM hardwood, just to get woke up a little


----------



## splattttttt

HH Acadian Perique agin. Smokes great in just about any pipe I've lit it in. This morning it's the now well cured smooth straight E. Nording billiad


----------



## Chris0673

Didn't actually smoke anything this morning. Instead I smoked myself! Been almost a year since I've done any kind of PT and I went on a 4 mile run with a 45 pound weight vest. So yeah, I'm pretty smoked. Does that count? LOL:dizzy:


----------



## Stonedog

Chris0673 said:


> Didn't actually smoke anything this morning. Instead I smoked myself! Been almost a year since I've done any kind of PT and I went on a 4 mile run with a 45 pound weight vest. So yeah, I'm pretty smoked. Does that count? LOL:dizzy:


Yeah, that counts. Four miles with 45 lbs... I'm impressed. Granted I'm out of shape (5'11" 225#) but I can barely manage 2 miles without any weight.

Fillmore in the Leonessa that I'm about to remove from the B/S/T forum. I really enjoy Fillmore, but it seems to linger on the clothes more than other blends. Maybe it's the perique?


----------



## MarkC

Astley's No. 55.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Chris0673 said:


> Didn't actually smoke anything this morning. Instead I smoked myself! Been almost a year since I've done any kind of PT and I went on a 4 mile run with a 45 pound weight vest. So yeah, I'm pretty smoked. Does that count? LOL:dizzy:


Geez, I'd say so.

Mmmm, Lux Twist Flake in Vauen. I could sip this all day...if I don't gobble up the baccy first. :dr


----------



## splattttttt

Chris0673 said:


> Didn't actually smoke anything this morning. Instead I smoked myself! Been almost a year since I've done any kind of PT and I went on a 4 mile run with a 45 pound weight vest. So yeah, I'm pretty smoked. Does that count? LOL:dizzy:


Excuse me Chris, but I'm not going to give that one a try :juggle:
Good for you though. Getting out and challenging you physical virtues is necessary from time to time. How else would one know how much out of shape they're in LOL


----------



## steinr1

Chris0673 said:


> Didn't actually smoke anything this morning. Instead I smoked myself! Been almost a year since I've done any kind of PT and I went on a 4 mile run with a 45 pound weight vest. So yeah, I'm pretty smoked. Does that count? LOL:dizzy:


Here's a UK fitness site my wife manages. She's the one leaping into the air with a (20kg I believe) kettlebell and "dragging heavy shit in the rain" - 95kg in this case, I think.

I, in contrast, am fat and lazy.

Contact « Iron Mac Fitness


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> I, in contrast, am fat and lazy.


I read this as "content", and approve.


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> I read this as "content", and approve.


Yes. I am comfortable in my own ample skin.


----------



## TTecheTTe

:chk No longer on C&D Bow-legged Bear rations! :chk 

Opened an over due tin to celebrate the availability of BLB in a 16oz can :horn: after ordering 5. Relishing BLB in an estate Weber Apple Saddle. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

GLP Fillmore in a Dr. G Royalton


----------



## Torque

SG Squadron Leader, back to the MM hardwood


----------



## freestoke

Up a little early this morning, so maybe I can get in a respectable number of bowls before golf this afternoon. Very optimistic about my game after yesterday, when I hit some miniature majestic iron shots. (I used to hit quasi-majestic irons, but that was 30 pounds heavier and an inch taller. :lol My new golf shoes might be in, too! :banana:

Yeah, gonna bore everybody to death with a 4Dot ration of PA with a 5B booster packet. The Colombiano is going nice easy. :cp


----------



## Stonedog

I loaded up the Savinelli 811 this morning with Gentleman Caller. Nothing exciting or interesting to report, just another day...


----------



## karatekyle

EMP in the Pete Killarney.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

It is 87 F on the porch, 73 inside. I live in a 113 year old adobe that does not require A/C. I open the windows at night and close them in the morning. That is all that is required to keep the house at 74 F, or below.

I'm heading out to the porch for another cup of coffee, a cheap cigar, and Agatha Christie on the Kindle.


----------



## ProbateGeek

El wedo del milagro said:


> It is 87 F on the porch, 73 inside. I live in a 113 year old adobe that does not require A/C. I open the windows at night and close them in the morning.  That is all that is required to keep the house at 74 F, or below.
> 
> I'm heading out to the porch for another cup of coffee, a cheap cigar, and Agatha Christie on the Kindle.


Sounds like a perfect morning, Mark - which cheap cigar?

We considered having air conditioning put in back in 1999 when the house was being built. We'd probably only use it 5 weeks out of the year, though, so we chose not to. Far cry from my first 20 years in Texas.

More Royal Yacht in the meer this morning (it's getting a work out these days, even though ALL my pipes are clean), this time with a few crumbs of leftover Irish Flake. With some Irish Breakfast tea.


----------



## bluesman.54

Thoug it isn't technically morning -- I just got up. I was called out to the hospital last night around 1:00am and didn't get back until almost 6:00 -- so it's still morning for me. Davidoff Flake Medallion in an old Camonetto with some French Roasted coffee to start the day. I need to get some work done!


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> We considered having air conditioning put in back in 1999 when the house was being built. We'd probably only use it 5 weeks out of the year, though, so we chose not to. Far cry from my first 20 years in Texas.


Late '60s I lived in Miami (Carol City Miami-Dade). Our rather ordinary house had central heating which we used twice (at about 0600 for an hour or so) in four years. But air-conditioning only in the master bedroom and living room. We kids just sweated.


----------



## bluesman.54

And being from Ft Lauderdale, I know you kids sweated a lot! That had to have been brutal!



steinr1 said:


> Late '60s I lived in Miami (Carol City Miami-Dade). Our rather ordinary house had central heating which we used twice (at about 0600 for an hour or so) in four years. But air-conditioning only in the master bedroom and living room. We kids just sweated.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

ProbateGeek said:


> Mark - which cheap cigar?


An El Mejor "Emerald".

I was gifted a hand-full of them. I tried one Spring of 2012, and it gagged me, but thirteen or fourteen months in the bottom of a humidor turned them into an OK smoke. Not good, not bad, but OK.


----------



## steinr1

bluesman.54 said:


> And being from Ft Lauderdale, I know you kids sweated a lot! That had to have been brutal!


I was pretty young and kids just don't seem to mind the heat much. To be honest, I don't think I gave it a second thought. The aircon was nice, but being outdoors was better. It was a kind of heaven to run around half dressed and catch turtles and lizards after my start in Manhattan - and not too great a part of it. Must have been murder on my parents, though. They were obviously very old. About ten or fifteen years younger than I am now...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Troost in a Dr. G Color Duke.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Torque said:


> SG Squadron Leader, back to the MM hardwood


lane: Cobbing SL with black coffee. Great having another flyer!



El wedo del milagro said:


> An El Mejor "Emerald".
> 
> I was gifted a hand-full of them. I tried one Spring of 2012, and it gagged me, but thirteen or fourteen months in the bottom of a humidor turned them into an OK smoke. Not good, not bad, but OK.


You're a better man (thank goodness) than I! After my first, I doubt I could brave a second if I had one.


----------



## ProbateGeek

El wedo del milagro said:


> An El Mejor "Emerald".
> 
> I was gifted a hand-full of them. I tried one Spring of 2012, and it gagged me, but thirteen or fourteen months in the bottom of a humidor turned them into an OK smoke. Not good, not bad, but OK.


I've only had one, and luckily it had been resting in a friends humidor for over 3 years. It needed it. I found it better than OK, but would not have purchased any.

My go-to cheapie these days is a Nicaraguan Ligero-Laced 2nds Liga 'F'. We're talking about $1.84 per cigar, if you manage free shipping. Amazingly good at that price. YMMV.


----------



## splattttttt

cigars are like playin craps. One minute, it's all ass. Next, you're in the gutt 'ah. 
So many diamonds that turned to coal... Yet some cheaper's that turned to gold. Go figure. 
Is it just me, or are gars just so temperamental?
Why I trust a good loose leaf that was cooked, or simply pressed for smattering of time before I cracked it in my bowl?


----------



## steinr1

Sent my older boy off for a day's field trip to the battlefields of the Somme EARLY this morning. 0420 start. Probably sent him off with less concern that others did their sons nearly 97 years ago. 60000 British casualties on the first day. The other one was already of on a couple of days "adventure" with his class. Good luck to the teachers. With my wife also away on a business trip, this now gives me a full 7 hours to myself before I need to start gathering them up again.

Celebrated with a bowl of Ogden's Walnut Flake in my bent Jima. I foresee a lot of tobacco being burnt in the next hours.


----------



## freestoke

Well, I'm guessing the Heat, despite losing a couple of dozen games during the playoffs, have prevailed. Puzzling, to say the least. Smoking some PA in the 4Dot, pondering all this, and miffed that my news site of preference has it as the BIG STORY, with a photo and headline that reveals NOTHING about who won. STILL THE KING! :ask: Who are they, anyhow? With two of them standing there, and it being a team sport and all, why isn't it "KINGS"? :dunno: My only clue was a secondary link to Labron James, whose name has inadvertently insinuated itself into my consciousness. Two guys wearing t-shirts, holding trophies, with the team logo on their baseball caps (why the HELL are they wearing baseball caps -- inside!?), and the trophies blocking what the t-shirts say. They have the bills turned up, ala Jesper Parnevik, so they get style points at least. There's not even a clue about what sport they're talking about, although it has to be a sports win, I suppose.










I need more coffee.


----------



## Stonedog

Cube Cut SG Chocolate Flake in the little MM Pony Express this morning.


----------



## bluesman.54

Enoying a bowl of 1792 Flake in a Hardcastle Zulu. I have really grown to like this tobacco with my morning cofee. What a great way to start the day!


----------



## TTecheTTe

bluesman.54 said:


> Enoying a bowl of 1792 Flake in a Hardcastle Zulu. I have really grown to like this tobacco with my morning cofee. What a great way to start the day!


Great combination! If I not up to a flake, then my other mornings are Squadron Leader or Old Joe Krantz, wich I'm smoking now in my new Country Gentleman with Forever Stem! What a great pipe; I can go for a few more of these!

Decisions, decisions, decisions? Indeed. But do I open a 250g box or a 1lb box of 1792?


----------



## bluesman.54

Ah yes! So many choices, so many great tobaccos -- and too little time. And a Country Gentleman with a Forever Stem is certainly something from heaven! Which ever you open -- it won't go to waste. Enjoy your day Mari!



TTecheTTe said:


> Great combination! If I not up to it, then my other mornings are Squadron Leader or Old Joe Krantz, wich I'm smoking now in my new Country Gentleman with Forever Stem! I can go for a few more of these!
> 
> Decisions, decisions, decisions? Indeed. But do I open a 250g box or a 1lb box of 1792?


----------



## freestoke

I only have one Forever stem, but it fits all of my cobs -- except the poor, neglected Patriot -- and doesn't seem to mind swapping partners at all. Something of a gadabout.

It's Dart Mix time, washed down with some Old Mil. A hottish day for these parts, in the mid 80s someplace. Lots of sun, but the grass was dry and the mowing easy. Played TERRIBLE this morning. And I was so sure I'd discovered the Fountain of Middle Age yesterday. out: But my excuse is that it was too early. There are two types mind/body out there, I kid you not on this. It's about 50/50 and this dichotomy lies at the base of many of society's woes: There are morning people and night people. Morning people wake up refreshed, smart as they get, rarin' to go. Night people cannot function for at least 5 hours after getting out of bed and would prefer NOT getting out of bed. I count myself among the latter. To relate this to golf, I did a tiny statistical study of results on the PGA tour, plugged numbers into a database and everything. Players who almost never win have a difficult time on Thursday and Friday, because they have to play a morning round that blows them out of contention. This also feeds on itself, because just barely making the cut gives them early tee times on the weekend and they stink up the course. My conclusion is that the golf tours are dominated by loathsome morning people. How I despise them. I want them in a high stakes card game of ANY description at 2 in the morning. :evil: Morning people start getting really stupid after sunset and the nightstalkers rule! :banana: Unluckily, the morning people strike early and often, and dominate human activity, much to the suffering of half the population. Nothing worse than a happy, busy person at 8 in the morning. Detestable, unconscionable, inconsiderate and selfish, I call it.


----------



## bluesman.54

After being a musician for 25 years professionally -- sometimes shows didn't end until 2:00am -- I find myself in the latter catagory also. This after 11 years in my present profession which requires me to be up early -- and I am expected to be chippy and cheary! My body/mind still hasn't made the change. I have requested later start times, etc -- all to no avail. I am surrounded. I look down my block -- okay I live in a town of 78 people and there are probably only ten houses -- but I look down my block any time after 10:00pm and there isn't a light on. On the plus side -- I get to sit on my front porch, enjoy a very quiet, uninterupted smoke and contemplate life. But I do think you are spot on in your analogy Jim.



freestoke said:


> I only have one Forever stem, but it fits all of my cobs -- except the poor, neglected Patriot -- and doesn't seem to mind swapping partners at all. Something of a gadabout.
> 
> It's Dart Mix time, washed down with some Old Mil. A hottish day for these parts, in the mid 80s someplace. Lots of sun, but the grass was dry and the mowing easy. Played TERRIBLE this morning. And I was so sure I'd discovered the Fountain of Middle Age yesterday. out: But my excuse is that it was too early. There are two types mind/body out there, I kid you not on this. It's about 50/50 and this dichotomy lies at the base of many of society's woes: There are morning people and night people. Morning people wake up refreshed, smart as they get, rarin' to go. Night people cannot function for at least 5 hours after getting out of bed and would prefer NOT getting out of bed. I count myself among the latter. To relate this to golf, I did a tiny statistical study of results on the PGA tour, plugged numbers into a database and everything. Players who almost never win have a difficult time on Thursday and Friday, because they have to play a morning round that blows them out of contention. This also feeds on itself, because just barely making the cut gives them early tee times on the weekend and they stink up the course. My conclusion is that the golf tours are dominated by loathsome morning people. How I despise them. I want them in a high stakes card game of ANY description at 2 in the morning. :evil: Morning people start getting really stupid after sunset and the nightstalkers rule! :banana: Unluckily, the morning people strike early and often, and dominate human activity, much to the suffering of half the population. Nothing worse than a happy, busy person at 8 in the morning. Detestable, unconscionable, inconsiderate and selfish, I call it.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> After being a musician for 25 years professionally -- sometimes shows didn't end until 2:00am -- I find myself in the latter catagory also. This after 11 years in my present profession which requires me to be up early -- and I am expected to be chippy and cheary! *My body/mind still hasn't made the change.* I have requested later start times, etc -- all to no avail. I am surrounded. I look down my block -- okay I live in a town of 78 people and there are probably only ten houses -- but I look down my block any time after 10:00pm and there isn't a light on. On the plus side -- I get to sit on my front porch, enjoy a very quiet, uninterupted smoke and contemplate life. But I do think you are spot on in your analogy Jim.


Sorry to tell you, Michael, it never will make the change. :lol: It seems to be "firmware", and you can identify it in children fairly soon after they get past infancy and start toddling around. One can only wonder how much family strife results from having a child with the opposite day/night proclivities of the parents. Probably a little like forcing lefthanders to write right handed. :lol:

Been smoking just PA this morning, all in the same Pride. Codgerish today. I'd better play better this afternoon, or I'm gonna really get grumpy on the afternoon thread. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Just finished serving breakfast to the whole hotel, and I got the kitchen cleaned!

Time for a bowl of PA in a cob out on the deck over the river.

BTW: If there are any Ian Fleming fans out there, Amazon is selling the James Bond novels on Kindle's Daily Deal for 1.99$ each! I just got 14 novels for less than 28$!


----------



## bluesman.54

I suspect you are right. 11 years here and I still don't have the time bio-rythm of a farming community. My son is a night person also. He's 21 and stayup all night when he gets the chance. Just the way he's wired. My wife is left handed -- and she just accepts it. Only left handed people are in their right minds -- or so they say.

Hope you play well this afternoon. May the golf God's be with you!



freestoke said:


> Sorry to tell you, Michael, it never will make the change. :lol: It seems to be "firmware", and you can identify it in children fairly soon after they get past infancy and start toddling around. One can only wonder how much family strife results from having a child with the opposite day/night proclivities of the parents. Probably a little like forcing lefthanders to write right handed. :lol:
> 
> Been smoking just PA this morning, all in the same Pride. Codgerish today. I'd better play better this afternoon, or I'm gonna really get grumpy on the afternoon thread. :lol:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Frog Morton Cellar in a MM Cob


----------



## Stonedog

Half a bowl of a 50/50 mixture of PA and 1Q in the Savinelli 616. It needs a little cake built up and this mix should help speed it along...


----------



## steinr1

Many (well about 4) bowls of Germain's Royal Jersey Perique Mixture in a small 1920s Ropp Straight Panelled Billiard this morning and early afternoon.

Haven't had this mix for a little while; just as good as I remember. Not the strongest blend, but fragant and spicy. More oomph and I would have tired of it.


----------



## bluesman.54

PA in a Savinelli this morning -- but no 1Q. I continue on my quest to check my pipes using the PA test revealed to me by Jim. Thank you Jim. So far -- all have passed the PA test and this one is doing well so I suspect it wil too. Many more tests to perform -- and too litttle time.


----------



## steinr1

Good morning pipers.

A couple of bowls of Germain's Royal Jersey Perique in a clay now dedicated to this blend. For some reason I've often feel drawn to a clay when smoking this mixture. Maybe it's the "purity" of the blend; the casing (which there obviously is) isn't the driving force - it's the tobacco. More of this will be smoked this morning...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

bluesman.54 said:


> PA in a Savinelli this morning -- but no 1Q. I continue on my quest to check my pipes using the PA test revealed to me by Jim. Thank you Jim. So far -- all have passed the PA test and this one is doing well so I suspect it wil too. Many more tests to perform -- and too litttle time.


Alright- someone please enlighten me as to what the PA test is? This sounds interesting.

I enjoyed a bowl of Bowlegged Bear in Dr. G Duke, courtesy of my SOTL in Texas :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Alright- someone please enlighten me as to what the PA test is? This sounds interesting.


Just me popping off on the afternoon thread: 
PA is like a pipe test kit: You smoke PA in it to determine if anything is amiss. If it doesn't burn right, something is amiss. If the pipe tastes funky or it gets juicy, something is amiss. A pipe that fails to smoke PA perfectly is defective, by definition. You don't actually have to like PA to use it effectively, but it's a happy coincidence that I do like it. And once a pipe has passed the PA test, I reload with PA plus some Happy Bogie or something stout to exercise its full powers.

This morning I'm off to a PA start again!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> Just me popping off on the afternoon thread:
> PA is like a pipe test kit: You smoke PA in it to determine if anything is amiss. If it doesn't burn right, something is amiss. If the pipe tastes funky or it gets juicy, something is amiss. A pipe that fails to smoke PA perfectly is defective, by definition. You don't actually have to like PA to use it effectively, but it's a happy coincidence that I do like it. And once a pipe has passed the PA test, I reload with PA plus some Happy Bogie or something stout to exercise its full powers.
> 
> This morning I'm off to a PA start again!


Thanks Jim. I might have to test a few this way. I know I have a CAN or two of PA around here.


----------



## Stonedog

More PA/1Q in the new 616 this morning. I seem to have misplaced the 6mm adapter though so I used it "wide open" like a cob - smoked great!


----------



## steinr1

Good morning pipers.

Yet more Germain's Royal Jersey Perique in a clay. Really enjoying it's basic tobacco-iness. Relatively light Virginia and a good, but not overpowering, dose of Perique. The very neutral clay suits it. It's a somewhat austere blend; if you're looking for something a bit richer (it's even a bit cigarette-like at times) then maybe Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls or Davidoff Medallion Flake (and many others, I'm sure) would be more the ticket.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> More PA/1Q in the new 616 this morning. I seem to have misplaced the 6mm adapter though so I used it "wide open" like a cob - smoked great!


I smoke both my Savinelli and Szabo without the adapter or filter and they do just fine. Right now I'm smokin' the 4Dot loaded with KK and it's doin' fine too. :smile:


----------



## Stonedog

Still more PA/1Q in the 616 this morning. Trying to get that cake built up.

I found the 6mm adapter last night and used it this morning but suddening the pipe cleaner has difficulty passing. My only concern with not using the adapter is the extra moisture (and there for cleaning) in the empty filter chamber...


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoying another PA test this morning in one of my Dad's old pipes -- an Italian Ravenna with 8870 stamped on it. It has a volcano bowl -- and so far -- so good. Thinking this would be a good pipe for 1792 -- but then -- what pipe wouldn't be?

Though I really do like the Davidoff Medallion Flake Robert mentioned and I have a tin of that open. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...


----------



## DSturg369

Good Morning Puff Pipers!

The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. :nono:

Have the day off today, and enjoying some PA in a trusty MM cob... What else?

Sure have missed y'all... I'll be back to 100% and here more often soon.


----------



## Shemp75

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. :nono:
> 
> Have the day off today, and enjoying some PA in a trusty MM cob... What else?
> 
> Sure have missed y'all... I'll be back to 100% and here more often soon.


Dale's alive!!!!


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!


Good mornin' Piper Dale! We had despaired of your return! :banana:

I'm crankin' up a Legend full of PA to celebrate!


----------



## Stonedog

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. :nono:
> 
> Have the day off today, and enjoying some PA in a trusty MM cob... What else?
> 
> Sure have missed y'all... I'll be back to 100% and here more often soon.


Welcome back Dale! Great to hear from you again. In honor of your return I will open a new pouch of PA tomorrow morning and enjoy it in the trusty MM Legend.

This morning was McClelland Honeydew in the Sav 811.


----------



## MarkC

Jeez, Dale; you're the Puff version of Abe Vigoda! Welcome back!


----------



## TTecheTTe

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. :nono:
> 
> Have the day off today, and enjoying some PA in a trusty MM cob... What else?
> 
> Sure have missed y'all... I'll be back to 100% and here more often soon.


:woohoo:Yay, welcome back, Dale! :grouphug:

Ahh, the culprit that got me started! :loco:

Although I got the MM Cobs last June, I didn't get baccy and start smoking until the start of the year. I am now up to about a dz estate briars, 6 in reg rotation, and just got a grab bag of 10 cobs and a Country Gentleman. My cellar building, and I think I have a little selection now and a fairly good supply that I might get a little with some age in the future. And, I haven't even smoked one cigar nub, as intended!


----------



## DanR

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. :nono:
> 
> Have the day off today, and enjoying some PA in a trusty MM cob... What else?
> 
> Sure have missed y'all... I'll be back to 100% and here more often soon.


Dale! Damn good to see ya, Sir!! :thumb:


----------



## Stonedog

As promised, PA in the MM Legend in honor or Dale's return.

OK, it was PA _and 1Q_, but only because I couldn't find any pure PA this morning...


----------



## freestoke

Wake up, Dale! Your thread is calling! :lol:

As I puff away at some early morning KK in the Legend, I would like to report what appears to be a quasi-scam. I'm sure you've seen the iRobot Roomba commercials -- if you haven't, they are slick. Audrey ordered one and it was great for two weeks, then it broke. The iRobot service sent the wrong part, although they were told EXPLICITLY that the part they said they were sending was NOT the right part. It wasn't. They are now unresponsive. Checking with Consumer Affairs, I discovered that this is their modus operandi and that the robot itself is fragile and breaks rather quickly in use. The iRobot people do not fix it, ever. They send replacements (at your expense) that do not work at all, apparently ones that have already been returned and merely cleaned up and repackaged. The batteries are apparently junk, too. Anyhow, do NOT buy one! You'll never get your money back and the complaints indicate that they won't fix what's wrong.


----------



## MarkC

You have me nervous about the flying car I just ordered.


----------



## Desertlifter

DSturg369 said:


> Good Morning Puff Pipers!
> 
> The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. :nono:
> 
> Have the day off today, and enjoying some PA in a trusty MM cob... What else?
> 
> Sure have missed y'all... I'll be back to 100% and here more often soon.


Dale! Good to hear from you, brother.


----------



## Stonedog

Gentleman Caller in the Sav Curchwarden this morning. Enjoying a pipe and a cup of coffee on the back porch on a beautiful Saturday morning is much preferred to the same during a hectic commute.

About 30 feet off to the side a pair of bluebirds are frantically trying to keep their chicks fed. And my dogs are laying at my feet about to doze off. 

The day is starting off well.


----------



## Nachman

Fresh Stonehaven in a big Savanelli Zulu. The reason I say fresh is that Stonehaven changes a lot with age. Fresh it tastes like SG FVF with a burley kicker. Aged it tastes darker, drier and stronger.


----------



## freestoke

Puzzling over Mark's Sample "B" this morning, an ultra smooth Latakia of some description. Haven't had Latakia in a while and it tastes great! p


----------



## DanR

Morning fellas. I decided to add a few GH ropes to my last order. Just sample sizes. On deck this morning is Sweet Maple. I really am not a fan. Not much Maple there, and what is there just adds a little bite. Maybe I'll try chewing it to see if it better that way...


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Morning fellas. I decided to add a few GH ropes to my last order. Just sample sizes. On deck this morning is Sweet Maple. I really am not a fan. Not much Maple there, and what is there just adds a little bite. Maybe I'll try chewing it to see if it better that way...


Maple and cherry are two flavors I do not want in my pipe tobacco, period. I like them both in other things, but not in tobacco. More of this Sample B from Mark. :spy:


----------



## bluesman.54

Just PA tested another merr. Passed with flying colors. It's raining here today -- but since I have to be inside for some serious writing -- it isn't really affecting my day. Good for the tomatoes!


----------



## TTecheTTe

Finally dug out a neglected 250g box of 1792 this morning, as Terry's birthday arty: could not go without a smoke of it! Hid them in the corner of my cellar, trying to forget so they could get some age, but no! If anyone is looking for me this weekend, I will be cobbing in 1792.

Ack, I forgot LNF, again, which I had wanted to compare against my essence tainted sample. Had another bowl of Terry's sample yesterday, which I had been airing to see if the Lakeland taint would dissapate (sp -2), and it did! Trying to add some to my TAD so I can still compare, but I did like my last bowl!

It's all Dan's fault, of course, pushing a "free sample" of '06 AK. I forgot it on my last order, so had to jump on P&C again, but the ounces wouldn't stick at 16 and kept rising to 48.

I fear my defective iPad (_worthless piece of junk that it really is_) will do it again if I don't get rid of that AK sample - I keep looking at "2006" and calculating the pounds I will need in 7 yrs! p



bluesman.54 said:


> Just PA tested another merr. Passed with flying colors. It's raining here today -- but since I have to be inside for some serious writing -- it isn't really affecting my day. Good for the tomatoes!


Okay, been watching the test with great anticipation, but seem to have lost a clue as to why! Are you testing the smoking quality of different pipes, and how they each affect and bring out the baccy?

How many decades will that take me? I'm only beginning to get a hint of a clue as to dedication!


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Maple and cherry are two flavors I do not want in my pipe tobacco, period. I like them both in other things, but not in tobacco.


Ugh, those are the two ropes I bought to try out. I should've asked here first. If there is any good news, the cherry doesn't smell very aromatic at all.


----------



## bluesman.54

The PA wisdom was passed on to me by Freestoke aka Jim:

Originally Posted by freestoke

"PA is like a pipe test kit: You smoke PA in it to determine if anything is amiss. If it doesn't burn right, something is amiss. If the pipe tastes funky or it gets juicy, something is amiss. A pipe that fails to smoke PA perfectly is defective, by definition. You don't actually have to like PA to use it effectively, but it's a happy coincidence that I do like it. And once a pipe has passed the PA test, I reload with PA plus some Happy Bogie or something stout to exercise its full powers."

Michael again -- so I have diligently set about testing my pipes to see if anything is amiss with them. And good news -- one of my favorite Stanwells from my Dad just passed the test. Only 35-40 pipes left to test. Good thing they sell PA in bulk! Even better -- I seem to actually really enjoy PA. And have found it is good to mix with other tobaccos as well. Jim is wise beyond his years! I listen to him!



TTecheTTe said:


> Finally dug out a neglected 250g box of 1792 this morning, as Terry's birthday arty: could not go without a smoke of it! Hid them in the corner of my cellar, trying to forget so they could get some age, but no! If anyone is looking for me this weekend, I will be cobbing in 1792.
> 
> Ack, I forgot LNF, again, which I had wanted to compare against my essence tainted sample. Had another bowl of Terry's sample yesterday, which I had been airing to see if the Lakeland taint would dissapate (sp -2), and it did! Trying to add some to my TAD so I can still compare, but I did like my last bowl!
> 
> It's all Dan's fault, of course, pushing a "free sample" of '06 AK. I forgot it on my last order, so had to jump on P&C again, but the ounces wouldn't stick at 16 and kept rising to 48.
> 
> I fear my defective iPad (_worthless piece of junk that it really is_) will do it again if I don't get rid of that AK sample - I keep looking at "2006" and calculating the pounds I will need in 7 yrs! p
> 
> Okay, been watching the test with great anticipation, but seem to have lost a clue as to why! Are you testing the smoking quality of different pipes, and how they each affect and bring out the baccy?
> 
> How many decades will that take me? I'm only beginning to get a hint of a clue as to dedication!


----------



## ProbateGeek

TTecheTTe said:


> Finally dug out a neglected 250g box of 1792 this morning, as Terry's birthday arty: could not go without a smoke of it! Hid them in the corner of my cellar, trying to forget so they could get some age, but no! If anyone is looking for me this weekend, I will be cobbing in 1792.


Thanks, Mari - I'll be joining you this afternoon with 1792 cobbing.

Still trying to catch up with puff and hundreds of missed emails...


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> Fresh Stonehaven in a big Savanelli Zulu. The reason I say fresh is that Stonehaven changes a lot with age. Fresh it tastes like SG FVF with a burley kicker. Aged it tastes darker, drier and stronger.


That's good to hear. I've bought a fair amount of Germain's Rich Dark Flake which I'm taking as the same as Stonehaven. I saw some comments somewhere that Stonehaven loses some "sparkle" as it ages. "Darker, drier and stronger" sounds ideal.


----------



## steinr1

DanR said:


> Morning fellas. I decided to add a few GH ropes to my last order. Just sample sizes. On deck this morning is Sweet Maple. I really am not a fan. Not much Maple there, and what is there just adds a little bite. Maybe I'll try chewing it to see if it better that way...


I'm guessing this is one of the GH flavoured pig-tails. They are more commonly chewed but can be smoked. I've tried the vanilla and didn't find it satisfactory as a smoke. Not a bad chew, though. Vile though any chew is...


----------



## MarkC

DanR said:


> Ugh, those are the two ropes I bought to try out. I should've asked here first. If there is any good news, the cherry doesn't smell very aromatic at all.


The Rum is the one to get.


----------



## steinr1

MarkC said:


> The Rum is the one to get.


Au contraire, the Black Bogie Aromatic is the one to get. :lol:

Brown (Happy?) Bogie Rum is nice too. Pretty much any of them but the flavoured pig-tails. They sell them for smoking, but they are much more suitable as a chew.

I've got a little bit of the Rum left, all sliced up ready to go. I'll smoke that before moving on to some Aromatic just show that there's no hard feelings.


----------



## TTecheTTe

steinr1 said:


> Au contraire, the Black Bogie *Aromatic* is the one to get. :lol:
> 
> Brown (Happy?) Bogie *Rum* is nice too. Pretty much any of them but the flavoured pig-tails. They sell them for smoking, but they are much more suitable as a chew.
> 
> ... moving on to some Aromatic just show that there's no hard feelings.


Now that's just plain _wrong!_ However, SG must serve their customers, dandy they may be! BTW, will you go over to SG and ask "what's up" with Black XXX? It's been on my wishlist for the longest time. I can only seem to get Black XX, and can't bear to smoke what you will.

Celebrating Terry's 50th with 1792 in my new Country Gentleman with swirled Dark Rose Forever Stem. Not that I need a holiday for 1792, as it is best taken daily.

Funny, I don't like soda with my baccy/cigars, but happened to have a _cream soda_ last night and sipped it by mistake while smoking a bowl of 1792. I liked it.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Jim is wise beyond his years! I listen to him!


At seventy, this almost seems to hint of presenile dementia. Which is probably closer to the truth. :lol:

I am impressed no end at your rigor, Michael. Steady on!


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning all, looking forward to a short week and, assuming no new emergencies in the office, a whole week off next week.

Fillmore in the Legend this morning. Just the right amount of kick to get me going after last night's Old Guy lacrosse game (and the Advil PM that followed).


----------



## MarkC

I was exhausted when I got home from work last night, so I tried that 'sleeping at night' thing. It's okay, but it means posting on the morning thread instead of the tonight thread. Odd...

I'm smoking a bowl of Christmas Cheer 2007. Very nice stuff; I think I like this better than the other CCs I've smoked. Except 2009; can't wait until that one gets to 'smoking age'!


----------



## freestoke

Yes, it is a little strange to see you here so early, Mark. You're going to have to put up with my PA in the 4Dot, but I'll try to move on to something more interesting shortly. p


----------



## TTecheTTe

Breakfast earlier of a few bowls of 1792 and black coffee. :hc While I figger what I'm going to eat, I'll keep sipping on a few bowls Luxury Twist Flake in my new Pony Express CW with Forever Stem.



freestoke said:


> At seventy, this almost seems to hint of presenile dementia. Which is probably closer to the truth. :lol:
> 
> I am impressed no end at your rigor, Michael. Steady on!


I wish some old fart would lose a few marbles and keep me company.

Michael is vigorous...I'm exhausted just watching.



Stonedog said:


> Good morning all, looking forward to a short week and, assuming no new emergencies in the office, a whole week off next week.
> 
> Fillmore in the Legend this morning. Just the right amount of kick to get me going after last night's Old Guy lacrosse game (and the Advil PM that followed).


I'd be on the South R.E.D. Team (well, maybe not; I'm also testosterone challenged)! . Have a great week - at least the weather looks good!



MarkC said:


> I was exhausted when I got home from work last night, so I tried that 'sleeping at night' thing. It's okay, but it means posting on the morning thread instead of the tonight thread. Odd...
> 
> I'm smoking a bowl of Christmas Cheer 2007. Very nice stuff; I think I like this better than the other CCs I've smoked. Except 2009; can't wait until that one gets to 'smoking age'!


Well, you could have just skipped that over-rated exercise. I fantasize having three yo baccy; just make sure that CC doesn't outlive you!


----------



## splattttttt

I enjoyed a partial of a rather large bowl stuffed with a rolled up flake of SG Bracken.
Something new for me. Good strength and interestingly complex flavor. Found it kind to the mouth, but got bitch slapped by lady N and though I comeback later after lunch and try again.


----------



## bluesman.54

PA tested another Stanwelll this morning -- and good news -- it passed. So far all of my pipes have passed Jim's PA test. I was looking around and if I keep steady at it -- at least one a day -- I should be finished in a little over another month. Steady as she goes.

Vigorous you say Mari? I have never been told I am vigorous. I have been told I have an amazing amount of stamina -- but never vigorous. Thank you for saying so.


----------



## DSturg369

Just home from work a couple of hours ago, already inhaled a couple of chili dogs and washed 'em down with sweet iced tea... Now relaxing with some Anni' Kake in a MM Great Dane. 1 more day of work for Tuesday and then off until Monday... :banana::rockon::dude:


----------



## freestoke

DSturg369 said:


> Just home from work a couple of hours ago, already inhaled a couple of chili dogs and washed 'em down with sweet iced tea... Now relaxing with some Anni' Kake in a MM Great Dane. 1 more day of work for Tuesday and then off until Monday... :banana::rockon::dude:


Mornin', Dale! Having some PA in a Legend right now, first of the day not having gotten up until 9. :smile:


----------



## Stonedog

DSturg369 said:


> Just home from work a couple of hours ago, already inhaled a couple of chili dogs and washed 'em down with sweet iced tea... Now relaxing with some Anni' Kake in a MM Great Dane. 1 more day of work for Tuesday and then off until Monday... :banana::rockon::dude:


Chili dogs at ... 2am? You are a brave man Dale!

Gentleman Caller with a pinch of GH Brown Twist Sliced for some added kick. I thought this stuff was just the sliced version of Happy Bogie but tobaccoreviews, at least, doesn't say anything about it.


----------



## bluesman.54

PA testing a Country Gentleman this morning. Not sure I needed to -- but now I can check it off the list. It is smoking beautifully -- but then it always does. I stil can't get over the idea of how pleasant smoking a cob is. Who knew?


----------



## freestoke

Raining so hard that there's a couple of inches of standing water everywhere -- and there's no river/creek overflowing! :shock: Tropical monsoon rain. Looking at the wheelbarrow, I'd say we've gotten an inch of rain in the last 20 minutes. :shock: Gotta stoke up some Stonehaven, while I can still get it lit!


----------



## steinr1

Robert Lewis 123 Mixture in my no-name second, meerschaum Pot (which has coloured more in the last few months than it did in the previous 30 years). Assume repeated doses.


----------



## Stonedog

University Flake in the Edward's bulldog this morning. Great pipe, great blend, horrible commute thanks to a driving rain... So it will continue for several days here in Atlanta.


----------



## Nachman

Stonehaven this morning in a Sav Caramello Zulu. Might as well smoke it while I have it and let tomorrow take care of itself.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Back to Royal Yacht this morning, and back to smoking it in the Country Gentleman. For the last two weeks or so I'd been smoking it out of my meer (which is going in to the shop today). I really notice a difference in taste, slight though it may be, between the two experiences. I prefer the meer.


----------



## DSturg369

Have the MM loaded up and just about ready to toss a couple Boston Butts on the smoker for tomorrow. They'll be just about right in 18 hours or so. Gonna be a long night tending the coals and basting.... But as long as the Buffalo Trace and the PA hold out, I'll be fine. 

Happy 4th All and Be Safe! :beerchug:


----------



## TTecheTTe

Okay, now I'm a nihilist. So, I'm smoking some treasured samples. First on deck is Terry's Esoterica Penzance in my MM Pony Express with Dark Rose CW Forever Stem.

Next at bat is RJ's Esoterica Dorchester and Balkan Sasieni, then Jack's MacB Newminister #403 and rounding out this inning will be Terry's Happy Brown Bogie:


Nick is right, as there _may be_ no tomorrow. We _know_ what Michael is smoking. Robert's _not really_ British. Jon has _pouring rain_.

Now the world is coming to an end. It is thundering, severely. In Texas that means monsoon. There was order and hope a few days ago when there was a potential my putting green would make it this year! After finally getting some leaf mold and sand mix, this morning I "more properly" laid more seed. Of course. Now it will go the way of the past two seasons. Here's the last look:


Oh, there's more also, but I forgot, of course while typing. I'll :rant: later when I remember. Oh yeah, Dale is smoking a butt, and I'll have to leave now to make it for supper. :hungry:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Hey, Mari - nice sticks.


----------



## bluesman.54

Now that sounds like fun! What kind of a smoker do you use -- and wood? I took the easy way out and am going with ribs and chicken wings. Enjoying a bowl of 1792 in a Family Era 4 Dot. Enjoy your Buffalo Trace and PA. I'll be PA testing another pipe after dinner. Grilling steaks for the first time since I broke my ankle. Really enjoying it all. Hope you do too.



DSturg369 said:


> Have the MM loaded up and just about ready to toss a couple Boston Butts on the smoker for tomorrow. They'll be just about right in 18 hours or so. Gonna be a long night tending the coals and basting.... But as long as the Buffalo Trace and the PA hold out, I'll be fine.
> 
> Happy 4th All and Be Safe! :beerchug:


----------



## MarkC

I understand stick ranching is all the rage in Texas these days...

Smoking some Christmas Cheer in my Castello billiard.


----------



## bluesman.54

Yep -- those are really some mighty fine sticks. Good as any I have ever seen!



ProbateGeek said:


> Hey, Mari - nice sticks.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Mari, when you despair of your stick garden you are more than welcome to visit us here in the Pacific Northwest. I specialize in growing moss on the small retaining walls in the backyard (hey - it's sort of a skill!), the hydrangeas are just now beginning to bloom, the day is sunny and warm, the grass plush and cool underfoot...



And lots of 1792 Flake to go around... p


----------



## DSturg369

bluesman.54 said:


> Now that sounds like fun! What kind of a smoker do you use -- and wood?


I have a Brinkmann smoker and am using Hickory wood. I prefer Pecan but am currently out.


----------



## steinr1

Happy 4th of July, Colonists!

Germain's Royal Jersey Perique in its dedicated clay. The stem is getting quite dark and the bowl is now very light tan after the first 50g through it. It was obviously bone-white to start with and I've been careful not to get it dirty - a first! I don't think it will every become attractive like a meerschaum...

Can't get enough of this combination. I popped the new tin last night despite my "resolution" to keep the number of jars down. I better smoke through this as quickly as possible to avoid me noticing. That won't be a chore.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Happy 4th of July, Colonists!


Thanks, Robert! The way things are going lately, I'm thinking about starting a movement to do some international groveling and apologizing and begging for the Queen to take us back. :hail:

PA in the 4Dot.


----------



## Chris0673

ProbateGeek said:


> Mari, when you despair of your stick garden you are more than welcome to visit us here in the Pacific Northwest. I specialize in growing moss on the small retaining walls in the backyard (hey - it's sort of a skill!), the hydrangeas are just now beginning to bloom, the day is sunny and warm, the grass plush and cool underfoot...
> 
> 
> 
> And lots of 1792 Flake to go around... p


Terry, that is a beautiful back yard! Love how lush and green your grass is and I do like the moss on the retaining wall.


----------



## Chris0673

Some Squadron Leader in my LePeltier clay with some Trader Joe's coffee. Great way to start the day!


----------



## Nachman

79* this morning with a light breeze so I smoked a giant bowl of Stonehaven on the patio. It lasted for an hour and twenty minutes.


----------



## Chris0673

Nachman said:


> 79* this morning with a light breeze so I smoked a giant bowl of Stonehaven on the patio. It lasted for an hour and twenty minutes.


NICE! My little clay pipe is only good for about 45 minutes...once I can get the [email protected] thing started.


----------



## splattttttt

Went to bed early last night so that I might manage a 4am wake up call before we all head on out towards the conty's heart land. Little family trip to Nebraska.
Gonna try my best to keep in touch while there due to the lack of satellite coverage.
I did manage to pack a fancy smorgasbord of finely cured tobacco genre just in case I get board. Planning on doing as much fishing as possile off of the Mosouri river.
Happy Indipendence Day American style to you here and as well to those of you who aren't.


----------



## bluesman.54

PA tested anoher old Caminetto this morning -- and it passed with flying colors. Steady as she goes mate.

Happy 4th of July to everyone.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> 79* this morning with a light breeze so I smoked a giant bowl of Stonehaven on the patio. It lasted for an hour and twenty minutes.





Chris0673 said:


> NICE! My little clay pipe is only good for about 45 minutes...once I can get the [email protected] thing started.


Although smoked at night, I'll add my "Stonehaven" (Germain's Rich Dark Flake) experience to the above.

A hair under 55 minutes in my S-M Barling's Make Lovat which only takes exactly half a flake. This is wonderful stuff! Slow and cool smoking, I could easily have made it last well over an hour if I'd had a mind to. I tend to smoke this by constant sipping. I think I've had an hour and a quarter in the past. And never mind the length of the smoke, it's the quality. Wine-like; rich and fruity for the majority of the bowl, changing to leathery for the last quarter or so. Just as much nicotine as I can happily handle - I would fear smoking a larger bowl. Again, I can see what the fuss is about. Just splendid.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Bow Legged Bear in a MM Hardwood.


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoying a bowl of Bullseye Flake in a Randy Wiley RVW #17 , while putting the finishing touches on some writing. A good morning it is. Have a great weekend Puffers! Me -- I have to work. Such as it is in my profession.


----------



## TTecheTTe

I'm a contrarian; Nightcap, all morning, with a Country Gentleman.

Squadron Leader for now, and was going to be for the rest of the day, but Michael mentioned LBF! How many pipes do you have, Michael? You're exhausting me! I am glad to have seen you taking some breaks from your extensive tests, lately, and having a little pleasure! All work and no play... p



MarkC said:


> I understand stick ranching is all the rage in Texas these days...


That it is! They so love grazing on those delicate shoots of bentgrass!

My herd is the envy of the stick ranching community, as is my fine pasture of weeds - if you water they will come! I wish my herd would turn their grazing onto them. Fortunately, we only got a sprinkle that day, but it was enough to thoroughly revive them. As I didn't water the back, and had killed them off real good, I thought I could throw the bentgrass seed out and get them started before they showed. I think I might see a couple of sprouts from the seed I added a few days ago.

The sticks are debris from the mulched beds, which washed across the lawn during heavy rains last year. After the first year of working the ground and laying sand mix for the green, followed the next year with another layer of sand mix to replace the first, I hadn't planned on attempting again and was just considering on throwing out the seed I had left. When I saw the weeds were gone (for now), and looking at some bare ground, I decided to just toss some seed out on top. With no work, I didn't expect anything and couldn't be disappointed. With any luck, I just might be able to use the 7 blade reel mower that I got for the green!

The weeds are bigger and now more numerous. I can't find the first herd for the weeds, so here is another happy herd from this morning:


Some tufts from the first year, which revived with water and rain. See the "island" of grass, which formed from the river (I brushed away the leaf mold from one, which I added a few days ago, so that it can be seen as it was.)? I can't believe those survived, much less like that. This might be a hardy tiff green afterall, if I do get it in.


The previous message is solely for the information and entertainment of the OP. There is no warranty, expressed or implied, of your pleasure.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Enjoying a bowl of Bullseye Flake in a Randy Wiley RVW #17 , while putting the finishing touches on some writing. A good morning it is. Have a great weekend Puffers! Me -- I have to work. Such as it is in my profession.


May the Mousai be with you, Mark! Some Golf Mix and an Old Mil, here, after a pretty good round. Couple of squirrelly shots, but some fine ones with not much luck. Left three putts dead in the hole, 6 inches short. sigh. But I did chip in once. :smile:

And I'm somewhat irritated by a couple of otherwise nice shows on the history channel. Interesting stuff from ancient times and both of them ALMOST got the Ancient Greeks right. But they didn't. Nobody ever really hits the nail on the head in these documentaries, I suspect because not even the archaeologists advisers fully grok it. It's a "literary" thing, rather than stones and artifacts, so to speak, but it's important in understanding the origins of Western Civilization, aka, the Ancient Greeks. For a thousand years, these blue-eyed, blond haired tribes passed their culture down with songs, much as the plains Indians, or the Eskimo, or any number of barbarian tribes do. The stories told you how to behave, who you were, and what was "out there". The Iliad and the Odyssey far predate Homer. There were traveling rhapsodists (minstrels), who sang the songs, of Penelope on the Wall, of the Cyclops, of Many-Turning Odysseus. They were not a troupe, but individual singers, usually carrying a kithetar, a guitar-like instrument, and they would stay at a home until they had sung all the songs they knew, possibly with encores, then move on. But they were the same songs, minstrel to minstrel, with small variations. The hosts would of course discuss how they were phrased and performed by the previous minstrel who was there, and perhaps even one of the hosts would have thought of a better way to render a line, with a better word or different tense to make it more interesting -- or even more musical. Over hundreds of years, these poems evolved and became almost poetically overwhelming, the product of more editing and re-writes than anything in human history. And they were PERFECT! Never a forced rhythm, never an inefficiency, always the perfect metaphor. Rosy-fingered dawn and the wine-dark sea. Great stuff Homer, but he never wrote a word of it. And the ultimate example of "lost in the translation": The Odyssey and the Iliad are shadows of themselves in translation.

My beer glass is empty!! :rant: Barkeep! Another of of "America's Best Tasting Beers"!.


----------



## bluesman.54

@TTecheTTe

Mari wrote: Squadron Leader for now, and was going to be for the rest of the day, but Michael mentioned LBF! How many pipes do you have, Michael? You're exhausting me! I am glad to have seen you taking some breaks from your extensive tests, lately, and having a little pleasure! All work and no play...

Then you will be glad to know I am currently enjoying my first bowl of Bell's Thrree Nuns in my Willmer Antique Collection #5160 with a rusticted finish. I don't know how many pipes I have -- I have never counted them. Humm...maybe I should.

I will return to my testing after work this evening. Steady as she goes you know. PA in an old Stanwell Diplomat is on tap for this evening. I may even try and get another bowl of this Three Nuns in before work. It is really good -- a full flavor and no bite. If you haven't tried it -- I highly recommend it to you.

And now you are exhausting me Mari -- with all of the yard work you do. And I am still extremely jealous of your custom cob pipes and your tobacco cellaer!


----------



## bluesman.54

Thank you, Jim for your kind wishes! Hope the barkeep made it to you quickly.



freestoke said:


> May the Mousai be with you, Mark! Some Golf Mix and an Old Mil, here, after a pretty good round. Couple of squirrelly shots, but some fine ones with not much luck. Left three putts dead in the hole, 6 inches short. sigh. But I did chip in once. :smile:
> 
> And I'm somewhat irritated by a couple of otherwise nice shows on the history channel. Interesting stuff from ancient times and both of them ALMOST got the Ancient Greeks right. But they didn't. Nobody ever really hits the nail on the head in these documentaries, I suspect because not even the archaeologists advisers fully grok it. It's a "literary" thing, rather than stones and artifacts, so to speak, but it's important in understanding the origins of Western Civilization, aka, the Ancient Greeks. For a thousand years, these blue-eyed, blond haired tribes passed their culture down with songs, much as the plains Indians, or the Eskimo, or any number of barbarian tribes do. The stories told you how to behave, who you were, and what was "out there". The Iliad and the Odyssey far predate Homer. There were traveling rhapsodists (minstrels), who sang the songs, of Penelope on the Wall, of the Cyclops, of Many-Turning Odysseus. They were not a troupe, but individual singers, usually carrying a kithetar, a guitar-like instrument, and they would stay at a home until they had sung all the songs they knew, possibly with encores, then move on. But they were the same songs, minstrel to minstrel, with small variations. The hosts would of course discuss how they were phrased and performed by the previous minstrel who was there, and perhaps even one of the hosts would have thought of a better way to render a line, with a better word or different tense to make it more interesting -- or even more musical. Over hundreds of years, these poems evolved and became almost poetically overwhelming, the product of more editing and re-writes than anything in human history. And they were PERFECT! Never a forced rhythm, never an inefficiency, always the perfect metaphor. Rosy-fingered dawn and the wine-dark sea. Great stuff Homer, but he never wrote a word of it. And the ultimate example of "lost in the translation": The Odyssey and the Iliad are shadows of themselves in translation.
> 
> My beer glass is empty!! :rant: Barkeep! Another of of "America's Best Tasting Beers"!.


----------



## freestoke

I think have divined how pipe smoking is supposed to work, ala Michael. Buy a pipe, break it in, buy a pipe, break it in, et cetera (can you believe the spellchecker can't handle "et cetera"? :shock and eventually, you can gradually build up a rotation of several hundred pipes that YOU NEVER HAVE TO CLEAN! All of them passing muster with a PA test, because they're all basically brand new!

I"ve meandered down into the basement for a load of Dart Mix, to thoroughly infuse this new knowledge and power for justifying PAD. And I'm out of Old Mil!! Having to suffer with a Labatt.


----------



## bluesman.54

Jim -- you are indeed wise beyond your years. It is true, I have recently purchased several new pipes and have taken your advice "Just smoke 'em" to heart to break them in and have been in joyful pusuit of that as of late. After all, I want them to feel welcome in their new habitat. Later I will perform the PA test on an old Stanwell -- just to keep steady as she goes. Though I really did like that Three Nuns. It will be hard to resist grabbing another new pipe -- loading her up with Three Nuns and having my way with her.



freestoke said:


> I think have divined how pipe smoking is supposed to work, ala Michael. Buy a pipe, break it in, buy a pipe, break it in, et cetera (can you believe the spellchecker can't handle "et cetera"? :shock and eventually, you can gradually build up a rotation of several hundred pipes that YOU NEVER HAVE TO CLEAN! All of them passing muster with a PA test, because they're all basically brand new!
> 
> I"ve meandered down into the basement for a load of Dart Mix, to thoroughly infuse this new knowledge and power for justifying PAD. And I'm out of Old Mil!! Having to suffer with a Labatt.


----------



## TTecheTTe

A Country Gentleman with AK p

I didn't see anything that look wrong with that Stanwell pipe when I got it. I inspected the inside of the bowl real well as I was curious about that new fangled coating. I thought perhaps that the walls were thinner, since it smokes so hot, but they're the same as the Orlik.

You did give me another idea. Perhaps as the bowl tapers, the wall thins with it? Feeling it from rim to the bottom, it seems to get thinner, but can't be certain without a caliper. The bowl has burned in the same spot, at the bottom, almost all the way around:


New:


Posted up some baccyporn for you @MarkC - more will be forthcoming... :shock: 
http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...ture-your-tobacco-thread-2-a.html#post3869547


----------



## splattttttt

That's a very nice lookin pipe Mari.
No idea what I'll smoke this morning as I only brought some Old Dublin and Acadian Perique that I've 
been hitten on rather heavily.
I did bring a pouch of American Spirits Perique cigarette tobacco I've always wanted to try in a pipe.
Maybe I'll mix some with the OD


----------



## freestoke

Wow, Mari! Where'd ya buy it and when? Might be able to get a refund or a new pipe if it isn't that old. Not sure how that works, since I've never had a pipe burn out on me like that.

Played golf in Boonville yesterday. Drove the ball . Only played nine, but hit 7 dead solid perfect tee shots. Had a 36, but it really should have been more like a 32. Really sloppy on and around the greens. Maybe if I'd stopped at that first case of beer. :faint:

Trying to come back to life with a bowl of Erinmore Flake and a bucket of coffee.


----------



## Chris0673

I was enjoying some Trader Joe's coffee and a Country Gentleman MM full of Smoker's Haven In Between Mixture when the sky opened up. Managed to get myself and my book inside before getting totally soaked. So much for the "afternoon showers"! If the rain ever lets up maybe I'll finish it this evening.


----------



## bluesman.54

PA testing a Hardcastle Zulu -- and so far so good. As soon as I finish it is off to work. I usually have Monday off -- but not today. So far -- so good for the Hardcastle. In fact so far all of my pipes have easily passed Jim's PA test. I suppose it helps that I do keep my pipes very clean though. Jim has definitely correctly diagnosed me as haveing PAD though. There -- the first step is admitting it. However the problem may be that I have no problem having PAD. It is one of life's greatest pleasures. Try it. You'll like it.....


----------



## TTecheTTe

Oops, guess the break-in discussion was in Tonight. I think I got it in Feb. That's why there should be one lounge!

Nightcapping again - because I can. p



bluesman.54 said:


> I may even try and get another bowl of this Three Nuns in before work. It is really good -- a full flavor and no bite. If you haven't tried it -- I highly recommend it to you.
> 
> And now you are exhausting me Mari -- with all of the yard work you do. And I am still extremely jealous of your custom cob pipes and your tobacco cellaer!


3Nuns and Capstan kept going in and out of my cart. On my wishlist now, so maybe on the next sale.

Yard work? We don't do no stinking yardwork! I landscape - so I'm told. Well, barely either! I planted everything except for the 2 large oaks and the native hawthorne & yaupon. Most everything of $20k in landscaping that I did is gone now. Laid 6+ ton of rock, except for the metal edge and a few boulders.

Started redoing and reducing the beds 5 yrs ago to a manageable size, doing a little at a time. Latest project was putting in the rock edge on the left the last 2yrs; 70 linear feet to near the curb:


Panning left to the front bed, the new rock edge is seen in the background, and between it and the lrg water oak is a boulder that was part of the original bed. Who wants to move it for me? . The oak is the last of a crop of 6 six that size, and it will pass this year.


The front bed was pushed back 10' and will be restacked with a double row:


The end of the new edge is seen in the background...


3' wide by 110' path circles the house:


You want that boulder moved?


----------



## Chris0673

Mari if you were a little closer to Virginia (or I a little closer to Texas) I'd bring my Jeep and a couple chains to move those boulders for ya.


----------



## ProbateGeek

[/QUOTE]
Can you post another copy of this, but perhaps without the gaudi bowtie?


----------



## TTecheTTe

ProbateGeek said:


> Can you post another copy of this, but perhaps without the gaudi bowtie?


"Is this tie more appropriate for my application into the "Cool Kids Club? After this big bowl of Anniversary Kake, I'll move that boulder..."


Max's lazy friends: Fred hates Pancho's hat, so he pipes 1792 everytime he wears it...


"Well, I can't really wear a tie while I'm working," sighed Max.




Chris0673 said:


> Mari if you were a little closer to Virginia (or I a little closer to Texas) I'd bring my Jeep and a couple chains to move those boulders for ya.


I knew I could count on you! I'm going to try dragging it with my riding mower, since I can't touch these anymore.


----------



## Hambone1

P.S. Mellow Mocha in my Peterson Vampire. Damn pipe gurgles like a sombiatch and I have to use 3/4 pipe cleaners during the smoke to keep from getting nasty doodle.. yuk!


----------



## steinr1

TTecheTTe said:


>


If you people will insist on trying to colonise inhospitable environments...

Here's an early evening view from a patio in a typical English garden (mine) where pipes might be smoked.









Ours is indeed a green and pleasant land.

(And what's this talk of dragging boulders away? Never has there been a better case for using explosives.)



ProbateGeek said:


> Can you post another copy of this, but perhaps without the gaudi bowtie?


Was that tie really designed by Antoni Gaudi? A bit garish, I'll admit...


----------



## Nachman

By the time we got around to colonising all the good bits had been taken.


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> Was that tie really designed by Antoni Gaudi? A bit garish, I'll admit...


If I'm not mistaken, the colors and pattern on that tie closely resemble what I remember seeing used as wallpaper in a few of the lavatories of _La Sagrada Familia_.

Of course, I may be mistaken - I smoked other things way back then. :ss


----------



## bluesman.54

Excuse me -- I stand corrected. Your landscaping is exhausting me. You do have a beautiful lawn. It looks very tranquil and a good place to relax. Enjoy!



TTecheTTe said:


> Oops, guess the break-in discussion was in Tonight. I think I got it in Feb. That's why there should be one lounge!
> 
> Nightcapping again - because I can. p
> 
> 3Nuns and Capstan kept going in and out of my cart. On my wishlist now, so maybe on the next sale.
> 
> Yard work? We don't do no stinking yardwork! I landscape - so I'm told. Well, barely either! I planted everything except for the 2 large oaks and the native hawthorne & yaupon. Most everything of $20k in landscaping that I did is gone now. Laid 6+ ton of rock, except for the metal edge and a few boulders.
> 
> Started redoing and reducing the beds 5 yrs ago to a manageable size, doing a little at a time. Latest project was putting in the rock edge on the left the last 2yrs; 70 linear feet to near the curb:
> 
> 
> Panning left to the front bed, the new rock edge is seen in the background, and between it and the lrg water oak is a boulder that was part of the original bed. Who wants to move it for me? . The oak is the last of a crop of 6 six that size, and it will pass this year.
> 
> 
> The front bed was pushed back 10' and will be restacked with a double row:
> 
> 
> The end of the new edge is seen in the background...
> 
> 
> 3' wide by 110' path circles the house:
> 
> 
> You want that boulder moved?


----------



## bluesman.54

PA tested a Savinelli Alligator 614 deep bent stem this morning. another pass. Steady as she goes!


----------



## bluesman.54

Time for the PA test to tell you if anything is amiss with the pipe -- or if the tobaccco is just too moist.



Hambone1 said:


> P.S. Mellow Mocha in my Peterson Vampire. Damn pipe gurgles like a sombiatch and I have to use 3/4 pipe cleaners during the smoke to keep from getting nasty doodle.. yuk!


----------



## MarkC

bluesman.54 said:


> It looks very tranquil and a good place to relax.


Yeah, until that horrific were-beast showed up. Looks like one of those evil animals that could lick you to death before you knew what was going on...


----------



## TTecheTTe

Nightcap. Country Gentleman.



ProbateGeek said:


> If I'm not mistaken, the colors and pattern on that tie closely resemble what I remember seeing used as wallpaper in a few of the lavatories of _La Sagrada Familia_.
> 
> Of course, I may be mistaken - I smoked other things way back then. :ss


Good eye! It is a custom dye and weave patterned after that!



bluesman.54 said:


> Excuse me -- I stand corrected. Your landscaping is exhausting me. You do have a beautiful lawn. It looks very tranquil and a good place to relax. Enjoy!


Thank you very much! It used to be an oasis, and was the envy of the neighborhood, but can't take care of it anymore. Let the droughts take it all out. Grass usually looks great, but I'm late on having the leaf mold and aeration done.



MarkC said:


> Yeah, until that horrific were-beast showed up. Looks like one of those evil animals that could lick you to death before you knew what was going on...


He's a trophy that never misses a photo op. Real slut puppy, and he'll tell you in three languages.



steinr1 said:


> If you people will insist on trying to colonise inhospitable environments...
> 
> (And what's this talk of dragging boulders away? Never has there been a better case for using explosives.)
> 
> A bit garish, I'll admit...


Environment is hospitable...I however am not.

Explosives are discouraged. Besides, I would never hurt a rock - I want to move it.

You should see how he usually dresses...


----------



## bluesman.54

PA tested a no name briar with an acrylic stem this morning and it passed. It was one of my Dad's favorites and really smokes quite nicely. Now I am on to PA testing a Comay that was also my Dad's. Steady as she goes.


----------



## DSturg369

Sitting here, got off work at 1AM, enjoying a MM/PA combo. I'm going to be putting in for a job transfer in a couple of days, to the Maintenance Dept. I have the experience and degree from prior military days but it's a hard position to secure.... We'll see how it goes.


----------



## bluesman.54

I hope you get the transfer you want. Work is more pleasant when we are where we desire to be. You'll get it!



DSturg369 said:


> Sitting here, got off work at 1AM, enjoying a MM/PA combo. I'm going to be putting in for a job transfer in a couple of days, to the Maintenance Dept. I have the experience and degree from prior military days but it's a hard position to secure.... We'll see how it goes.


----------



## bluesman.54

Began the morning with a bowl of Ennerdale Flake in a no name meer. Now I am PA testing a Stanwell Royal Guard as I do some writing. Up next -- some Happy Brown Bogie -- haven't decided on the pipe though. I might just reload this Stanwell. It is smoking beautifully!


----------



## steinr1

Just finisihed a bowl of Condor Long-Cut in a '40s Eugene Ropp Straght Billiard. A rather ordinary pipe with objectively poor wood - a lot of small fills as is common for French pipes of the period. A bit heavier than most with good thick walls. I think it was my first Ropp pipe which set me off on collecting them. It has a lot to answer for. I love it; one of my favourites although it is a bit beaten up.

Condor isn't an aromatic (as stated in a review Mari quoted - unless you want to call every Lakeland "Aromatic"). It also doesn't smoke hot. A really quality Lakeland tobacco which burns slow and cool. Easy to smoke. Leather and liquorice notes which deepen as the bowl progresses with the sweetness of the Virginia more forward in the first half. The Lakeland casing is evident throughout, but not overpowering. And definitely not "soapy". It's the last OTC tobacco we have here which is a gem. This lot has been sitting about for maybe 18 months and is better than ever. I'm not one to go overboard with aging tobacco, but this has improved. The sweetness of the blend is more evident than I remember.

(I think that Mr Snuff - safe to mention as they stock no cigars from "A Certain Island Nation", the snuff supplier of choice for my American bretheren (and sisteren) also stocks this. Also Warrior and Revor Plugs which are HTF tobaccos over the pond, I believe. Prices may be a bit shocking to you guys...)


----------



## TTecheTTe

steinr1 said:


> I'm an old hand at that. I do little else. I also use the American view that "It mut be British humor (sic)" to get away with snarkiness. See?


I have a dry wit and dearly love British humour - perhaps because. Snarkiness is acceptable, and IMO, requisite. However, I still question whether you are, in fact, licensed to rant.

Some may argue that I may go overboard in attempting to get enough tobak to age. On checking my cellar I'm only up to 22kg, however.

We Colonists don't seem to have much choice when it comes to acquiring snuff - perhaps another tea party is in order.

1792 on deck, after I finish my little ISOM breakfast.


----------



## Chris0673

Mari, my wife and I speak fluent snark. If someone who didn't know us well were to watch us they would think we hated each other! 

Stonehaven in my "poetry pipe" at my Jeep club coffee run. Great way to start the weekend!

Don't know the make of this pipe. Just marked "France" on the shank.


----------



## steinr1

TTecheTTe said:


> ...However, I still question whether you are, in fact, licensed to rant.


I'm over 50. That's the break point where it is no longer called "ranting" and becomes "imparting wisdom". I am oh so wise...


----------



## bluesman.54

As is Jim -- you are well wise beyond your years Robert! I enjoy the wisdom you take the time to impart to us.



steinr1 said:


> I'm over 50. That's the break point where it is no longer called "ranting" and becomes "imparting wisdom". I am oh so wise...


----------



## bluesman.54

Began the morning with Ennerdale Flake in a Chacom "Gold" #266 Dublin Shape Cumberland Stem. It's Saturday and I desired to begin the day right. Then I promptly continued the quest which Jim sent me upon and PA tested one of my Dad's old Comays. Glad to say it came through with flying colors -- and was really quite enjoyable

The Chacom is a French pipe and really well made and quite enjoyable also. It seems to bring out the best in the Ennerdale. Ah -- Life is Good! Time to return to my writing for work today.


----------



## steinr1

Morning pipers!



bluesman.54 said:


> Began the morning with Ennerdale Flake in a Chacom "Gold" #266 Dublin Shape Cumberland Stem.


You keep posting spendid pipe after splendid pipe, Michael! Chacom make very solid bit of briar and have done so for many years. A premier French make.

I would mention that you seem to be putting Ennerdale through a lot of your pipes. I'm sure you're well aware of how badly that blend ghosts. I've got an estate meerschaum from which I couldn't shift the taint of "something" whatever I tried; that something I later identified as Ennerdale and it's now my one and only pipe for that blend. Beware; you could end up with racks of Ennerdale only pipes. You do seem to smoke a lot of that, however...

This morning I'm putting the ghost of "The Lakelands" into my tiny rope pipe with Black Bogie Aromatic. I've now settled on that one as my "strong rope" tobacco. If it is available in the US, I'd recommend giving it a whirl. Very mild Lakeland casing; barely noticeable but adds a little "something" to the mix.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Morning pipers!
> 
> I would mention that you seem to be putting Ennerdale through a lot of your pipes. I'm sure you're well aware of how badly that blend ghosts. I've got an estate meerschaum from which I couldn't shift the taint of "something" whatever I tried; that something I later identified as Ennerdale and it's now my one and only pipe for that blend. Beware; you could end up with racks of Ennerdale only pipes. You do seem to smoke a lot of that, however...
> 
> This morning I'm putting the ghost of "The Lakelands" into my tiny rope pipe with Black Bogie Aromatic. I've now settled on that one as my "strong rope" tobacco. If it is available in the US, I'd recommend giving it a whirl. Very mild Lakeland casing; barely noticeable but adds a little "something" to the mix.


GH&Co. says *Ennerdale* is, "Our best selling flake by a wide margin." Clearly, the detractors are one of those "small but vocal minorities" who have strange and socially discordant views of the world. I've never tried the Black Bogie, but I really like the Brown (Happy) Bogie! I'd imagine the Black has a bit more BBQ/asphalt component.

I'm having some RY to overcome bad memories of yesterday's scramble. We won the mixed division, but I won't reveal our embarrassing score. I think I contributed less than any scramble I've ever played in. Never made a putt.  I think they used three or four of my shots. They could have left me at the clubhouse. out:

Coffee! :cp


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> GH&Co. says *Ennerdale* is, "Our best selling flake by a wide margin." Clearly, the detractors are one of those "small but vocal minorities" who have strange and socially discordant views of the world.


OK, if that's how ya see it.

I'm in the "smoke what ya like, and like what ya smoke" school. Ennerdale and M79, to me, are both OKish but in no way good... also they both seem to be BIG sellers, but I sure don't see the draw...


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> GH&Co. says *Ennerdale* is, "Our best selling flake by a wide margin." Clearly, the detractors are one of those "small but vocal minorities" who have strange and socially discordant views of the world.


I'm thinking that if we talk about it enough, Ennerdale will be the next Stonehaven. Everybody will rush to stock up, GH will not be able to keep up with demand, and we'll be posting about Ennerdale sightings on the retailer's websites... :lol:

For the first time in a long time, I'm enjoying a bowl of plain ole PA. Not even the 1956 vintage. I typically like Virginias better than Burleys, but the Exhausted Rooster I've been smoking lately has kick-started a burley craving phase. I figured I'd reach for the quintessential burley this morning.


----------



## bluesman.54

I do enjoy well made pipes. I have learned they can last for years. Some I inherited from my Dad and others I have bought -- with some being 40 years old now. From 1975-85 my Dad and I had the occasion to visit the Caminetto factory once or twice a year and I have many of those, plus now my Dad's as he has passed on. Oh how they loved to haggle about selling and price. I walked away much poorer for the experience every time. But the pipes were good ones and still are of fine quality. Some say that time period was the apex of Caminetto. But I am OCD about cleaning my pipes and they remain in excellent condition which makes them a joy to smoke. It allows me to truly taste the tobacco I am smoking. And that is why I smoke pipes!

Thank you for the reminder about Ennerdale ghosting Robert. It may seem like I smoke Ennerdale in a lot of pipes -- just because I do smoke it often. I probably only have 7-8 pipes that I smoke it in though -- all dedicated. I do enjoy my Ennerdale. I tend to dedicate my pipes to certain tobaccos and learning about more great tasting tobaccos on this forum has led me to purchase several more pipes to dedicate to the new tobaccos. And I am switching several old ones over -- as I used to smoke Lane 1Q almost exclusively -- but Terry saw the unfortunate state I was in and acted to remedy the situation. I am indebted to him for that. I now find myself caught in a vicious cycle that I have no desire to escape from.

And I do find the Chacoam to be an excellent French pipe. In fact it is the only French pipe I am aware of with that quality. Are there others?

I just got off work and am currently continuing on my quest and PA testing a Randy Wiley RVW #17 Mint Hand Made Rustic Finish. He is an American carver I believe and only puts out a limited number of pipes each year. I find the quality of his work to be exceptional, as I do American Carver Kirk Bosi. This is a very large bowl and it lasts quite awhile. Life is Good.

Thank you for taking the time to add your input Robert. I always enjoy your posts.

I shall have to search for the Black Bogie Aromatic yu mention and give it a go. I do have a couple of pipes dedicated to Happy Brown Bogie and enjoy that quite a bit. Do you know if they are similar tobaccos?



steinr1 said:


> Morning pipers!
> 
> You keep posting spendid pipe after splendid pipe, Michael! Chacom make very solid bit of briar and have done so for many years. A premier French make.
> 
> I would mention that you seem to be putting Ennerdale through a lot of your pipes. I'm sure you're well aware of how badly that blend ghosts. I've got an estate meerschaum from which I couldn't shift the taint of "something" whatever I tried; that something I later identified as Ennerdale and it's now my one and only pipe for that blend. Beware; you could end up with racks of Ennerdale only pipes. You do seem to smoke a lot of that, however...
> 
> This morning I'm putting the ghost of "The Lakelands" into my tiny rope pipe with Black Bogie Aromatic. I've now settled on that one as my "strong rope" tobacco. If it is available in the US, I'd recommend giving it a whirl. Very mild Lakeland casing; barely noticeable but adds a little "something" to the mix.


----------



## bluesman.54

I couldn't agree more. Smoke what you like. Isn't that the point of the whole pipe smoking thing? A bowl of tobacco I don't like isn't enjoyable -- so why bother? I happen to find Ennerdale and 1792, LNF, Bullseye, RY, etc. to be exceptional tobaccos. So I buy quite a bit of them -- though not like Mari does. But there is such a wide variety of tobacco blends made -- obviously there are many with different tastes. So smoke what you like -- share the news with others -- allowing us to try it and see if it makes our rotation. That is a big part of what makes this forum so interesting to me. But definitely -- smoke what you like!



El wedo del milagro said:


> OK, if that's how ya see it.
> 
> I'm in the "smoke what ya like, and like what ya smoke" school. Ennerdale and M79, to me, are both OKish but in no way good... also they both seem to be BIG sellers, but I sure don't see the draw...


----------



## bluesman.54

I couldn't agree more. Smoke what you like. Isn't that the point of the whole pipe smoking thing? A bowl of tobacco I don't like isn't enjoyable -- so why bother? I happen to find Ennerdale and 1792, LNF, Bullseye, RY, etc. to be exceptional tobaccos. So I buy quite a bit of them -- though not like Mari does. But there is such a wide variety of tobacco blends made -- obviously there are many with different tastes. So smoke what you like -- share the news with others -- allowing us to try it and see if it makes our rotation. That is a big part of what makes this forum so interesting to me. But definitely -- smoke what you like!



El wedo del milagro said:


> OK, if that's how ya see it.
> 
> I'm in the "smoke what ya like, and like what ya smoke" school. Ennerdale and M79, to me, are both OKish but in no way good... also they both seem to be BIG sellers, but I sure don't see the draw...


----------



## steinr1

bluesman.54 said:


> And I do find the Chacoam to be an excellent French pipe. In fact it is the only French pipe I am aware of with that quality. Are there others?


Funny that the country that (probably) invented the briar pipe isn't better known for them these days. There are a good number that make quality pipes - or at least used to. Butz Choquin, Courrieu, Genod (made the only pipes that I'm aware of with a curved bore - no idea how), Longchamp (famous for leather covered pipes - it's said that just about every US serviceman posted in France after WWII brought one home), Jeantet all spring to mind. Jima make the best "technical" pipe in existance IM(not so)HO.

There is also Ropp. They make awful, unsmokeable, unattractive pipes that should be avoided at all costs.

That's the marque I collect.

(Actually, their higher end ranges are pretty damned good. The rest are pretty damned ordinary.)

St Claude pipe-makers are probably responsible for more of the world's output than you imagine. Dunhill farmed out work to them as did Lorenzo and many others. I've got a couple of Lorenzos which are stamped both "Ropp" and "Lorenzo" (Collector, see?) Chacom have absorbed many well known makes in recent years.


----------



## bluesman.54

They would have counted even fewer of my shots. When my friends invite me to go golfing with them they say it is because my ability is their entertainment. But we still have a few smokes and drinks and a good time. Even though I slow them down considerably -- needing to take two shots to their one.

At least you got out with some friends and enjoyed their company. And I am sure they enjoyed your company. It is a beautiful thing that you have done! Enjoy your bowl of RY.



freestoke said:


> GH&Co. says *Ennerdale* is, "Our best selling flake by a wide margin." Clearly, the detractors are one of those "small but vocal minorities" who have strange and socially discordant views of the world. I've never tried the Black Bogie, but I really like the Brown (Happy) Bogie! I'd imagine the Black has a bit more BBQ/asphalt component.
> 
> I'm having some RY to overcome bad memories of yesterday's scramble. We won the mixed division, but I won't reveal our embarrassing score. I think I contributed less than any scramble I've ever played in. Never made a putt.  I think they used three or four of my shots. They could have left me at the clubhouse. out:
> 
> Coffee! :cp


----------



## steinr1

bluesman.54 said:


> They would have counted even fewer of my shots. When my friends invite me to go golfing with them they say it is because my ability is their entertainment.


Sammy Davis Jr. was once asked what his (golf) handicap was. He replied:

"I'm Black, I'm Jewish and I've got one eye."


----------



## splattttttt

steinr1 said:


> Funny that the country that (probably) invented the briar pipe isn't better known for them these days. There are a good number that make quality pipes - or at least used to. Butz Choquin, Courrieu, Genod... *Dunhill farmed out work to them as did Lorenzo and many others.* I've got a couple of Lorenzos which are stamped both "Ropp" and "Lorenzo" (Collector, see?) Chacom have absorbed many well known makes in recent years.


Nueb question incoming~ 
Did Dunhill ever manufacture any of their own pipes? Being they're sooo popular (why?); yeah, they're also famous for their tabacco? The latter was stated with a touch of sarcasm.


----------



## bluesman.54

Robert -- Thank you for sharing this. A new quest! I will now be setting out to acquire some of these makes to test them out for myself. I am not familiar with many of them.

Interesting -- though I do have two leather covered Longchamps -- that my Dad brought home from WWII. He always thought two was better than one in almost all things. Though he never mentioned he got them in France -- just that he got them during his time in the service. Actually they are nice smokers to this day and easily passed Jim's PA test.

I have tended to go more towards Italian (Caminetto, Brebbia, etc.) and English pipes (I have several Dunhills, Barlings, etc) -- so now it is off to acquire some French pipes. Which are the ones that "used to be good" -- for those I'll look in estate pipes and which are the ones that are of high quaity that I can buy new today?

You mention St Claude -- I have a Wessex Mistral Bent Billiard from them that is a decent pipe.

I am looking at Castleford Hand Made by Colin Fromm #99 Blast Finish Fine Briar Are you familiar with him?

I also have several Stanwells that I enjoy immensely. Though not of the highest quality (IMO) the one's with the thicker bowls are quite good. And I do have some Savinelli's -- but they are so-so. Again -- the thicker bowl ones are the best of the lot.

I am finding more and more American carvers to be putting out some great pipes -- but they only make so many a year being one person set-ups and can be hard to get at times. Thanks again for your input. I sincerely appreciate your contributions to this forum.



steinr1 said:


> Funny that the country that (probably) invented the briar pipe isn't better known for them these days. There are a good number that make quality pipes - or at least used to. Butz Choquin, Courrieu, Genod (made the only pipes that I'm aware of with a curved bore - no idea how), Longchamp (famous for leather covered pipes - it's said that just about every US serviceman posted in France after WWII brought one home), Jeantet all spring to mind. Jima make the best "technical" pipe in existance IM(not so)HO.
> 
> There is also Ropp. They make awful, unsmokeable, unattractive pipes that should be avoided at all costs.
> 
> That's the marque I collect.
> 
> (Actually, their higher end ranges are pretty damned good. The rest are pretty damned ordinary.)
> 
> St Claude pipe-makers are probably responsible for more of the world's output than you imagine. Dunhill farmed out work to them as did Lorenzo and many others. I've got a couple of Lorenzos which are stamped both "Ropp" and "Lorenzo" (Collector, see?) Chacom have absorbed many well known makes in recent years.


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> Nueb question incoming~
> Did Dunhill ever manufacture any of their own pipes? Being they're sooo popular (why?); yeah, they're also famous for their tabacco? The latter was stated with a touch of sarcasm.


Back when they made good pipes, Sasieni worked for them. He split and started making his own pipes, HIS way. Way better pipes. Try a pre-1976 Sasieni FourDot or even a TwoDot. (The new ones are 4Dot, not to be confused with the real thing. Sasieni didn't farm anything out! :nono


----------



## bluesman.54

I agree here. The post family era 4Dot tends to burn hot -- no matter what tobacco you smoke -- the bowl gets really hot. A true FOURDOT is a great pipe. It never gets hot in your hand unless you abuse it. I do not have a TwoDot. I am looking for one -- but the condition of the ones I have found has been unacceptable.

Jim -- was there an EIGHTDOT at one time? I seem to recall hearing or reading about that. I am guessing during the transition era away from the family era would have been the time?



freestoke said:


> Back when they made good pipes, Sasieni worked for them. He split and started making his own pipes, HIS way. Way better pipes. Try a pre-1976 Sasieni FourDot or even a TwoDot. (The new ones are 4Dot, not to be confused with the real thing. Sasieni didn't farm anything out! :nono


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Jim -- was there an EIGHTDOT at one time? I seem to recall hearing or reading about that. I am guessing during the transition era away from the family era would have been the time?












Indeed there was. The full story here: My Sasieni Pipe Article | Murder of Ravens


----------



## bluesman.54

Ah -Ha! So there was an EightDot! Do you have one Jim?

We Americans can be so flashy. Not sure if this will come through, but I hope it does. And now....The rest of the story......

The Sasieni Eight Dot is now the most collectible of all Sasieni pipes, due to both its scarcity and the fact that, unlike other Sasieni's, the collector can be reasonably certain when the pipe was made. The Eight Dot made its debut in the late 1920′s or very early 1930′s, and was discontinued during W.W.II due to the inevitable shortages of supplies. Like the Four Dot, the Eight Dot had its logo made by individually inserting rods of blue plastic into pre-drilled holes in the stem, similar to the process used by Dunhill for their one white spot.

This was an excruciatingly difficult procedure, even on the Four Dot, for each dot had to be placed just right in order to create the desired diamond shape, and on the Eight Dot, both sets had to be symmetrical. For all that, it is rare to find a an original Sasieni bit in which the dots are even the slightest bit off. This in itself bears testimony to the fastidiousness with which Mr. Sasieni applied his craft. It also makes it fairly easy to spot a fake Sasieni stem.

Both the Eight Dot and the Four Dot were marketed in the U. S. during the pre-war years, with the Eight Dot fetching more money, even though both pipes used the same wood.



freestoke said:


> Indeed there was. The full story here: My Sasieni Pipe Article | Murder of Ravens


----------



## steinr1

bluesman.54 said:


> Robert -- Thank you for sharing this. A new quest! I will now be setting out to acquire some of these makes to test them out for myself. I am not familiar with many of them.


If you get just two, I'd make them a Butz Choquin Origine and a Jima. The Origine is one of the pipes that started briar pipe-making. They've been made to essentially the same design since 1858 and are still in production. The ones to get have albatross bone stems, horn bits and silver mounts. Made in a variety of sizes and finishes. SUPERB smokers. Jima are relatively modern, plastic bodied, ceramic bowled, and skeleton metal stemmed monstrosities. Ugly, ugly, ugly. But they smoke like a dream. I don't think they are still made. I'll wrestle anyone naked for one of the velour finished ones...



> Interesting -- though I do have two leather covered Longchamps -- that my Dad brought home from WWII. He always thought two was better than one in almost all things. Though he never mentioned he got them in France -- just that he got them during his time in the service. Actually they are nice smokers to this day and easily passed Jim's PA test.


Longchamp pipes were an expedient to get over the poor quality of briar available just post-war. Cover them with leather and make a virtue of it.



> I have tended to go more towards Italian (Caminetto, Brebbia, etc.) and English pipes (I have several Dunhills, Barlings, etc) -- so now it is off to acquire some French pipes. Which are the ones that "used to be good" -- for those I'll look in estate pipes and which are the ones that are of high quaity that I can buy new today?


Barling - now you're talking. The Pre-Transition, family era pipes are just splendid. I'm after a "Ye Olde Wood" model, but the prices are high and I'm very mean. I missed a small YOW Straight Grain - 13cm length Lovat - today that went for £111; I stopped at £90. Still a good price. I envy the access you guys have to these great pipes; so many more for sale in the US. I've got a few "cooking" models and one Guinea Grain. They are some of the best smokers I have.

Some of the older Butz Choquin pipes are genuinely great. I've no experience of the new ones. Jeantet made some corkers as well. Ropp? I fell into collecting Ropp as a way to limit the amount I spent on pipes while still allowing obsession to rage. Only the highest grades are really worth a damn. Workaday pipes.



> You mention St Claude -- I have a Wessex Mistral Bent Billiard from them that is a decent pipe.


St Claude is a town which dominates the Fench pipe-making industry. A lot of "no-name" pipes are simply marked "Saint Claude". Wessex are one of the brands that has been taken over by Chacom - themselves owned by some anonymous holding company. The days of the large independent factory pipe-maker in France is just about over.


----------



## splattttttt

Robert, you didn't mention the Armada by BC. 
How's the reputation on it? I kind a fancy the one I have. It does smoke pretty well I guess.


----------



## Nachman

Speaking of French pipes, are you familiar with Sommer of Paris? How was their quality? I have a small squashed tomato shape of theirs, a Grand Lux, that I think is from the thirties. I heard they went out of business in about '35. Like most French pipes it is smaller than I prefer so I have smoked it very little. It looks newer than some of my pipes that I have had for only two years.


----------



## steinr1

splattttttt said:


> Robert, you didn't mention the Armada by BC.
> How's the reputation on it? I kind a fancy the one I have. It does smoke pretty well I guess.


I think you've just set the reputation of those ones. I'm no expert on French pipes in general. (@Nachman - Nick, Sommer of Paris rings a bell for some reason. I'll inspect my pile of Froggie pipes...) I have a lot of Ropps. The other ones I use, I tend to get as part of eBay lots with Ropp pipes. Apart from a few Butz Choquin I bought deliberately. When I get a pipe I don't know, I do a bit of research (t'Internet) - although I tend to ignore random internet reviews; too many agendas for the truth to generally get out. There's also a bias, I feel, for positive reviews. Why advertise your purchase of a so-so pipe? All internet reviewed pipes have fabulous grain, perfect construction and smoke like a dream. There are a few where pipes are unsmokeable and the trader is a charatan and/or robber; that's a different (and no less biased) agenda.

Oh yeah. Myon - they made at least one good pipe. A Royale Straight Bulldog.

I'll stuff some Robert Lewis 123 Mixture in it and see how it goes. It's been a bit neglectged.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Ah -Ha! So there was an EightDot! Do you have one Jim?


No, but I saw one on ebay a couple of years ago that seemed in okay shape, that went for something like $600, so even though they are rare, they're still cheaper than a lot of old Dunhills. There was this one at smokingpipes, but I have no idea what it went for:

English Estate Sasieni Eight Dot Rustic "Lombard" (Pat.No) (1935-1939) Pipes at Smoking Pipes .com

This one went recently for $725. Gorgeous 1924 38 Sasieni Eight Dot Patent Dublin RARE Pristine | eBay

Having some RY in a Pride, pretending it's an EightDot. p


----------



## bluesman.54

Wow -- an 8Dot is out of my price range -- even if I could find one. I'll stick to my 4Dots. They are great smokers on their own.



freestoke said:


> No, but I saw one on ebay a couple of years ago that seemed in okay shape, that went for something like $600, so even though they are rare, they're still cheaper than a lot of old Dunhills. There was this one at smokingpipes, but I have no idea what it went for:
> 
> English Estate Sasieni Eight Dot Rustic "Lombard" (Pat.No) (1935-1939) Pipes at Smoking Pipes .com
> 
> This one went recently for $725. Gorgeous 1924 38 Sasieni Eight Dot Patent Dublin RARE Pristine | eBay
> 
> Having some RY in a Pride, pretending it's an EightDot. p


----------



## freestoke

Yeah, Michael, I've never spent anything LIKE that much on a pipe! :lol: My FourDots were between $55 and $112.50 on ebay, all in perfect shape, and my 4Dot (a real good smoker, BTW) $57 as I recall. Think I'll smoke it right now, as a matter of fact. p


----------



## Stonedog

Ever have a morning where you look at all of the open tins and just can't find anything appealing? That was me this morning. I've got 1Q, 1Q/PA, Gentleman Caller, GLP Robusto, GH Brown Twist Sliced, 3Ps, Nutty Cut, Fillmore and SG Choc Flake open but nothing really stood out. It was all I could do to not open a tin of a pure VA or maybe a lighter VAPer...

Anyway, I settled on Fillmore (marked with a cryptic "2007 Bulging Tin" label) but rubbed it out very very well hoping it would be the change of pace I was looking for.

Hey *Jim*, for some reason it dawned on me that you haven't posted about your paper plate potpourri in a while. Do you still enjoy the occasional random mixture of leftovers?


----------



## freestoke

The Open Championship is being played at Muirfield this week, in Scotland, maybe twenty miles from Edinburgh. I hope they get the weather I got when I was there, in 1955, just about this time of year. My parents took me to a boy's camp for a month stay, no doubt thinking it would bear some semblance to an American summer camp. As it happened, it was more like a refugee camp. 

I recall maybe twenty tents on a large open field, in single file along the cliff overlooking the Firth of Fourth. A much larger tent housed the mess hall and cooking facilities. An outhouse sat at the far end, where the line of tents ended. My tent was about half way, just like all the others, the next size up from a pup tent, sheltering three children. We slept on individual inflatable mattresses and they provided us each a wool blanket. There were no shower facilities. There was nothing to do but hang around and play ping pong. We could walk into Edinburgh and hang around there like waifs, but it was sort of depressing. I doubt if it ever got to 65* the whole time I was there, generally gloomy and in the 50s, and nights were brutally cold for a little kid from Virginia; I slept in my clothes, curled up under the wool blanket, including my jacket. Days, I walked around and shivered in my jeans -- it felt more like a Newport News winter. The food was bad, generally an oatmeal gruel and maybe some bacon or sausage for breakfast and...what? I can't remember what we ate, but I did not like it. No fried chicken. No hamburgers or hot dogs. No ham. No milk. No peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I liked the custard and ate a lot of custard. We sang group songs after dinner, which was fun, but when it was over we'd go back to the cold tents and smoke cigarettes and tell stories, while the hard north wind off the Firth of Forth threatened to pull out the tent pegs.

Despite the unending arctic summer days, the sun rarely showed itself (at least it didn't rain much), but when the sun did shine, there would be bathers on the beach, including some of the kids from the camp. How people could go in 40* water, when the temperature barely struggled above 60*? Nobody goes to the beach in the dead of winter where I came from, for sure, or not wearing bathing suits, anyway. I spent the month neither bathing nor even washing up, since there were no public restrooms in Edinburgh with running water. Even the theater merely had a single long urinal, accommodating perhaps six men simultaneously; no sink or running water to wash up, and the urinal did not "flush". When my parents finally came to get me, I stunk so bad that they had to check into a local hotel, merely so I could take a bath before we drove on back home. And get me something to eat.

Makes one appreciative of a nice cob full of Royal Yacht, a comfortable couch, and some good coffee -- with milk. :cp


----------



## Nachman

FVF with about a year and a half age on it. Getting ready to go out and smoke some Stonehaven. Jim your camp experience reminds me of the joke about the British chef and the French General.
The joke goes like this: Once there was a British chef and a French General. (that's it. At that point everyone usually cracks up.)


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> The Open Championship is being played at Muirfield this week, in Scotland, maybe twenty miles from Edinburgh. I hope they get the weather I got when I was there, in 1955, just about this time of year. My parents took me to a boy's camp for a month stay, no doubt thinking it would bear some semblance to an American summer camp. As it happened, it was more like a refugee camp.
> 
> I recall maybe twenty tents on a large open field, in single file along the cliff overlooking the Firth of Fourth. A much larger tent housed the mess hall and cooking facilities. An outhouse sat at the far end, where the line of tents ended. My tent was about half way, just like all the others, the next size up from a pup tent, sheltering three children. We slept on individual inflatable mattresses and they provided us each a wool blanket. There were no shower facilities. There was nothing to do but hang around and play ping pong. We could walk into Edinburgh and hang around there like waifs, but it was sort of depressing. I doubt if it ever got to 65* the whole time I was there, generally gloomy and in the 50s, and nights were brutally cold for a little kid from Virginia; I slept in my clothes, curled up under the wool blanket, including my jacket. Days, I walked around and shivered in my jeans -- it felt more like a Newport News winter. The food was bad, generally an oatmeal gruel and maybe some bacon or sausage for breakfast and...what? I can't remember what we ate, but I did not like it. No fried chicken. No hamburgers or hot dogs. No ham. No milk. No peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I liked the custard and ate a lot of custard. We sang group songs after dinner, which was fun, but when it was over we'd go back to the cold tents and smoke cigarettes and tell stories, while the hard north wind off the Firth of Forth threatened to pull out the tent pegs.
> 
> Despite the unending arctic summer days, the sun rarely showed itself (at least it didn't rain much), but when the sun did shine, there would be bathers on the beach, including some of the kids from the camp. How people could go in 40* water, when the temperature barely struggled above 60*? Nobody goes to the beach in the dead of winter where I came from, for sure, or not wearing bathing suits, anyway. I spent the month neither bathing nor even washing up, since there were no public restrooms in Edinburgh with running water. Even the theater merely had a single long urinal, accommodating perhaps six men simultaneously; no sink or running water to wash up, and the urinal did not "flush". When my parents finally came to get me, I stunk so bad that they had to check into a local hotel, merely so I could take a bath before we drove on back home. And get me something to eat.
> 
> Makes one appreciative of a nice cob full of Royal Yacht, a comfortable couch, and some good coffee -- with milk. :cp


Worthless and weak! This sounds like good old fashioned Scottish character building (not necessarily good character, but character none the less). Unwilling to bathe in the refreshing waters? Away and boil yer heed! I bet you whined for milk and sugar on your Oats (capitalised to emphasise their stature and importance). Coarse salt is all you need. That'll put hair on your knees! Oats for breakfast (Fried herring rolled in Oats on Sundays and High Days), a bit of cheese and bread for lunch and Haggis 'n' Neeps for tea. Edinburgh is too civilised for my liking; real men roam the Great Glen and Highlands.

Scotland may not have the most advanced cuisine in the world, but it's the home of the deep fried Mars Bar and deep fried pizza (both battered, of course- they're not savages). Haggis and neeps will keep you healthy and strong. Bathing is overrated. No one ever died of not washing (but there are many documented cases of death after a first bath in years or decades.) The terrain is sparsely populated and ruggedly beautiful. What more could a boy possibly want?


----------



## Nachman

And it is to the Scots that we owe the breakfast of champions, Scotch Eggs and Brown Ale.


----------



## DanR

Stonedog said:


> Anyway, I settled on Fillmore (marked with a cryptic "2007 Bulging Tin" label) but rubbed it out very very well hoping it would be the change of pace I was looking for.


Sorry Jon. I didn't intend for that to be cryptic. Here's the explanation: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/325706-bulging-tin.html#post3845776

I hope it was the change of pace you were looking for...


----------



## bluesman.54

You did really well! I paid around $165 each for the 2 4Dots I have. They are in great shape also. And $90 for the one FOURDot. But like I said, they are great smokers -- even the FOURDot. Thanks for telling me about them. I had never heard of them and bought them after I read how much you liked them. And you were right! Thanks! Now I do watch for them.



freestoke said:


> Yeah, Michael, I've never spent anything LIKE that much on a pipe! :lol: My FourDots were between $55 and $112.50 on ebay, all in perfect shape, and my 4Dot (a real good smoker, BTW) $57 as I recall. Think I'll smoke it right now, as a matter of fact. p


----------



## bluesman.54

I have taken to keeping a mixture of paper plate potpourri and must say -- I really do enjoy it when I smoke it. It's actually surprisingly good. Have you tried it?



Stonedog said:


> Ever have a morning where you look at all of the open tins and just can't find anything appealing? That was me this morning. I've got 1Q, 1Q/PA, Gentleman Caller, GLP Robusto, GH Brown Twist Sliced, 3Ps, Nutty Cut, Fillmore and SG Choc Flake open but nothing really stood out. It was all I could do to not open a tin of a pure VA or maybe a lighter VAPer...
> 
> Anyway, I settled on Fillmore (marked with a cryptic "2007 Bulging Tin" label) but rubbed it out very very well hoping it would be the change of pace I was looking for.
> 
> Hey *Jim*, for some reason it dawned on me that you haven't posted about your paper plate potpourri in a while. Do you still enjoy the occasional random mixture of leftovers?


----------



## Stonedog

DanR said:


> Sorry Jon. I didn't intend for that to be cryptic. Here's the explanation: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/325706-bulging-tin.html#post3845776
> 
> I hope it was the change of pace you were looking for...


Dan, I wasn't complaining. In fact I meant that sort of tongue in cheek because to your point the hefty "sample" was unexpected and very much welcome. I vaguely remembered a post from a while back about bulging tins and figured it was related.


----------



## Stonedog

bluesman.54 said:


> I have taken to keeping a mixture of paper plate potpourri and must say -- I really do enjoy it when I smoke it. It's actually surprisingly good. Have you tried it?


My version PPP is usually a PA base with the last shreds of several random blends plus either UF or Happy Bogie thrown in to add a bit of strength. Not quite the same thing but it is enjoyable nonetheless.


----------



## DanR

Stonedog said:


> Dan, I wasn't complaining. In fact I meant that sort of tongue in cheek because to your point the hefty "sample" was unexpected and very much welcome. I vaguely remembered a post from a while back about bulging tins and figured it was related.


I didn't read it that way at all, Jon... I promise... I was delighted to see you reaching for it. Just thought maybe you hadn't seen my thrilling video debut, and I wanted to take every opportunity to promote it. The royalties and all... ound:


----------



## DanR

Stonedog said:


> Dan, I wasn't complaining. In fact I meant that sort of tongue in cheek because to your point the hefty "sample" was unexpected and very much welcome. I vaguely remembered a post from a while back about bulging tins and figured it was related.


I didn't read it that way at all, Jon... I promise... I was delighted to see you reaching for it. Just thought maybe you hadn't seen my thrilling video debut, and I wanted to take every opportunity to promote it. The royalties and all... ound:


----------



## splattttttt

Jim, thanks for sharing your childhood memory. Things would have been much different, had the www been there to keep you company. Yes, it does comein handy.
More HH Acadian Perique for me.
Have a great day ya'll ( :


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> The royalties and all... ound:


You can say THAT again, Dan! oke:

I cleaned up the computer room some this spring and the PPP got tossed. Lately, I've been smoking in the living room, watching the tube and using the laptop, and somehow there has been no PPP since. I am indebted for everyone for drawing this to my attention and there should be some in a week or so. Mine usually consists of the usual suspects, ie, whatever I have open at the time. Right now, I project a PPP consisting of PA, RY, SRT, 5B, ABF, HV, Stonehaven, FMC, and perhaps a scrap of Ennerdale, 1792 and Happy Bogie now and again. I do miss it!

Going to crank up a meerschaum I bought a couple years back on ebay that I've never smoked! Naturally, it will have to pass the PA test, commencing forthwith. Opening the Blue Book now...


----------



## Stonedog

DanR said:


> I didn't read it that way at all, Jon... I promise... I was delighted to see you reaching for it. Just thought maybe you hadn't seen my thrilling video debut, and I wanted to take every opportunity to promote it. The royalties and all... ound:


Well, the Honeydew is gone and I'm working my way through the Gentleman Caller and, obviously, the Filmore. The others from that sample pack are occasional treats for me so all in all the package is being put to very good use.

In fact, I enjoyed Gentleman Caller this morning in the big Sav 811. I extended the commute (again) so that I could enjoy most of the bowl. Yes, that's my story, had nothing to do with my reluctance to get into the office, I swear!

I look forward to the day where I can enjoy a pipe before my commute, or even better _instead_ of my commute.


----------



## Chris0673

Just too hot for piping this morning. Walked outside at 0700 and it was already almost 90 degrees! Thermometer on the house is currently reading 103!:jaw:mg:

Time to head for the indoor pool!


----------



## TTecheTTe

I love surprises! With all of Dan's talk about Red Cake I finially looked it up - McCl Bulk 5100. Hmmm, I think I have that! So, Red Cake last night and this morning...I'll be getting a few lbs of this!

While looking for it, I got out another bulk 5110?, Dark English Full, that I hadn't tried yet and smoked it last night. 

Jon's been smoking a lot of Gentleman Caller, which I thought was a pipe! Nice to know that I can have that now, plus a Consummate Gentleman.

John's Boswell Bear sounds very good - how can you go wrong with "Bear?" Very interesting family company which is now on my radar.

Michael may think his PAD pales in comparison to my TAD; I don't knw about that. He must test a dozen pipes a day, and yet he'll still be testing after passing through the pearly gates.  I have it on good authority that pipe smoking is permitted. 

Wanted to bump Dan, but wasn't permitted, for that bulging tin and his excellent use of safety measures. You should post that in the baccyporn thread!


----------



## Stonedog

TTecheTTe said:


> I love surprises! With all of Dan's talk about Red Cake I finially looked it up - McCl Bulk 5100. Hmmm, I think I have that! So, Red Cake last night and this morning...I'll be getting a few lbs of this!


That puts you at close to 1/2 ton of baccy, right Mari? When the zombie apocalypse, or even worse a new tobacco tax, is upon us we'll be coming to you for our baccy rations!



TTecheTTe said:


> Jon's been smoking a lot of Gentleman Caller, which I thought was a pipe! Nice to know that I can have that now, plus a Consummate Gentleman.


One must be very careful in how one describes his use of blends with names like Gentleman Caller and Consummate Gentleman.

Now that you bring it up, Consummate Gentleman is one of my favorite Latakia blends. The addition of burley rounds it out nicely. Ashton's Artisan Blend is also very nice. The burley is replaced with perique and the VA is more prominent giving it an almost fruity tone (to my palate, at least).


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Going to crank up a meerschaum I bought a couple years back on ebay that I've never smoked! Naturally, it will have to pass the PA test, commencing forthwith. Opening the Blue Book now...


My meerschaum is currently at the shop for some new inner workings and new stem - I miss it sorely, more than I had anticipated. I'm in a lazy phase, and all but three of my pipes are sitting in an uncleaned state in a pile in front of the near-empty pipe rack. The three clean and ready are three I don't care to smoke. One of the advantages of the meer is a simple cleaner through the stem and you're ready to smoke again.

Let us know how the meer smokes, huh Jim? Perhaps a photo if you're able? And if you ever find it needs a fresh dip into a beeswax bath, send it over - I'll be redoing mine when it's back from the shop.

KK in a semi-clean CG this morning.


----------



## bluesman.54

Funny you should say this Jim. I am currently PA testing a meer prior to heading off to the hospital. So far so good -- and steady as she goes!



freestoke said:


> You can say THAT again, Dan! oke:
> 
> I cleaned up the computer room some this spring and the PPP got tossed. Lately, I've been smoking in the living room, watching the tube and using the laptop, and somehow there has been no PPP since. I am indebted for everyone for drawing this to my attention and there should be some in a week or so. Mine usually consists of the usual suspects, ie, whatever I have open at the time. Right now, I project a PPP consisting of PA, RY, SRT, 5B, ABF, HV, Stonehaven, FMC, and perhaps a scrap of Ennerdale, 1792 and Happy Bogie now and again. I do miss it!
> 
> Going to crank up a meerschaum I bought a couple years back on ebay that I've never smoked! Naturally, it will have to pass the PA test, commencing forthwith. Opening the Blue Book now...


----------



## Hambone1

My daily smoke this week is Irish Puff, ARO from my local B&M, in my Eagle Claw Egg Meer.

On a side note, my Peterson Dracula pipe gurgles with every tobacco that I use it(even PA). I don't know if this is the problem but the drill hole from the shank into the bowl is high up and there is a nice gap below the drill hole and the to the bottom of the drilling in the shank. I don't see how this could be fixed, I just know that when I smoke that pipe I need to carry a lot of pipe cleaners with it. Oh, and of course a pipe cleaner doesn't go all the way through to the bowl because of this issue.


----------



## TTecheTTe

1792 with a Mr. Ben Wade Standard XL - what a bargain at $30! I've read that small and conical shaped are best for flakes, but this big boy sure smokes a rubbed out flake very well. He smokes everything well.

I'll be adding some more Ben Wades, hopefully. I should have dropped some coin on this pipe, which I really did like: Vintage Ben Wade "Golden Matt" Freehand Pipe | eBay. I missed out on this really fine full bent Caminetto, also: Caminetto KS Business Pipe | eBay



Stonedog said:


> That puts you at close to 1/2 ton of baccy, right Mari? When the zombie apocalypse, or even worse a new tobacco tax, is upon us we'll be coming to you for our baccy rations!


Sir, you confuse me peckinpawhombre! However, I do hope to have a 1/8 ton by end of '14. If I'm going to expect guests, I will need to adjust my acquistion schedule to 1/4 or 1/2 ton.



Stonedog said:


> One must be very careful in how one describes his use of blends with names like Gentleman Caller and Consummate Gentleman.
> 
> Now that you bring it up, Consummate Gentleman is one of my favorite Latakia blends. The addition of burley rounds it out nicely. Ashton's Artisan Blend is also very nice. The burley is replaced with perique and the VA is more prominent giving it an almost fruity tone (to my palate, at least).


I've already been given the "ooo...err" for wishing I had a Gentleman Caller on one of my 3am smokes. I'll therefore be adding both Gentleman to my wishlist.


----------



## freestoke

Hambone1 said:


> My daily smoke this week is Irish Puff, ARO from my local B&M, in my Eagle Claw Egg Meer.
> 
> On a side note, my Peterson Dracula pipe gurgles with every tobacco that I use it(even PA). I don't know if this is the problem but the drill hole from the shank into the bowl is high up and there is a *nice gap below the drill hole and the to the bottom of the drilling *in the shank.


I think this makes a pipe smoke wet. The only solution, as far as I know is pipe mud or a wood filler of some non-toxic variety (I think there's one that pipe makers use, but I'm not sure.) Use it to fill the gap and create a false bottom. I used to have a Peterson with the same problem and used pipe mud. Worked fine for a while, but one day the plug fell out and I gave up on it.


----------



## Troutman22

I believe that the false bottom that freestoke mentioned is the way to go for the do-it your selfer. I think I have read a few things on the net about it - I'm sure you can google and find out which method you want to try. I have ebay'd all of my Pete's except the zippo gift set my GF gave me a few years ago for Christmas. Too many issues for my liking - dye in the bowl, p-lip, system reservoir, bad drills, etc. The zippo I have smokes ok but it will do what yours is doing if I pull on it too quick or hard. The drill hole is a bit high on it as well but not as bad as yours it sounds like. I still smoke it once a week but, like you, I have to keep pipe cleaners with me when I do.



Hambone1 said:


> My daily smoke this week is Irish Puff, ARO from my local B&M, in my Eagle Claw Egg Meer.
> 
> On a side note, my Peterson Dracula pipe gurgles with every tobacco that I use it(even PA). I don't know if this is the problem but the drill hole from the shank into the bowl is high up and there is a nice gap below the drill hole and the to the bottom of the drilling in the shank. I don't see how this could be fixed, I just know that when I smoke that pipe I need to carry a lot of pipe cleaners with it. Oh, and of course a pipe cleaner doesn't go all the way through to the bowl because of this issue.


----------



## steinr1

Hambone1 said:


> I don't know if this is the problem but the drill hole from the shank into the bowl is high up and there is a nice gap below the drill hole and the to the bottom of the drilling in the shank.


Isn't this simply the "Peterson System"? Coincidentally, I was looking at a site this morning where this feature (or what I think you are describing) is detailed. In a bent pipe the airway is a drilling at an angle in the mortice (apart from some rare Genods with curved drilling). The "System" is to have an oversize well in the mortice to collect moisture. Pipe cleaners will not go down the airway but rather dip into the well. I think all bent pipes (aparrt from the magical Genod) have this feature to some extent (but no intentional well; any formed will be from the mortice being slightly too deep - the drilling ought to right at the bottom) and will suffer from gurgle if the well fills. In the System, the well is deep and should not fill during a smoke - but if full would bubble like crazy.

Nothing to be done but get a straight pipe...


----------



## TTecheTTe

Here's a diagram, and a good discussion on the makers that used the Peterson System. I have seen a better diagram once before, but have this as it was my most recent addition.


----------



## steinr1

TTecheTTe said:


> Here's a diagram, and a good discussion on the makers that used the Peterson System. I have seen a better diagram once before, but have this as it was my most recent addition.


Errrrrrrr... Where?

Simple search on the internet does find quite a few images; copyright dictates that I don't post one. The system is a little different to what I described, but the idea of a well in which liquid collects is there. I'd be surprised if they didn't gurgle.

My Ropp Montagnardes all use something like the "System". Smoke a bit hard and they gurgle like hell.


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> You can say THAT again, Dan! oke:


Wow, I'm not sure how that happened. I guess my iPad had a hiccup?

Before joining the forum tonight, I loaded up my Peterson Spigot. It's a bent version, and smokes terrifically. No complaints of gurgle and a pipe cleaner fits through it smoothly.


----------



## TTecheTTe

TTecheTTe said:


> Here's a diagram, and a good discussion on the makers that used the Peterson System. I have seen a better diagram once before, but have this as it was my most recent addition.





steinr1 said:


> Errrrrrrr... Where?
> 
> Simple search on the internet does find quite a few images; copyright dictates that I don't post one. The system is a little different to what I described, but the idea of a well in which liquid collects is there. I'd be surprised if they didn't gurgle.
> 
> My Ropp Montagnardes all use something like the "System". Smoke a bit hard and they gurgle like hell.


Seem to have an iPad hiccup myself...lets's try that link again!
The Briar Files: William Demuth Co. Wellington


----------



## steinr1

There is a huge amount of chatter on Peterson related sites about whether the System is a good, bad or indifferent thing. There is acceptance that once the capacity of the reservoir is reached, a pipe will bubble or even simply suck the liquid up the stem. There are non-system Petersons (I guess a cleaner should pass all the through those), but there is also chatter that many have a partial system well in the shank which appears the worst of all worlds. Not deep enough to work; just deep enough to cause a problem. Factory QC is blamed.


----------



## Nachman

steinr1 said:


> Factory QC is blamed.


Anyone who has a Queen's Counsel working in the factory must be expecting trouble.:hwell:


----------



## Stonedog

I couldn't help it anymore, my tin of Royal Yacht was calling to me so I popped it open this morning. The tin note was fantastic and after loading my MM Legend set off on the drive in to work.

This is a fantastic blend and I wished I'd tried it a long time ago. I believe I may have underestimated its strength, but that's another story...

Good Morning Puff, today will be a glorious day!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

RY in it's dedicated bent acorn during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## ProbateGeek

While I smoke Royal Yacht far more than any other tobacco (even more than the 1792), this morning it was another blessed bowl of Kendal Kentucky (thanks, Mari!). This time, I tried it in my Ennerdale pipe (my dad's McIntosch Royal Indian), and was pleasantly surprised how much better the pipe performed with the KK than it ever did with the Ennerdale. The little hint of "essence" towards the end was a nice plus.


----------



## AndrewV

Last few posts were about RY! Hehe just pointing it out. Starting my day off with the last bowl of Stonehaven I got in Dan's sampler. I can rest easy knowing 8oz. should arrive on my doorstep sometime next week. arty:


----------



## freestoke

AndrewV said:


> Last few posts were about RY! Hehe just pointing it out.


Actually, it could have been four in a row, but I started my day with RY on the afternoon thread. :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

AndrewV said:


> Last few posts were about RY! Hehe just pointing it out. Starting my day off with the last bowl of Stonehaven I got in Dan's sampler. I can rest easy knowing 8oz. should arrive on my doorstep sometime next week. arty:


Well, I StoneHaven trumps Royal Yacht, but not by much. It's also much harder to find. I need to get on smokinpipes' waiting list again...


----------



## AndrewV

Stonedog said:


> Well, I StoneHaven trumps Royal Yacht, but not by much. It's also much harder to find. I need to get on smokinpipes' waiting list again...


I was jarring up some tobacco last night one of them being a tin of Royal Yacht. Havn't had more than two bowls of it so far but that tin note is outstanding.



freestoke said:


> Actually, it could have been four in a row, but I started my day with RY on the afternoon thread. :lol:


Too funny! :rofl:


----------



## Chris0673

You know it's hot outside when you go out to smoke and the tobacco starts smoldering without you lighting a match!:yield:

I'm tempted to run up to the B&M just so I can sit there in the AC and smoke! Stoopid Virginia weather.


----------



## bluesman.54

PA tested another meer before heading off to my orthopedic Dr. and then back to the hospital. But at least I got another meer PA tested. The quest continues...


----------



## bluesman.54

On the way to the hospital I enjoyed a bowl of 1792 in an old Caminetto "business" pipe that I believe is one of a kind. It is a smaller bowl and lasted just long enough for my drive from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City. And I was ready to go to work! Realized that was also a morning smoke after I posted the previous post.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> PA tested another meer before heading off to my orthopedic Dr. and then back to the hospital. But at least I got another meer PA tested. The quest continues...


Well, my meer failed the PA test, in addition to a second verification test with RY. :rant: It's morning in the UK, so in the spirit of the Open Championship, I'm trying to remain on the proper thread. More PA for me, right now, in the Country Gentleman mit einem ImmerStamm.


----------



## bluesman.54

So far all of my pipes have passed the PA test -- even a couple of Petersen's that there seems to be a debate about thier "system" and thier probablility for gurgling. But I have been wondering -- should a pipe fail the PA test -- are there ways to mend what ails it -- or is it better to just shoot it and put it put of it's misery?

I was going to wait until tomorrow to have some PA as I test another meer. That said, I have bought several new pipes lately and have found that a first bowl of PA leaves a very nice layer of ash on the bowl and I am thinking that is good for it to have when I switch to a tobacco it will become dedicated to such as Ennerdale, 1792, LNF, Bullseye, Davidoff Medallion, RY, Irish Flake, LTF, etc.

So I am having a bowl of PA to break in a new Chacom "Salsa" #214 Smooth Finished Full Bent Billiard. So in the spirit of the Open Championship I join you in a bowl of PA. I may even try and watch some of it tomorrow, just to virtually experience some of it for once. See -- you have inspired me once again! Thank you!



freestoke said:


> Well, my meer failed the PA test, in addition to a second verification test with RY. :rant: It's morning in the UK, so in the spirit of the Open Championship, I'm trying to remain on the proper thread. More PA for me, right now, in the Country Gentleman mit einem ImmerStamm.


----------



## bluesman.54

Good morning Puffers! I was up early -- even watched a bit of the Open Championship. They seem to be having a bit of trouble with the wind today. 

PA tested a no name meer -- which passed and am now PA testing/breaking in a Brebbia # 831 Striaght Brandy with a Rustic/craggy finish. Now I must get to work and do some writing -- but a least I can smoke my pipes while I work!

Still wondering what to do with a pipe if it fails the PA test. Is there a way to fix it or is it better to just shoot it and put it out of it's misery?


----------



## Stonedog

RY in the little MM Pony Express this morning. Although I say this with most new blends I try, this could easily be in my top 5. Once I get through the tin I'll know for sure.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Good morning Puffers! I was up early -- even watched a bit of the Open Championship. They seem to be having a bit of trouble with the wind today.
> 
> PA tested a no name meer -- which passed and am now PA testing/breaking in a Brebbia # 831 Striaght Brandy with a Rustic/craggy finish. Now I must get to work and do some writing -- but a least I can smoke my pipes while I work!
> 
> Still wondering what to do with a pipe if it fails the PA test. Is there a way to fix it or is it better to just shoot it and put it out of it's misery?


It's turning into a cool Open, with club throwing and everything! I half expected Bubba to start crying after he hit a chip shot right before I left! :biglaugh: I LOVE to see these guys suffer! :evil: Best commentator line for the broadcast yet (other than every other line from Peter Allis, the greatest golf announcer of all time) came from Zinger, aka Paul Azinger. Watching a shot going left of the green, where there would be no stopping it on the green the next shot, because of a pot bunker between where it was headed and the hole, Zinger says, "That's dead." (This means a ball in a place which is almost impossible to play the next shot from.) As the ball continued to move slowly along the ground, it gradually started heading toward the bunker, rolling, rolling, and barely dribbled in -- right next to wall, with no backswing. With silence as the ball trundled slowly along and plunked over the lip of the bunker, it ended with Azinger commenting, "Can you say deader?" Zinger's a super announcer, he really is. Almost won the Open one year, he did.

All defective pipes are to be sent to steinr. He paints them and sends them along so others more fortunate can share in the misery.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> All defective pipes are to be sent to steinr. He paints them and sends them along so others more fortunate can share in the misery.


If that's the case then, what happened to the horrid pipes thread? it's been quiet since what early June? Kind of begs the question of what happened to the last person who got stuck with the pipe from hell...:noidea:


----------



## freestoke

Er999 said:


> If that's the case then, what happened to the horrid pipes thread? it's been quiet since what early June? Kind of begs the question of what happened to the last person who got stuck with the pipe from hell...:noidea:


Apparenly it killed the recipient, I kid you not. Check that thread!


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> Apparenly it killed the recipient, I kid you not. Check that thread!


Seriously?!?!:shocked: I thought that was a joke picture!
(No offense to anyone I really thought that when I got to that portion of the thread)


----------



## freestoke

Er999 said:


> Seriously?!?!:shocked: I thought that was a joke picture!
> (No offense to anyone I really thought that when I got to that portion of the thread)


Well, it was a joke section, but that's because he never returned. I don't think anybody knows what happened to him or whether he ever smoked the pipe, really. He did say he was sick in his last post, but hopefully not his final post. It is a mystery.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> Well, it was a joke section, but that's because he never returned. I don't think anybody knows what happened to him or whether he ever smoked the pipe, really. He did say he was sick in his last post, but hopefully not his final post. It is a mystery.


Whew, good to know that it was a joke section, although I guess we'll never quite know unless he comes back...pity...and I agree: a mystery.


----------



## bluesman.54

Defective pipes sent to steinr -- got it. So far so good -- but I know the pipe will come.



freestoke said:


> It's turning into a cool Open, with club throwing and everything! I half expected Bubba to start crying after he hit a chip shot right before I left! :biglaugh: I LOVE to see these guys suffer! :evil: Best commentator line for the broadcast yet (other than every other line from Peter Allis, the greatest golf announcer of all time) came from Zinger, aka Paul Azinger. Watching a shot going left of the green, where there would be no stopping it on the green the next shot, because of a pot bunker between where it was headed and the hole, Zinger says, "That's dead." (This means a ball in a place which is almost impossible to play the next shot from.) As the ball continued to move slowly along the ground, it gradually started heading toward the bunker, rolling, rolling, and barely dribbled in -- right next to wall, with no backswing. With silence as the ball trundled slowly along and plunked over the lip of the bunker, it ended with Azinger commenting, "Can you say deader?" Zinger's a super announcer, he really is. Almost won the Open one year, he did.
> 
> All defective pipes are to be sent to steinr. He paints them and sends them along so others more fortunate can share in the misery.


----------



## freestoke

The Open is veryveryvery fun this year. :smile: I like it when the long hitters have no real advantage, because the course is playing so short! :tu I think golf should be handicapped like boxing, so that big players would have to play a ball that flies a lot shorter than the one for small players. 

Watching the Open already this morning, with a Legend of PA and cafe.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Velvet in a Dr G Color Duke (Red)


----------



## Chris0673

Squadron Leader in my MM CG with my Jeep Club. Spent way to long there drinking coffee, smoking, and B/Sing with my fellow Jeepers.


----------



## Troutman22

It appears I have developed a Saturday morning ritual. Grab one of my cobs, fill it with PA and head to the backyard. Light up and commence with the dog poop pickup party! Luckily I have a cow field behind me so I have gotten pretty good at sending it out to pasture. :BS


----------



## bluesman.54

PA tested one of my Dad's Comay's this morning. Passed. Steady as she goes.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> PA tested one of my Dad's Comay's this morning. Passed. Steady as she goes.


I've had two Comoy's, one a basic natural billiard and one a flame grain Blue Riband size 2 billiard. The regular one smoked great (bought it at Mincer's, '61 or '62), but the other one was just too thin-walled -- had to smoke it like a clay almost. Probably could have caked it up and made it flake pipe or something, but I lost patience with it and sold it to Marty Pulver. Figured I would rather have a handful of good estate smokers from his assortment than one fancy pipe that I didn't really like. Now if I needed a pipe for formal functions, the Blue Riband would be the very thing, but I haven't donned a tux in close to fifty years. :lol:

Fresh from a bowl of Ennerdale on the course. It's time for Dart Mix! p


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> I've had two Comoy's, one a basic natural billiard and one a flame grain Blue Riband size 2 billiard. The regular one smoked great (bought it at Mincer's, '61 or '62), but the other one was just too thin-walled -- had to smoke it like a clay almost. Probably could have caked it up and made it flake pipe or something, but I lost patience with it and sold it to Marty Pulver. Figured I would rather have a handful of good estate smokers from his assortment than one fancy pipe that I didn't really like. Now if I needed a pipe for formal functions, the Blue Riband would be the very thing, but I haven't donned a tux in close to fifty years. :lol:
> 
> Fresh from a bowl of Ennerdale on the course. It's time for Dart Mix! p


Jim -- you smoked Ennerdale on the course?!? You are bringing a tear to my eye........That's beautiful Man!


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> I've had two Comoy's, one a basic natural billiard and one a flame grain Blue Riband size 2 billiard. The regular one smoked great (bought it at Mincer's, '61 or '62), but the other one was just too thin-walled -- had to smoke it like a clay almost. Probably could have caked it up and made it flake pipe or something, but I lost patience with it and sold it to Marty Pulver. Figured I would rather have a handful of good estate smokers from his assortment than one fancy pipe that I didn't really like. Now if I needed a pipe for formal functions, the Blue Riband would be the very thing, but I haven't donned a tux in close to fifty years. :lol:
> 
> My father was a stickler for thick walls for the bowls of his pipes. He always told me from the beginning -- buy the ones with the thicker bowls -- they'll not get as hot and smoke better. Strangely enough -- I have followed his advice. Almost all of my pipes have thicker bowls -- with the exception of a few very small ones that are meant for quick smoke breaks only -- not real relaxation.


----------



## CaptainKoala

Good morning! I guess I'm one of the few on this forum calling this time "morning" (due to time zones).
It's 05:35, and I'm sitting outside smoking my new Savinelli Trevi (with Caledonian Highland Cream no. 10).

I'm home, at my father and mothers house, in the western country-side of Norway. It's really peaceful out here. I normally live in Norway's capital city Oslo, which is a busy city. This is a good morning!


----------



## freestoke

Good afternoon, Cap'm! :yo: Having some PA in the Country Gentleman, watching the Open.


----------



## bluesman.54

PA Tested a Tim West Full Bent pipe this morning. Passed with flying colors. It is a great pipe with a huge bowl. I think I only have ten left and then my PA testing will be complete for this year! Though I find I have grown fond of PA through all of this. And that is a good thing!


----------



## Desertlifter

Enjoyed a bowl of GLP Maltese Falcon while on the way to the lab.

Last week's work literally down the drain. Tolerant anaerobes are a pain in the tuckus at times. Ah well - that's science.

Going to commiserate with another bowl of the Falcon on the way home, buy a new notebook and a new bow. That'll show them!


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> PA Tested a Tim West Full Bent pipe this morning. Passed with flying colors. It is a great pipe with a huge bowl. I think I only have ten left and then my PA testing will be complete for this year! Though I find I have grown fond of PA through all of this. And that is a good thing!


I've got a Tim West bent! Huge thing, almost my biggest pipe. (I don't smoke any of the gigantic pipes, the other ones awaiting cleaning were acquired in an estate lot off ebay.) Then again, it is as big as any I have, I guess. Takes a half ounce of tobacco, near as I can estimate, and would probably burn about 3 hours. :lol: Not sure I smoked PA in it! I burned a couple of half bowls of something or another -- might have been Sir Walter Raleigh.

Right now, it's Dart Mix and an Old Milwaukee after a fine day at links. For some reason, my play around the greens had all the quality of beginner children golfers taking a group lesson. sigh. out: Hit a few good shots, though! The BIG scramble is on the horizon, at Hidden Valley. My favorite scramble of the year! :banana: We actually won it one year and had our 15 minutes of fame. Weird that day. they announced the winners at 59, at which point we were impelled to point out that we had shot a 58. :lol:


----------



## bluesman.54

Those Tim West pipes are great in my opinion. You should give it another go. You'll love it -- and you can really settle in and enjoy it. If you don't like it and want to sell it -- I'm your man! But seriously -- give it another go -- loaded with PA -- it'll most likely pass the test -- You'll love it and you'll be very relaxed.



freestoke said:


> I've got a Tim West bent! Huge thing, almost my biggest pipe. (I don't smoke any of the gigantic pipes, the other ones awaiting cleaning were acquired in an estate lot off ebay.) Then again, it is as big as any I have, I guess. Takes a half ounce of tobacco, near as I can estimate, and would probably burn about 3 hours. :lol: Not sure I smoked PA in it! I burned a couple of half bowls of something or another -- might have been Sir Walter Raleigh.
> 
> Right now, it's Dart Mix and an Old Milwaukee after a fine day at links. For some reason, my play around the greens had all the quality of beginner children golfers taking a group lesson. sigh. out: Hit a few good shots, though! The BIG scramble is on the horizon, at Hidden Valley. My favorite scramble of the year! :banana: We actually won it one year and had our 15 minutes of fame. Weird that day. they announced the winners at 59, at which point we were impelled to point out that we had shot a 58. :lol:


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> I've got a Tim West bent! Huge thing, almost my biggest pipe. (I don't smoke any of the gigantic pipes, the other ones awaiting cleaning were acquired in an estate lot off ebay.) Then again, it is as big as any I have, I guess. Takes a half ounce of tobacco, near as I can estimate, and would probably burn about 3 hours. :lol: Not sure I smoked PA in it! I burned a couple of half bowls of something or another -- might have been Sir Walter Raleigh.
> 
> Right now, it's Dart Mix and an Old Milwaukee after a fine day at links. For some reason, my play around the greens had all the quality of beginner children golfers taking a group lesson. sigh. out: Hit a few good shots, though! The BIG scramble is on the horizon, at Hidden Valley. My favorite scramble of the year! :banana: We actually won it one year and had our 15 minutes of fame. Weird that day. they announced the winners at 59, at which point we were impelled to point out that we had shot a 58. :lol:


Load it musket ball style. Shorte smoke and cooler to your mouth.


----------



## freestoke

splattttttt said:


> Load it musket ball style. Shorte smoke and cooler to your mouth.


Maybe a musketball would work! :tu Good idea! I haven't tried http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/293111-musketballing.html with a group 5 before. Maybe a tight wad of Kendal's Kentucky would get the job done. p

Right now, it's gonna be a cob with some PA.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> And it is to the Scots that we owe the breakfast of champions, Scotch Eggs and Brown Ale.


I'm forced (belatedly) to say "Au contraire". The combination may have Scottish roots, but the Scotch Egg is an English creation. To be precise, an invention of Fortnum & Mason's in 1809 (although they claim to have sold them much earlier, from 1738, this is the first documentary evidence).

Information given without prompting by my son when seeing said items in a supermarket today. Where on earth did he get such an arsey attitude?


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> I've got a Tim West bent! Huge thing, almost my biggest pipe. (I don't smoke any of the gigantic pipes, the other ones awaiting cleaning were acquired in an estate lot off ebay.) Then again, it is as big as any I have, I guess. Takes a half ounce of tobacco, near as I can estimate, and would probably burn about 3 hours. :lol: Not sure I smoked PA in it! I burned a couple of half bowls of something or another -- might have been Sir Walter Raleigh.


I'll be forced to dust off one of my larger pipes to lay rest to this "Ooooh, errr! I've got a big one" thing.

Need to switch my camera into panoramic mode. Stand by...


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> I'm forced (belatedly) to say "Au contraire". The combination may have Scottish roots, but the Scotch Egg is an English creation.


Oh, I get it! The English are going to claim to be the inventors of everything, so that they can say about the old USSR claiming to invent everything, "We invented claiming to have invented everything first!"

PA in the Country Gentleman, girding my bony loins for the course.


----------



## Nachman

steinr1 said:


> I'm forced (belatedly) to say "Au contraire". The combination may have Scottish roots, but the Scotch Egg is an English creation. To be precise, an invention of Fortnum & Mason's in 1809 (although they claim to have sold them much earlier, from 1738, this is the first documentary evidence).
> 
> Information given without prompting by my son when seeing said items in a supermarket today. Where on earth did he get such an arsey attitude?


Such a wise and well informed young lad! How old is the boy?


----------



## steinr1

steinr1 said:


> I'll be forced to dust off one of my larger pipes to lay rest to this "Ooooh, errr! I've got a big one" thing.
> 
> Need to switch my camera into panoramic mode. Stand by...


And here here are some of the Big Kahunas...









The Big Boys are 19th C. Ropp Bussang Cherrywoods. The large Briar is a Ropp Hor Classe which you can lose your whole thumb inside. The little one is a J Ropp meerschaum lined one I got very recently. It's a Group 3 or thereabouts. The large snuff tin is to lend some scale. They don't get a huge amount of use...



freestoke said:


> Oh, I get it! The English are going to claim to be the inventors of everything, so that they can say about the old USSR claiming to invent everything, "We invented claiming to have invented everything first!"


The facts speak for themselves. I particularly enjoyed the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony which highlighted some of the little things the British (for it's not just the English) invented. Perhaps not developed and exploited, but invented (Unlike that infamous Intellectual Property thief, Thomas Edison. Great developer. Inventor???) The ceremony ended with an almost throw-away section I like to call "Oh yes. And the Internet." Say, "Thank you."


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Oohhh!

I like the LARGE cherry wood with the short(ish) stem. The one in the top right corner.

It has what we mountain folk call "character"... I bet in a pinch it would make a decent small cudgel.


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> Oohhh!
> 
> I like the LARGE cherry wood with the short(ish) stem. The one in the top right corner.
> 
> It has what we mountain folk call "character"... I bet in a pinch it would make a decent small cudgel.


It's the only one of these I have never smoked as yet. Still needs cleaning. I've considered its use as a weapon. Who'd believe "He was beaten to death with a smoking pipe." You'd get off scot-free. The long pipe is a pain to light as my arms are a bit too short. It's also a pain to fill with tobacco as I'm too mean to do it regularly. Smokes for a whole evening's session with a few relights. Never less than about 4 hours. The main problem is remaining conscious from the nicotine poisoning.

Just remembered... There is a similar pipe on eBay currently. $39.99 or best offer. It's not in the best condition with a few of the little plugs missing, but nothing drastic. It's a "modern" from the '50s to '70s (*19*50s to *19*70s :lol. There was another one (which didn't sell, I believe) for about $50 a while back. I believe that one was new or near mint. Both a bit rich for me (and in the US...), but not outrageuos for one of that period.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LARGE-ROPP-...286?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338118e076

*** STOP PRESS *** 
I was talking about the wrong pipe. You didn't mean the one on the "other right". That other one hasn't got quite the same leverage, but would do well as a shillelagh. It's also quite good for smoking tobacco.


----------



## TTecheTTe

steinr1 said:


> It's the only one of these I have never smoked as yet. Still needs cleaning. I've considered its use as a weapon. Who'd believe "He was beaten to death with a smoking pipe." You'd get off scot-free. The long pipe is a pain to light as my arms are a bit too short. It's also a pain to fill with tobacco as I'm too mean to do it regularly. Smokes for a whole evening's session with a few relights. Never less than about 4 hours. The main problem is remaining conscious from the nicotine poisoning.


ound:

Unless someone smokes a cannon, you win! What Pipe Supports do you use on such massive shanks? Purely professional interest, as I know a little something about the engineering and installation of pipe hangers.

I suspect you have to use ones in which I have some experience...


I was the Pipe Support Coordinator and did get my hands dirty...


----------



## steinr1

TTecheTTe said:


> I was the Pipe Support Coordinator and did get my hands dirty...


Pipes need more support.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PIPE.

See you on the barricades, Spartacus.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> Such a wise and well informed young lad! How old is the boy?


He's 14.


----------



## MarkC

steinr1 said:


> And here here are some of the Big Kahunas...


I almost fell out of my chair when I realized what the quarter was...


----------



## TTecheTTe

steinr1 said:


> Pipes need more support.
> 
> SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PIPE.
> 
> See you on the barricades, Spartacus.


The Ropp deck mount English garden hanger...



Your "big one" may need...



I had to read these, and go into the field (of the nuclear power plant) and locate the hanger and verify it was to spec...


----------



## DanR

Terrific pipes, Robert. Thanks for sharing those! :tu

I have two, although not as large as your big kahunas, they are still hefty. A lot of fun to smoke!










The larger one doesn't have any markings on it. It was sold to me as a Ropp, but that's all I remember. It may or may not be? And, I certainly don't know how old or what "model" it is.


----------



## steinr1

TTecheTTe said:


> The Ropp deck mount English garden hanger...


Some of these are downright perverse! I shall not subject my pipe to this!


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning everyone! I don't own a Ropp but last year I put away several eligible pieces of oak and maple. My plan is to turn them into pipes, just need the time and the correct drill bits...

I've been enjoying mostly RY this week although I switched back to the superb '07 Bulging Fillmore this morning. Fully rubbed out and loaded carefully into the Sav 811 it is a thing of beauty! Too bad I had to call into a conference at 8am otherwise I might have extended my commute by 15 or 20 minutes.


----------



## CaptainKoala

Good morning! Enjoying some Caledonian Highland Cream no. 10 (as usual, hehe).

I'm still new at pipe smoking, but getting the hang of it! I really love the sound of "new tobacco getting ignited further down the bowl", if you know what I mean


----------



## steinr1

DanR said:


> The larger one doesn't have any markings on it. It was sold to me as a Ropp, but that's all I remember. It may or may not be? And, I certainly don't know how old or what "model" it is.


The larger one is almost certainly a Ropp copy. Lots of these were made from the earliest days. Ropp were pretty good about markings and I've never seen one without any. There are also a few things that look "wrong" on it (for a Ropp...) The stem is more "rustic" than it should be and the mouthpiece isn't cut like a Ropp. The bowl style isn't one I recognise, but they are quite variable. None of this matters; it's the way it smokes that's important. I feel that Cherrywoods suit "basic", non-aromatic blends. More robust Virginias and fire-cured Burley in particular.

I've gone on to a new lot of Black Bogie Aromatic. I'm changing my opinion on the "aromatic" part of it. I thought it was a type of Lakeland essence, but I'm not that sure now. The floral nature hasn't grabbed me. Never that intense, but now I'm getting a sweetness and some liquorice and some other "dark taste" that weren't evident before. Also some tongue-tip sweetness. This lot has had about 6-9 months of sitting; perhaps that to blame. Still the best of the black, cooked ropes in my opinion. Smoked (as always) from my tiny Ropp Prince.

On the subject of very small pipes, someone posted (forget who & where) about a very small pipe they were considering that would give a smoke time of about 5 minutes. Blimey! My pipe is very small (and caked up) and gives about 30 minutes with Black Bogie Aromatic - just over a gram of it. I've only seen tourist souvenir pipes that are smaller than this one. Even given a bit extra where relights have been needed and that BBA is a very slow burning tobacco, I'd expect 15 minutes from the smallest bowls available. Smoking this pipe in 5 minutes would mean heating the burn far too high and scorching my tongue. Is this a case where the fashion for drying tobacco (which I don't follow) reaches a point where small bowls never really settle and just burn through very hot? If the person posting about these pipes see this, I'd love to see those little pipes.


----------



## Nachman

I think they were speaking of a Dr Grabow Lark which, while it is small, seems to me would smoke about fifteen minutes.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> I think they were speaking of a *Dr Grabow Lark* which, while it is small, seems to me would smoke about fifteen minutes.


That's the one. I'll interrogate t'internet.

A Yorkshire Lass I know told me that she was convinced (until she came South) that there was such a thing as a "toven". That's where her mother used to bake things...


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> I think they were speaking of a *Dr Grabow Lark* which, while it is small, seems to me would smoke about fifteen minutes.


They're massive!! I'd expect at least 20-30 minutes even with a relatively quick burning tobacco. Black ropes in one would render me unconscious.

Dr Grabow Lark Smooth | Tobacco Pipe


----------



## Nachman

steinr1 said:


> That's the one. I'll interrogate t'internet.
> 
> A Yorkshire Lass I know told me that she was convinced (until she came South) that there was such a thing as a "toven". That's where her mother used to bake things...


Except she probably said "twere sommat cauld a toven.


----------



## DanR

steinr1 said:


> The larger one is almost certainly a Ropp copy. Lots of these were made from the earliest days. Ropp were pretty good about markings and I've never seen one without any. There are also a few things that look "wrong" on it (for a Ropp...) The stem is more "rustic" than it should be and the mouthpiece isn't cut like a Ropp. The bowl style isn't one I recognise, but they are quite variable. None of this matters; it's the way it smokes that's important. I feel that Cherrywoods suit "basic", non-aromatic blends. More robust Virginias and fire-cured Burley in particular.


I was hoping you'd comment, Robert. I am not surprised at all to find that it's not the genuine article, but I am also not dissappointed. As you so eloquently pointed out, "it's the way it smokes that's important." In this particular case, it smokes just OK, but the novelty of it makes it really fun. Because it's not a practical everyday pipe, I find myself smoking it mostly when there are friends and family around, which always generates conversation. I'll just make sure to call it my "mountain man no-name tree pipe" from now on, and not a ROPP.

For curiosity's sake, I did go into to my ebay history to see what the seller claimed about this pipe. Indeed, the listing (from 2011) was for an "Antique Ropp (?) Pipe" - just like that. Apparently they were not sure of it's origins either and clearly spelled it out with that (?) in the listing. I cannot complain a bit, especially considering I only paid $9.99 plus a few dollars shipping for it... I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of this pipe, and then some.

Thanks again for your help, Robert.


----------



## steinr1

DanR said:


> I cannot complain a bit, especially considering I only paid $9.99 plus a few dollars shipping for it...


About the right price. Which is probably three times the original price of the pipe, even if were a "genuine Ropp". These were inexpensive pipes when they were new. Still go for peanuts on eBay if you're not a nutter looking for a particular rare marking. No real difference in the pipe as such. Sad folk those...

A lot of these pipes are listed as "antique" when they patently are not. I guess the rustic look of them and their simplicity makes people assume that they are very old. And very valuable, which they are not. There is one regular pipe on eBay in the US which has a fantastically speculative price and description. It's been on for years and the vendor has not budged on price. It'll be there for years more. Give me a minute...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/French-Anti...122?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item563f2b2eea

Bashed about,chunks of bark missing, bit chewed, roughly incised with an uninteresting initial, stripped thread with a bit of hairy string jamming the stem in place. Not "one of his first pipes he ever made"; just a standard and rather common factory piece. It's a wreck. Even in mint condition worth no more than about $40-$50. Someone may eventually buy it, but not me. It is a proper "antique", though. They got that right.


----------



## DanR

It's probably been said before, but I'll say it again, it's great having you on the forum, Robert. A true wealth of pipe smoking knowledge!

I tried to give you some RG, but apparently I haven't been spreading it around enough lately...


----------



## steinr1

DanR said:


> It's probably been said before, but I'll say it again, it's great having you on the forum, Robert. A true wealth of pipe smoking knowledge!
> 
> I tried to give you some RG, but apparently I haven't been spreading it around enough lately...


 @DanR @ProbateGeek

Thanks, gentlemen. Only on an internet forum can my random ravings (the type-written equivalent of standing at a street-corner shouting at traffic) be viewed as a plus. We are all to be pitied.


----------



## TTecheTTe

steinr1 said:


> @DanR @ProbateGeek
> 
> Thanks, gentlemen. Only on an internet forum can my random ravings (the type-written equivalent of standing at a street-corner shouting at traffic) be viewed as a plus. We are all to be pitied.


Some call that "eccentric."

Great info on the Ropp's. There is one "unsigned" one on easybay that I was considering, but was concerned about it being unsigned.



DanR said:


> It's probably been said before, but I'll say it again, it's great having you on the forum, Robert. A true wealth of pipe smoking knowledge!
> 
> I tried to give you some RG, but apparently I haven't been spreading it around enough lately...


Done!

I don't get RG. I'm constantly "told" that I've given too much or that I need to spread it around, but only to find that those I've have supposedly "given too much too" I haven't even given to once!


----------



## steinr1

TTecheTTe said:


> Some call that "eccentric."
> 
> Great info on the Ropp's. There is one "unsigned" one on easybay that I was considering, but was concerned about it being unsigned.
> 
> Done!
> 
> I don't get RG. I'm constantly "told" that I've given too much or that I need to spread it around, but only to find that those I've have supposedly "given too much too" I haven't even given to once!


And thanks, Mari. (It's a conspiracy. I was on the brink of a hissy-fit. :lol

This won't mean anything to anyone from the US. Possibly Nick or Jim with their Ancient British Roots. It's the punchline of a hoary old chestnut.

"*You're not from Wales, are you Boyo? SPREAD IT ABOUT A BIT!*"

See? Nothing...

(Which Ropp? I'll advise if you want. Unsigned almost certainly means a "Ropp Style" pipe.)


----------



## TTecheTTe

steinr1 said:


> And thanks, Mari. (It's a conspiracy. I was on the brink of a hissy-fit. :lol
> 
> This won't mean anything to anyone from the US. Possibly Nick or Jim with their Ancient British Roots. It's the punchline of a hoary old chestnut.
> 
> "*You're not from Wales, are you Boyo? SPREAD IT ABOUT A BIT!*"
> 
> See? Nothing...
> 
> (Which Ropp? I'll advise if you want. Unsigned almost certainly means a "Ropp Style" pipe.)


:r

It is a conspiracy.

This is the unsigned one which I doubted:
Cherry Wood Ropp Unsigned Bent Stem Estate Pipe | eBay

Looking at this one:
Vintage Estate Pipe Collection Ropp Deluxe France 901 French Smoking Pipe | eBay

Lost this one:
Ropp French Alpine Stem 9


----------



## Nachman

Well, it has been a long time, but if I remember correctly "Spread it around a bit" means share the good fortune. It puzzles me if the good fortune is the chance to visit Wales, or is it not being from Wales.


----------



## steinr1

TTecheTTe said:


> This is the unsigned one which I doubted:
> Cherry Wood Ropp Unsigned Bent Stem Estate Pipe | eBay


Right to doubt it. Actually looks like a good quality Cherrywood. Can't say more.



> Looking at this one:
> Vintage Estate Pipe Collection Ropp Deluxe France 901 French Smoking Pipe | eBay


Good solid looking Ropp from, I think, the 70s or early 80s. Not my period of expertise (as far as that goes). Worth $10-$15 tops IMO.



> Lost this one:
> Ropp French Alpine Stem 9


No great loss. These come up very regularly. Several sizes to choose from from the acceptable to the unacceptably large. I mean BIG. 15" or so. Bowls either plain or cut like this one; that's rather more common. This one is mid sized. Went for about the top I would expect (but wouldn't pay - as you didn't).

Patience is the key. These are common and inexpensive pipes. You shouldn't need to pay a premium for a really good one. I've paid pennies for really good ones and seen utter garbage go for jaw-dropping money.


----------



## steinr1

Nachman said:


> Well, it has been a long time, but if I remember correctly "Spread it around a bit" means share the good fortune. It puzzles me if the good fortune is the chance to visit Wales, or is it not being from Wales.


Hmmm. Share the good fortune. One way to look at it. I've been out with our fire engine ending up with more than a few beverages, so I think a tale demonstrating the Welsh character are in order. Libel and xenophobia here we come!

An American tourist of Welsh ancestry is visiting the "Old Country". He visits relatives and has a grand time. It's a beautiful country. On his last day, he decides to visit the local cinema. It's a bit different to what he's used to. No seat numbers, so he asks a friendly local where he should sit.

"You're not from Wales, are you Boyo? Sit wherever you please." came the reply.

The tourist sat up in the gallery. The film started and the man contentedly sat and watched. In the interval, oranges were sold and the man bought one and ate it. He was unsure what to do about the peel as there were no litter bins. He asked his friendly neighbour.

"You're not from Wales, are you Boyo? We just throw the peel down on the people in the pit below."

Sure enough, he saw that this indeed seemed the custom and cast his peel over the brink.

A while later, the man was "caught short". He tried everything he could think of, but it was no good. He needed to pee. He asked his friendly neighbour where the toilets were.

"You're not from Wales, are you Boyo?" came the reply. "No toilets here. You just pee over the edge onto the people below."

The tourist found this hard to believe, but saw no alternative. He reluctantly peed in a graceful arc full onto the bald head of an elderly man in the pit below.

The gent from the pit looked up at the tourist (as best he could) and shouted:

"You're not from Wales, are you Boyo? *SPREAD IT ABOUT A BIT!*"


----------



## TTecheTTe

:r Robert! Thanks also for the advise on the Ropps, and your ongoing wealth of expertise. I've been following yours, as a guide, as you post them!

FM on the Bayou, courtesy of @AndrewV. Oh, gee, I like it! :shock:


----------



## AndrewV

That one's a good one. Kind of similar to the regular but not as lat heavy. Had a few bowls the other day (havn't smoked this blend that many times) and found that I like it alot.



TTecheTTe said:


> :r Robert! Thanks also for the advise on the Ropps, and your ongoing wealth of expertise. I've been following yours, as a guide, as you post them!
> 
> FM on the Bayou, courtesy of @AndrewV. Oh, gee, I like it! :shock:


----------



## TTecheTTe

Good morning, glories! 1792 in an Italian rusticated Lone Star:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Kentucky Planter in a Dr G Duke


----------



## MarkC

Irish Flake in a Stanwell billiard.


----------



## ProbateGeek

MarkC said:


> Irish Flake in a Stanwell billiard.


Now that's a great way to start your morning! If it IS your morning...


----------



## MarkC

Actually, it was my night. :lol: I'm now finishing the bowl in my afternoon, 11 PM...

I have a feeling this one isn't for me, although I need to give it a few more bowls. But I can sure see why it's popular. Very rich taste.


----------



## freestoke

After DGTing the Savinelli of ABF that I left with a few puffs remaining last night, I'm on to the CG with some PA. Tomorrow begins the rigorous build up to my Thursday morning colonoscopy.  Tuesday is meat, eggs, and cheese, with a side of Milk of Magnesia, then Wednesday, the really big big bottle of intestinal detergent and jello. uke: No real reason, just mainly because everybody should have one after 50, or so they tell me. The odds do sort of point in that direction as the right way to go though, so who am I to bet against the house? :dunno: Think I might hit Eddie's Paramount Diner for my last meal, some basic mystery meat, potatoes and gravy. :lol:


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> After DGTing the Savinelli of ABF that I left with a few puffs remaining last night, I'm on to the CG with some PA. Tomorrow begins the rigorous build up to my Thursday morning colonoscopy.  Tuesday is meat, eggs, and cheese, with a side of Milk of Magnesia, then Wednesday, the really big big bottle of intestinal detergent and jello. uke: No real reason, just mainly because everybody should have one after 50, or so they tell me. The odds do sort of point in that direction as the right way to go though, so who am I to bet against the house? :dunno: Think I might hit Eddie's Paramount Diner for my last meal, some basic mystery meat, potatoes and gravy. :lol:


Having just turned 50, I have one of these on the horizon in my very near future (the close horizon?). I don't expect anything from the results, but agree it's probably I good idea to have one done.

KK in a CG this morning. With Stash Tea Double Bergamot Earl Grey.


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> Having just turned 50...


No good will come of it.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> No good will come of it.


Especially if they mistake my rectal data base for a polyp and remove it. :spy: I'd have to turn in my Ted Byrne Official Bar Bore id card, Bar Bore 121 .


----------



## MarkC

steinr1 said:


> No good will come of it.


Terry, at 55, I can assure you that this is absolutely correct. I think my warranty expired at 50...


----------



## ProbateGeek

MarkC said:


> Terry, at 55, I can assure you that this is absolutely correct. I think my warranty expired at 50...


Dunno. While I intend to use the phrase (thanks, Robert) as much as I can, so far good HAS come of it. I've lost 35 pounds in 2013, and feel better now than I did a dozen years ago. We'll see where I am at year's end.

Mark, you just need to find a way to roll your odometer back a decade or so. . . :tongue:


----------



## steinr1

Louisiana Flake in Frankenpipe.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> No good will come of it.


As I begin the countdown to the Big Bottle of Bowel Bomb, commencing at 1600 EDT, I'm enjoying a nice cup of black coffee to wash down the introductory dose of Milk of Magnesia. As I ponder what the future may hold this evening -- or fail to hold :spy: -- I wonder how all these "Clean out your colon" products on the market can compete with the altogether thorough colonoscopy prep? I mean, if a clean colon is the goal, go for the gold! Seems like the ultimate diet. Eat like a pig Wednesday to Sunday, then Monday and Tuesday, FLUSH! :smile:

I'm firing up some Stonehaven this morning. I feel an under par round coming on this afternoon.


----------



## bluesman.54

Began the morning with Ennerdale in my Dad's Peterson meer. Now it's on to KK in a huge Randy Wiley #17 Risticated finish. He is a carver from the USA that IMO makes some exceptional pipes. KK burns well in this one. And that taste -- OO - LA - LA!


----------



## bluesman.54

Being 59 I no longer care about odometers or warranties...I had double by-pass at 55. Now I just enjoy each day as it comes and am thankful for it. Work to be done, great tobacco to smoke, great food to enjoy, a libation every now and then, and time with family. Life is Good!



ProbateGeek said:


> Dunno. While I intend to use the phrase (thanks, Robert) as much as I can, so far good HAS come of it. I've lost 35 pounds in 2013, and feel better now than I did a dozen years ago. We'll see where I am at year's end.
> 
> Mark, you just need to find a way to roll your odometer back a decade or so. . . :tongue:


----------



## TTecheTTe

bluesman.54 said:


> Being 59 I no longer care about odometers or warranties...I had double by-pass at 55. Now I just enjoy each day as it comes and am thankful for it. Work to be done, great tobacco to smoke, great food to enjoy, a libation every now and then, and time with family. Life is Good!


Ditto! :beerchug:

Welcome back, Micheal! I feel like I should have a bowl of Ennerdale.. Perhaps after a few more FM Bayou.


----------



## bluesman.54

Thank you Mari! I have been very busy lately. Ennerdale for the house!



TTecheTTe said:


> Ditto! :beerchug:
> 
> Welcome back, Micheal! I feel like I should have a bowl of Ennerdale.. Perhaps after a few more FM Bayou.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> I wonder how all these "Clean out your colon" products on the market can compete with the altogether thorough colonoscopy prep? I mean, if a clean colon is the goal, go for the gold!


When I require an evacuant, I simply swallow 20 yards of towelling and wait.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> When I require an evacuant, I simply swallow 20 yards of towelling and wait.


Paper or cloth? Can you smoke while you down it? At least I can enjoy a little PA while I'm drinking.


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Paper or cloth? Can you smoke while you down it? At least I can enjoy a little PA while I'm drinking.


Cotton terry towelling. Smoke if you got it.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Kentucky Planter in a recently repaired MM hardwood


----------



## TTecheTTe

Great start for a great day: 1792 in a cob and coffee with cream.


----------



## Desertlifter

Solani ABF in my Stanwell. First time I tried this was in a blind taste test. Let's see what happens when I have preconceived notions about it.


----------



## Stonedog

I opened a nice fresh pouch of PA this morning and enjoyed it in the Sav 616. _Great _pipe and there's something about fresh PA in a nice clean pipe that just makes the day feel right.


----------



## bluesman.54

Writing time for me again. That means a bowl of PS #41 Cube Cut mixed with 1Q in my large Tim West full bent pipe. It makes work so much more pleasant!


----------



## Desertlifter

ABF was glorious. More of the same today if I get a break. Why do stir plates hate me so much?


----------



## ProbateGeek

Desertlifter said:


> ABF was glorious. More of the same today if I get a break. *Why do stir plates hate me so much?*


It would seem the feeling is mutual.

Royal Yacht for me this morning, in a (finally) freshly cleaned Stanwell Antique. Great pipe - I think I need another Stanwell one of these days...


----------



## bluesman.54

What a beautiful pipe! Is that the original stem? I am sure you will enjoy it for many years to come.



ProbateGeek said:


> It would seem the feeling is mutual.
> 
> Royal Yacht for me this morning, in a (finally) freshly cleaned Stanwell Antique. Great pipe - I think I need another Stanwell one of these days...


----------



## MarkC

The problem with Stanwells is so many of them taste of Lakeland essence. Okay, that's just my Stanwells, I suppose...


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> The problem with Stanwells is so many of them taste of Lakeland essence. Okay, that's just my Stanwells, I suppose...


I fail to see the "problem". oke:


----------



## MarkC

Did I say "problem"? I meant to say "feature"...


----------



## Desertlifter

ProbateGeek said:


> It would seem the feeling is mutual.
> 
> Royal Yacht for me this morning, in a (finally) freshly cleaned Stanwell Antique. Great pipe - I think I need another Stanwell one of these days...


Lovely pipe! My Stanwell has become my "it" pipe briar-wise. Maybe because it is a diplomat, the Honda Accord of pipe shapes. Maybe because it is so comfy in the hand and smokes so well. Either way, I like it.


----------



## freestoke

Summer is apparently over. A high in the low 70s today, with a mighty wind -- plus it rained last night, so it'll play long. No course record today! :nono: Gonna fire up the hardworking Country Gentleman with some Royal Yacht now, as I pour down more coffee. :cp


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> Summer is apparently over. A high in the low 70s today, with a mighty wind -- plus it rained last night, so it'll play long. No course record today! :nono: Gonna fire up the hardworking Country Gentleman with some Royal Yacht now, as I pour down more coffee. :cp


Sounds like it's gonna be challenging out there today, Jim. Good luck. It's quite mild here so far this morning, but it's still early. I fully expect another 100+ day today. If you need another dose of summer, come on down. We've got at least two months left! :biggrin:

Blackpool in my Granddad's Royal Crown Windsor billiard, along with a freshly pulled Black Cat Espresso.


----------



## bluesman.54

KK in a 1980's era Savinelli Hercules Rusticated 606 EX this morning. Writing, writing, writing....Have a great day Puffers!


----------



## CaptainKoala

bluesman.54 said:


> KK in a 1980's era Savinelli Hercules Rusticated 606 EX this morning. Writing, writing, writing....Have a great day Puffers!


Sounds nice. Are you a writer?

I'm having some Orlik Golden Sliced in my new trusty Savinelli Trevi. Good stuff! A good smoke with a pleasant smell  good morning!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Kentucky Planter in a Medico Double-Dri


----------



## bluesman.54

Yes, I am a writer of sorts. Part of the way I make my living is writing various things.

Savinelli is a fine pipe. Their briar in the 1990's was exceptional. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy the ones I have. I have been looking at that Orlik Golden sliced. Do you like it? It isn't an aro is it? Are you resting it or smoking it pretty much as it arrrives?



CaptainKoala said:


> Sounds nice. Are you a writer?
> 
> I'm having some Orlik Golden Sliced in my new trusty Savinelli Trevi. Good stuff! A good smoke with a pleasant smell  good morning!


----------



## bluesman.54

1792 in a 1990's Cassano this morning. Work to be done so I needed something I really enjoy to get me through -- and 1792 -- Yeah -- that's the ticket!


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Yes, I am a writer of sorts. Part of the way I make my living is writing various things.


I'm envious! I write all the time, too -- I just don't get paid for it. :lol:

A cob full of PA this morning.


----------



## CaptainKoala

bluesman.54 said:


> Yes, I am a writer of sorts. Part of the way I make my living is writing various things.
> 
> Savinelli is a fine pipe. Their briar in the 1990's was exceptional. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy the ones I have. I have been looking at that Orlik Golden sliced. Do you like it? It isn't an aro is it? Are you resting it or smoking it pretty much as it arrrives?


I see! I enjoy writing myself. Mostly short stories that probably won't be published ever, haha 

The Golden Sliced is kinda new to me. Bought a big tin (250 grams), and in the box was a pile of looong flakes. I parted it up in smaller portions, and put most of it in jars for cellaring (cellaring for my first time!).
It is a good virginia type of tobacco, with a mild taste and a good smell. The tin note is like fresh hay with some sweetness. Since I come from the country, I really like the smell. It's non-aromatic 

Planning to get some more of it to smoke while I leave my jars in the cellar for a year or two. Very enjoyable stuff!


----------



## ProbateGeek

KK this morning with FVF scraps to slow down the burn. In a MM CG. Will repeat for the evening commute.
And good morning!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some more SPS Kentucky Planter in a briar Yellobole Checker


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake in the Stanwell Antique - such a cool smoke.


----------



## Hambone1

Peterson Hyde Park in my bent green alligator Savinelli


----------



## Nachman

This morning I opened a seven year old jar of Skiff Mixture. At first I thought "I have let it age too long and it has become too mellow." Then the Orientals kicked in and it was spicy all the way to the bottom. It was reminiscent of C&D's Rajahs Court, but smoother and better.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

The last of my open Kentucky Planter in a Dr. Grabow Duke. I'm trying to kill all my open containers so that I can have a gorgefest and pop several new ones at once. :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> The last of my open Kentucky Planter in a Dr. Grabow Duke. I'm trying to kill all my open containers so that I can have a gorgefest and pop several new ones at once. :biggrin:


My feeble efforts to empty containers generally winds up with me emptying my favorites first. sigh. I have the will power of a cabbage. The Royal Yacht is sinking fast. out:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> My feeble efforts to empty containers generally winds up with me emptying my favorites first. sigh. I have the will power of a cabbage. The Royal Yacht is sinking fast. out:


Did I mention I have an open container of Mixture no.79? :scared:


----------



## Gandalf The Gray

freestoke said:


> My feeble efforts to empty containers generally winds up with me emptying my favorites first. sigh. I have the will power of a cabbage. The Royal Yacht is sinking fast. out:


Lol, a captain goes down with their ship sadly


----------



## karatekyle

DGT'ed a bit of FVF in the 4dot. Long time no see, hope everyone is well!


----------



## ProbateGeek

Hey, Kyle! 

Irish Flake in a CG - made the commute seem a bit short this morning. My supply of Royal Yacht is dwindling, as well. If ever they offer it in bulk, boy...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

I smoked the shake from the bottom of two jars this morning. SPS Kentucky Planter and Velvet, in a GBD Prehistoric. Both good burley blends- I call it "Kentucky Velvet" ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Hi, Kyle! :yo: Missed your post yesterday. Was out and about, then glued to the tube for the PGA.

Got a musketball of ABF burning in the Country Gentleman, more coffee, watching the early semi-coverage on TGC.


----------



## Mycroft Holmes

Pulling a "Freestoke" this morning and rolling with a bit of Ennerdale in a nice old Peterson that Jim sent me a while back. Smokes like a dream!! Thanks again, Jim!


----------



## freestoke

Mycroft Holmes said:


> Pulling a "Freestoke" this morning and rolling with a bit of Ennerdale in a nice old Peterson that Jim sent me a while back. Smokes like a dream!! Thanks again, Jim!


You bet, Mycroft! Glad to hear it put to proper use! :tu

Some of this toxic Stonehaven in the Savinelli. Coffeecoffeecoffee. My fingers are trembling over the keyboard! :lol:


----------



## DSturg369

Howdy y'all!

Had some tasty Marble Kake in a Grabow after a few bites to eat.... 1 of 5 straight evenings of work now behind me. 

Now enjoying the last of my PA in a MM cob. 

Have to dig into my other stuff I suppose.


----------



## Wiseguy1982

Capstan Blue Ready Rubbed in my Peterson Samhain 440


----------



## freestoke

Wiseguy1982 said:


> Capstan Blue Ready Rubbed in my Peterson Samhain 440


Just starting my first cup of coffee, I kept trying to make "Captain Black" out of that. Mornin', Russ!

Sorry you're out of PA, Dale! :tsk: Tough sledding ahead. I'll smoke some for you until you can get some more, starting right now. :tu


----------



## Wiseguy1982

freestoke said:


> Just starting my first cup of coffee, I kept trying to make "Captain Black" out of that. Mornin', Russ!


You know Jim, that may have been true five years ago, but thanks to you awesome gents, I have a much more refined palette now!


----------



## Chris0673

freestoke said:


> My feeble efforts to empty containers generally winds up with me emptying my favorites first. sigh. I have the will power of a cabbage. The Royal Yacht is sinking fast. out:


Jim, it's not a matter of will power. It's a matter of won't power! :biglaugh:


----------



## Chris0673

Really missing my baccy right now! Haven't found the boxes yet so I'm stuck with the little bit of Squadron Leader that I bagged up for the move. Not that there's anything wrong with SL but it's all I've been smoking for 5 days now! Starting to get a little tired of it....not to mention running out of it!


----------



## Nachman

Chris0673 said:


> Really missing my baccy right now! Haven't found the boxes yet so I'm stuck with the little bit of Squadron Leader that I bagged up for the move. Not that there's anything wrong with SL but it's all I've been smoking for 5 days now! Starting to get a little tired of it....not to mention running out of it!


All the more incentive to get unpacked.


----------



## bluesman.54

Began the day with coffee and a bowl of Ennerdale in a Petersen meer. Now it's Davidoff Medallion Flake in my bent Savinelli Alligator #614 and more coffee. Writing, writing, writing. Next up 1792 and more coffee to keep me going. Haven't decided on the pipe yet, perhaps a old Caminetto. Have a great day Puffers!


----------



## MarkC

Nachman said:


> All the more incentive to get unpacked.


Seriously! If I ever move again, I'll just split the tins up among all the boxes and actually do it right for a change! .


----------



## Chris0673

Found all my pipes and baccy but I haven't got my office set up yet so they're all still boxed up. Hoping to fix that today. Unpacking sucks!


----------



## MiamiMikePA

Hey guys! Haven't been around for a while, but I thought I'd say hi! Cracked open some jarred up Stonehaven a few days ago and it's been all I've been smoking. Tough to get myself to open the Stoney, but once I get it opened there is no turning back. Off to the river for a little fly fishing with the Stoney!


----------



## freestoke

Hiya, Mike! :wave: I'm smoking some Stonehaven this morning too! p Been smoking this Savinelli a lot the past week. Really nice smoker. Really nice!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Frog Morton Cellar in a Dr. G. Duke


----------



## freestoke

How 'bout Jason, eh? :tu Now that's golfing your ball! :shock: When I turned 14, I started reading Ben Hogan's *Five Lessons*, which was coming out one lesson at a time in Sports Illustrated. Fortunately, my father had a subscription, so he had the back issues, going back to March. I read the whole series (over and over), did what he said to do, and started playing some decent golf. I was still too small to shoot much of a score, but I started playing okay, tee to green, because of that series. My short game was still non-existent, too, and it would be few years before I really started to figure things out, but that book taught me how to hit a golf ball. I bring it up, because Jason Dufner, who won the PGA yesterday, is a Hogan disciple, too, his Golf Bible being Hogan's *Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf*. which is the Sports Illustrated series in book form. If you really want to know how to fly the ball, buy a copy! Nothing in there about how to roll it, though. :nono:

Gotta have some PA in the 4Dot!


----------



## Stonedog

Univsersity Flake, properly dried and rubbed out in my Edward's Bulldog this morning.

I had hoped to have a nice big bowl of something really good last night to celebrate my new amateur radio certification, but time got away from me.

So my commute this morning was UF, black coffee and listening in on a few conversations via a local 2M repeater. As soon as the FCC gives me my call sign I'll be able to join in!

Regarding the FM Cellar that *Tobias* mentioned, I'm beginning to think I need to try an FM blend and if so it should be this one. The addition of a chunk of whiskey-soaked oak is just to interesting to pass up.


----------



## steinr1

Good morning pipe smokers!

Dunhill EMP in the Surrey Legend Cob first thing this morning.

I'm just packing my S-M Barling's Make Guinea Grain Straight Apple with Germain's Rich Dark Flake. Lovely little pipe; lovely tobacco.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Stonedog said:


> Regarding the FM Cellar that *Tobias* mentioned, I'm beginning to think I need to try an FM blend and if so it should be this one. The addition of a chunk of whiskey-soaked oak is just to interesting to pass up.


I smoked some more this morning, but it is funny you mention the oak. I didn't realize that was part of the concept when I ordered the tin. When it arrived and I popped the top, I had a brief "what the hell?" moment until I figured it out. :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

Tobias Lutz said:


> I smoked some more this morning, but it is funny you mention the oak. I didn't realize that was part of the concept when I ordered the tin. When it arrived and I popped the top, I had a brief "what the hell?" moment until I figured it out. :lol:


That's funny. I almost picked up a damaged tin when I was at the SmokingPipes storefront several months ago. The seal was compromised and although it was in a baggie I decided to pass.

After a few weeks of RY and Fillmore in briars I went back to Gentleman Caller in my MM Legend. I think GC benefits from a cob the same way PA does. The burley comes through better and it's easier to pick up the deertongue.

Good morning everyone!


----------



## freestoke

Just a bowl of Scotch Flake Aromatic for me this morning so far. BUSY!! :frown: I hate it when it rains, when I have to do chores instead of play golf. :rant:


----------



## bluesman.54

Good morning all! KK in a deep bent Savinelli Toscana #614 this morning. Great tobacco and a great pipe. Life is Good!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Had a bowl of EMP in the dedicated cob, while driving up the mountain to work this morning. I'm just about to go outside and have another bowl of EMP in the same cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some more FM cellar in a Dr. Grabow Freehand. I think I'm going to switch it up and try some Stonehaven for the first time this afternoon. A botl gave me a sample when we met up the other week.


----------



## Nachman

Yesterday I smoked Chelsea Morning, Royal Yacht and Full Virginia Flake. Starting today with Stonehaven.


----------



## freestoke

The ill-fated jar of Stonehaven is giving its last to the TwoDot apple. (Remember, if you mail Stonehaven in summer, be sure to pack it in dry ice.)


----------



## El wedo del milagro

A bowl of HV in a Dr G whilst driving up the mountain to work early this morning.


----------



## ProbateGeek

A pure shag for me this morning - KK in the Savinelli billiard/lovat - burning slower and cooler than usual. Yumm-yumm.


----------



## Desertlifter

This isn't early - it's late.

PA Choice Blend in my Stanwell Silver Band.

Golly but this stuff is good!


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Starting the day with Dunhill Nightcap in a MM pride!


----------



## freestoke

G'mornin'! I'm starting right off with yet another complaint about showbiz sports, viz., the opening ceremonies at the Solheim Cup yesterday. (The LPGA version of the Ryder Cup.) All is going well, with a pretty good C&W version of the Star Spangled Banner rendered acapella, followed by the European team's choice of an anthem, a tasteful and well-performed orchestration of a segment of Beethoven's Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony, performed by a local classical ensemble. Done with the music, on to the competition -- with a line of BAGPIPERS leading the players and coaches from the stadium! BAGPIPERS! :rant: Enough music, bring on the BAGPIPERS. One player from Scotland. One. And even if there were 6, it's being played in Denver! We have the home field advantage so there should be no bagpipes. Period. (One should not have to encounter them beyond the borders of Scotland, where one should be prepared to face them as an unavoidable danger of visiting the country.) :tsk:

More PA in the CG! p They're close to teeing off the first match. I'll be watching on delay, so I'll be able to fast forward through any bagpipe action.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> BAGPIPERS! :rant: Enough music, bring on the BAGPIPERS.


I thought that was "Enough music! Bring out the Accordian!"


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Desertlifter said:


> PA Choice Blend in my Stanwell Silver Band.
> 
> Golly but this stuff is good!


What is the difference between PA and the Choice Blend?


----------



## Hambone1

Boswell's Hunter's Choice in my Peterson Canadian pipe, yummy


----------



## Nachman

El wedo del milagro said:


> What is the difference between PA and the Choice Blend?


Very little. It seems to me the choice blend is less cased, just plain burley.


----------



## MarkC

I'll have to find some of that and give it a shot.

Meanwhile, I popped a tin of Astley's No. 55 last night, so we all know what I'll be smoking for the next week...


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Enough music, bring on the BAGPIPERS... (One should not have to encounter them beyond the borders of Scotland, where one should be prepared to face them as an unavoidable danger of visiting the country.) :tsk:


I am normally quite angered by the Pipes. A few years back I attended the Highland Games in Oban and in addition to the usual spectacle of maniacs overturning telegraph poles and other such highly amusing nonsense there was a piping competition. I was shocked to find that I found it pleasant and enjoyed the event. I even started to be able to distinguish the better pipers. When played well (and they rarely are) pipes are a beautiful, soulful instrument. (I can hardly believe I'm writing this...)


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> . . . When played well (and they rarely are) pipes are a beautiful, soulful instrument. (I can hardly believe I'm writing this...)


I'm with you. Sort of like Gregorian chant - when done well (and only then), a universally soulful and hauntingly beautiful sound.

More KK this morning - happy Friday, gents.


----------



## Nachman

steinr1 said:


> I am normally quite angered by the Pipes. A few years back I attended the Highland Games in Oban and in addition to the usual spectacle of maniacs overturning telegraph poles and other such highly amusing nonsense there was a piping competition. I was shocked to find that I found it pleasant and enjoyed the event. I even started to be able to distinguish the better pipers. When played well (and they rarely are) pipes are a beautiful, soulful instrument. (I can hardly believe I'm writing this...)


My father had a set of bagpipes (did I mention his mother was from Ayrshire). It sounded like he was strangling a goose.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Trout Stream in a MM cob. It's 60* and raining here. With the cold front coming through it's as if summer has completely left southern Virginia and autumn moved in overnight.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> My father had a set of bagpipes...


Cheer up, Nick, everybody's got a sad story to tell, so let's move on to happier thoughts this morning. I'll take part of the blame here, since common sense should tell me that discussion of stinking bagpipes should be off limits for a pipe group. :nono:

Just gave the Country Gentleman a quasi-thorough scrapedown, to restore the bottom and give it some breathing room, and it's smoking this PA really well right now. p


----------



## Nachman

I just spent an hour on the back patio smoking Stonehaven. You would think that would satisfy me, but it was saddening that it ended. I think I am spoiled, and I like it.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of EMP in the dedicated cob on the drive up the mountain to work this morning.

About 15 minutes after I started serving the guests breakfast this morning the manager set up a bar on the side deck and started serving mimosas, bloody marys, red beers, and champagne. I've had two bloody marys (one mostly vodka), and I don't know how many mimosas this morning. In between cooking for guests at the hotel, I smoked most of a bowl of Royal Yacht shooting the breeze and drinking on the deck.

I've finished cleaning the kitchen and lobby, and I'm heading outside to have a bowl of Homborger Veermaster. The manager is yelling at me to come outside and have another bloody mary. I'm a company man... guess I'll do as the manager says!


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> I've had two bloody marys (one mostly vodka), and I don't know how many mimosas this morning. In between cooking for guests at the hotel, I smoked most of a bowl of Royal Yacht shooting the breeze and drinking on the deck.
> 
> I've finished cleaning the kitchen and lobby, and I'm heading outside to have a bowl of Homborger Veermaster. The manager is yelling at me to come outside and have another bloody mary. I'm a company man... guess I'll do as the manager says!


As they say, it's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. :lol:

Another bowl of RY and off to the course!


----------



## Desertlifter

Nachman said:


> Very little. It seems to me the choice blend is less cased, just plain burley.


This. I'm sure it's just the casing (or lack therof), but it sure burns nice.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Dunhill London Mixture in a MM cob.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> This. I'm sure it's just the casing (or lack therof), but it sure burns nice.


My memory of it from a couple of years ago is that it was a little like the 56 year old PA that Dan sent me. Maybe the new PA has more casing or something? :dunno:

Smokin' some regular PA in the CG.


----------



## Gladiator4

some butternut burley in the cob
Great way to start the day, gunna be a nice one


----------



## MiamiMikePA

Sat down with some Stonehaven yesterday, first smoke in a while. Been having some med issues so I decided screw it I'm smoking the good stuff. Off to my local B&M and hitting up the Stoney again!!!


----------



## Nachman

I've been smoking Stonehaven this morning and will smoke (surprise) Royal Yacht this afternoon.


----------



## freestoke

The Stonehaven jar is empty, the Royal Yacht jar is empty. :spy: Think I'll burn a cob of PA and then head for the Scotch Flake Aromatic.

What a blowout for the Europeans in the Solheim Cup! Wow! CRUSH! I must admit, my sympathies were mixed. I was starting to feel sorry for the American team about halfway through, but I definitely had a soft spot for the Europeans going in, after the great tweet by Pettersen, one of the stars of the European side. With a photo of the team sitting together on a hillside looking bored, she tweets, "Waiting on the Americans to get done taking pictures of their nail polish)". :biglaugh:

Why do we keep losing these international competitions -- especially the men -- of late? I think it's the "We're #1-ism ", hyperpatriotic, gungho American team sport frenzy atmosphere. Were I captain, I'd clamp down on celebrations on the green, in the fairway. Enough with the in-you-face No fist pumping until the match is done. Let the crowds take care of the craziness. Somehow, our players seem completely invested in the craziness and after making a few putts or hitting a good shot, they succumb to the "dizziness due to success". Too much bipolar action, with the severe ups and downs. The Europeans don't do that. Hedwall kept her emotions under to control until the very last putt fell (more or less), while our side is screaming and hollering, with their eyes bugging out of their heads after every won hole -- and I'm talking about the players, not the gallery. Too much early celebration, too much madness of crowds and mob thinking taking over the emotions of the players, overwhelming their attention to the artistry of what they're doing. Our teams have become almost completely humorless, too.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> What a blowout for the Europeans in the Solheim Cup! Wow! CRUSH! I must admit, my sympathies were mixed. I was starting to feel sorry for the American team about halfway through, but I definitely had a soft spot for the Europeans going in, after the great tweet by Pettersen, one of the stars of the European side. With a photo of the team sitting together on a hillside looking bored, she tweets, "Waiting on the Americans to get done taking pictures of their nail polish)". :biglaugh:
> 
> Why do we keep losing these international competitions -- especially the men -- of late? I think it's the "We're #1-ism ", hyperpatriotic, gungho American team sport frenzy atmosphere. Were I captain, I'd clamp down on celebrations on the green, in the fairway. Enough with the in-you-face No fist pumping until the match is done. Let the crowds take care of the craziness. Somehow, our players seem completely invested in the craziness and after making a few putts or hitting a good shot, they succumb to the "dizziness due to success". Too much bipolar action, with the severe ups and downs. The Europeans don't do that. Hedwall kept her emotions under to control until the very last putt fell (more or less), while our side is screaming and hollering, with their eyes bugging out of their heads after every won hole -- and I'm talking about the players, not the gallery. Too much early celebration, too much madness of crowds and mob thinking taking over the emotions of the players, overwhelming their attention to the artistry of what they're doing. Our teams have become almost completely humorless, too.


Yeah well I still think Lexi Thompson is cute...


----------



## MiamiMikePA

Emperor Zurg said:


> Yeah well I still think Lexi Thompson is cute...


LOL Love it! I think cute golfers are the only reason males watch the LPGA. I know that's the only reason I watch it! Very disappointed Sandra Gal didn't make the Euro team & very disappointed Ryan O'Toole didn't make it for US.


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> Yeah well I still think Lexi Thompson is cute...


Well, at 5'7" and 120lb, calling a girl cute that's 5" taller and outweighing me by 50 lbs may be the wrong doesn't seem quite the right word for me, but there were some nice numbers on the European side, too, like Beatriz Recari and Munoz. And, the Actually, Suzanne Pettersen's no slouch, ya know, for a lady of advancing years. :lol:


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Why do we keep losing these international competitions -- especially the men -- of late? I think it's the "We're #1-ism ", hyperpatriotic, gungho American team sport frenzy atmosphere. Were I captain, I'd clamp down on celebrations on the green, in the fairway. Enough with the in-you-face No fist pumping until the match is done. Let the crowds take care of the craziness. Somehow, our players seem completely invested in the craziness and after making a few putts or hitting a good shot, they succumb to the "dizziness due to success". Too much bipolar action, with the severe ups and downs. The Europeans don't do that. Hedwall kept her emotions under to control until the very last putt fell (more or less), while our side is screaming and hollering, with their eyes bugging out of their heads after every won hole -- and I'm talking about the players, not the gallery. Too much early celebration, too much madness of crowds and mob thinking taking over the emotions of the players, overwhelming their attention to the artistry of what they're doing. Our teams have become almost completely humorless, too.


Watching sports is when I realize I'm a cranky old man. I will never get used to the modern trash-talking, in your face general assholery of the modern athlete. But then I'm from the time where you were expected to "act like you've been there before" when you accomplished something.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Bob's Chocolate Flake in a Charatan's Make


----------



## bluesman.54

PA in a deep bent huge Tim West this morning. I have extra writing this week and I find that PA in my Tim West is the perfect combination for a lot of writing. As always, Life is Good!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Dunhill London Mixture in a Dr. Grabow Colorduke


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Nightcap again in a cob with an inner t00b!


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake in the Stanwell Antique, with some Stash Double Bergamot Earl Grey tea. So good, so good...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

a morning on the cheap. CB white pouch in a Dr G Duke.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a Dr G during my morning commute.

Almost the whole hotel today is checkout/arrivals. 2/3rd of the arrivals are these old bikers and their wives. They showed up 2 hours before checkout, started demanding their rooms. I told 'em the rooms are someone elses for the next couple hours, then housekeeping has to get to them. They all got real shitty with me and demanded I start kicking out folks at 10 am sharp. I asked them if they wanna be treated that way when they check out? So they go and unload all their crap on the side of the building, blocking the walkway. Guests complain to me, so I go ask them politely to clear a walkway. They cuss me out and threaten me. I simply tell them if there isn't a walkway cleared in 5 minutes I'm gonna call the fire marshal and the sheriff.

What in the hell is it about long haired oldfolks on Harleys that turn them into petulant children?


----------



## ProbateGeek

El wedo del milagro said:


> What in the hell is it about long haired oldfolks on Harleys that turn them into petulant children?


Lack of really good pipe tobacco.


----------



## steinr1

El wedo del milagro said:


> What in the hell is it about long haired oldfolks on Harleys that turn them into petulant children?


The brakes on old ones are pretty appalling. The ride on a hard-tail is pretty, well, hard - necessary despite working suspension having been available on motorcycles for some considerable time. The gear boxes are notchy. They keep getting overtaken by, well, everything else.

Piles.

All puts you in a bad mood and there is always the "bad ass" reputation to maintain. Particularly if you're a Chartered Accountant during the week.

When I was younger and (more?) aggressive, I found it hard to resist if I saw an extreme chop - better still a group of them - on a set of twisty bits (why else ride?) shouting out "Hey fat-ass" and haring out leaving them for dead. Kicked out chops don't handle well. Laverdas do.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Morning on the cheaper yet: Chewed on the stem of and empty Missouri Pride on the way in...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Fired up a Medico Double-Dri full of Nightcap. It is still dark outside after all :biggrin:


----------



## steinr1

Davidoff Flake Medallions in a freshly titivated Gambier Jacob clay. Cleaned, scraped out and the cork replaced. 

Long smoke for a clay in my experience - about an hour. The smoke is very cool and dry due to the long stem and the sort of "system" design. Burbles away but nothing gets past the end of the bowl. Removed and blew through the stem; nothing. The smoke flavour was also quite clean. I usually expect some taint from an estate pipe first time up but this was Davidoff as it should be.

A ridiculous looking pipe that I intend to smoke regularly.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Trout Stream in a MM pride.
I still don't understand the universal appeal of this tobacco but it's starting to grow on me a little.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Emperor Zurg said:


> Trout Stream in a MM pride.
> I still don't understand the universal appeal of this tobacco but it's starting to grow on me a little.


Come on buddy...drink the kool-aid and get with the program :biggrin:
I personally think it's very tasty stuff, but I also know of 3 houseblends through my favorite tobacconist that I enjoy more as a casual aro smoke.


----------



## Nachman

I felt like something mild and codgerish this morning, so I dug out a jar of Middleton's Walnut.


----------



## freestoke

After Robert set me up with "titivating", I thought my Peter Bowler-esque example of proper usage would get a smiley, anyhow. sigh. out: Tough crowd. 

Seem to be smoking nothing but cobs lately, so I think I'll char some briar this morning with the ol' PA/4Dot. Been a long time! p

Whoa! it isn't there! It didn't post, my "titivating" joke! :shock:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> After Robert set me up with "titivating", I thought my Peter Bowler-esque example of proper usage would get a smiley, anyhow. sigh. out: Tough crowd.


Errrrr... Where? (And what?)

Titter ye not. Nay, nay and thrice nay.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Errrrr... Where? (And what?)
> 
> Titter ye not. Nay, nay and thrice nay.


I know, I KNOW!!  Damn. It didn't post! So here it is redux, or as close as I can get to it:

Great word! I don't think I've ever encountered it before, but I haven't yet read Volume III of Peter Bowler's *The Superior Person's Book of Words*. I intend to employ it frequently in the future, as in, "I was titivating my stroke into a glass on the living room rug last night, so maybe I can start getting it the hole today."


----------



## freestoke

Man, now I'm really bummed. out: Fourteen views and not a chuckle! :tsk: Oh well, gonna smoke this 4Dot twice in a row, now that it's all retitivated.

I know what happened...I was posting my Peter Bowler knock-off from the computer in Oriskany, which has a penchant for dropping the wifi without warning. I hit the submit button, then we left for dinner, but at that point the connection was down and it went nowhere. :frown:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> "I was titivating my stroke into a glass on the living room rug last night, so maybe I can start getting it the hole today."


Oooooh, no missus!

There you go.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> Oooooh, no missus!
> 
> There you go.


Fulsome praise, indeed.


----------



## BrSpiritus

Yeah I know it's afternoon but I was busy this morning enjoying a pipeful of Dunhill Early Morning Pipe in my Brigham Bent Poker. Went great with a couple of cups of coffee...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A parfait of EMP and Dan Blue Note in a MM cob


----------



## El wedo del milagro

HV in a Peterson's Belgique during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## freestoke

Too lazy to refill the PA jar, I took what was left and made a Stonehaven sandwich, making a miniature musketball to put in the middle of the load. Quite nice, actually. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Anniversary Kake in a bent Willard. I only have three days in the office this week, then 5 off. I'll enjoy the break, but I loathe jamming a week's worth of work into Mon-Wed.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Deep Hollow in a MM pride.
I really like this stuff lately


----------



## bluesman.54

Ennerdale in a no name meer to begin this wonderful Monday morning. A great start to a great day!


----------



## freestoke

Well, Nick, the letter came back with insufficient postage, because the flakes got jostled out of place and it wouldn't go through the autosort. Sigh. My bomblets have been utter failures of late, what with the Chinese Stonehaven incident and all.  I'm firing the entire squadron. lane:

Mixed up some new stuff for the course, KK, PA, and something else I can't remember. Was smoking pretty good, though -- right before I lost my pipe somewhere in the vicinity of the third hole. out:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Missed the whole "titivating" thing (busy weekend, unfortunately), but am happy to announce a new favorite 'baccy, courtesy of my big brother. Mac Baren HH Old Dark Fired. Damn, but this stuff is good. So good that it's knocked The Royal Yacht right off my no. 1 best list. I had tried a sample long ago from Mike aka mikebjrtx, but had forgotten to pursue more. 

Anyone know if the ready-rubbed ODF is as good as the flake? If it is, I will be buying it by the pound.

Oh, yea - ODF in the rejuvenated meerschaum for this morning's commute.


----------



## DanR

ProbateGeek said:


> Missed the whole "titivating" thing (busy weekend, unfortunately), but am happy to announce a new favorite 'baccy, courtesy of my big brother. Mac Baren HH Old Dark Fired. Damn, but this stuff is good. So good that it's knocked The Royal Yacht right off my no. 1 best list. I had tried a sample long ago from Mike aka mikebjrtx, but had forgotten to pursue more.
> 
> Anyone know if the ready-rubbed ODF is as good as the flake? If it is, I will be buying it by the pound.
> 
> Oh, yea - ODF in the rejuvenated meerschaum for this morning's commute.


Mike sent me some ODF a while back too (He's a nut, but he's our nut and I'm glad to have him). I really enjoyed it as well, but haven't tried the ready rubbed version. I gotta think its the same stuff, just rustled up a bit...

Enjoying some aged Grey Havens tonight. I can't remember who gave me this tin, as its been too long ago - some research into my older posts might be in order, as this is delightful stuff and I need to personally thank the BOTL that did.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Shortcut to Mushrooms in a bent LaRocca


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Anni-Kake in a MM pride


----------



## ProbateGeek

The Royal Yacht in the meer - I'm good. Need coffee.


----------



## Nachman

I rubbed out some FVF this morning and didn't feel like waiting for it to dry so I mixed in some 5 Bros. to improve the burn. Don't do it. It just tasted like 5 Bros and that is not nearly as good as the FVF.


----------



## BrSpiritus

Got home from work late last night and intended on smoking a bowl of SG Skiff Mixture but I put it down after 1/4 of a bowl because I was nodding off in my chair. It'll be my DGT bowl this morning to finish it off with some coffee.


----------



## freestoke

A little McCrainie's Red Ribbon in an MM Patriot, courtesy of MarkC via the blind taste test a year or two ago. Excellent start to the day. (BTW, anybody seen Mark around lately? :ask


----------



## MarkC

Who?

Finishing a bowl of McClellands No. 27 before heading out to relive the joys of blood work at the local hospital...


----------



## bluesman.54

PA in a Full Bent Tim West to get me going this morning. Writing, writing, writing....A grand start to a great day!


----------



## Nachman

Just finished a giant bowl of Stonehaven on the back patio. Every time I smoke that tobacco I comment "That was a good pipe."


----------



## ProbateGeek

Old Dark Fired in the Stanwell Antique. Hold on Michael, but this is better than 1792. 

:shocked:


----------



## bluesman.54

Don't blaspheme! I am definitely going to order some of this this week and give it a go. That is a strong recommendation -- better than 1792, a fine, fine tobacco -- one that I cannot ignore. Gad Zooks! It is always great to find a new fine tobacco. I look forward to it. Life is Good!



ProbateGeek said:


> Old Dark Fired in the Stanwell Antique. Hold on Michael, but this is better than 1792.
> 
> :shocked:


----------



## ProbateGeek

bluesman.54 said:


> Don't blaspheme! I am definitely going to order some of this this week and give it a go. That is a strong recommendation -- better than 1792, a fine, fine tobacco -- one that I cannot ignore. Gad Zooks! It is always great to find a new fine tobacco. I look forward to it. Life is Good!


Of course, since you're just trying this one out, you have to order both the flake AND the ready-rubbed. And inquiring minds want to know how they compare.


----------



## bluesman.54

Funny! But isn't this a given? Of course I must order both -- who wouldn't? I look forward to this new experience. It shall be a grand day indeed!



ProbateGeek said:


> Of course, since you're just trying this one out, you have to order both the flake AND the ready-rubbed. And inquiring minds want to know how they compare.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Emperor Zurg said:


> Anni-Kake in a MM pride


Part Deux!


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> Of course, since you're just trying this one out, you have to order both the flake AND the ready-rubbed. And inquiring minds want to know how they compare.


I don't want to be a downer, but the blends that I can think of that I've smoked as both flake and ready-rubbed have been disappointing in ready-rubbed form.

Edgeworth, Condor, St. Bruno, Three Nuns, Players Navy and Capstan all spring immediately to mind. Great flake tobaccos; mediocre at best as ready-rubbed.


----------



## bluesman.54

Spoiler Alert!!!!:

QUOTE=steinr1;3890790]I don't want to be a downer, but the blends that I can think of that I've smoked as both flake and ready-rubbed have been disappointing in ready-rubbed form.

Edgeworth, Condor, St. Bruno, Three Nuns, Players Navy and Capstan all spring immediately to mind. Great flake tobaccos; mediocre at best as ready-rubbed.[/QUOTE]


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> I don't want to be a downer, but the blends that I can think of that I've smoked as both flake and ready-rubbed have been disappointing in ready-rubbed form.
> 
> Edgeworth, Condor, St. Bruno, Three Nuns, Players Navy and Capstan all spring immediately to mind. Great flake tobaccos; mediocre at best as ready-rubbed.


I've heard this before, and do not doubt it. I've noticed some charge LESS for the same amount of ready-rubbed, even though it requires additional effort on their part (or so I had thought). It's really a shame, though - looks like I'll be opting for the tins rather than buying ODF by the pound.

Unless and until Michael tells me otherwise! I trust him...


----------



## freestoke

Hi Mark! :yo: I think blood work should have been one of those things that Steve Martin and some other guy on SNL used to "hate". "Yeah, like when you pull barbed wire through your nose to clean out your sinuses! I HATE that!" "Or like when you stick an ice pick in your eye! I HATE that!") (Or something to that effect...)

I have no flake/ready-rubbed stories to tell. 

As for ODF and 1792, I can say that Audrey will not chide me for smoking ODF, but 1792 will elicit an unfavorable remark for certain. Her Lakeland detector goes off with 1792, Happy Bogie and Ennerdale (aka, "Bug Spray"). My take on all this is that you're all like sailors, with a different "favorite girl" in every port.

And an update on the new Golf Mix. Today, I remembered what was in it, on my fifth bowl on the 5th hole -> KK, PA, TAMBO, and Holiday Spirit 201x, in approximately equal portions. And it is not at all bad, although it has not earned any "That smells nice" comments so far. I suspect that it does not smell particularly nice, but it smokes nice! p I know! I'm going to blame my recent bad play on the Golf Mix. :spy: No, that won't do at all, no, not at all, since I played GREAT with it at first. So it must be something else, possibly voodoo.

And it's Dart Mix, Terry. Yes, Dart Mix, the all around smoke after good rounds and bad, after straight arrows and bent, and Old Mil is like the goodly bartender, ready to share in your joys and sympathize with your sorrows.


----------



## bluesman.54

@ProbateGeek I sent you a PM


----------



## bluesman.54

For those who are interested Smokingpipes.com does have HH ODF in 1lb boxes in the tinned tobacco section. They also have the ready rubbed ODF in the bulk section.


----------



## steinr1

ProbateGeek said:


> I've noticed some charge LESS for the same amount of ready-rubbed, even though it requires additional effort on their part (or so I had thought).


I used to believe that they simply used the sweepings from the factory floor for Edgeworth RR. Didn't like it.

The "more work/lower price" anomaly also applies to rusticated pipes. Extra effort and cost but generally lower percieved quality and value compared to a perfect smooth finish. I doubt many artisan pipe-makers would rusticate a flawless straight grain pipe for the hell of it. Rustication is generally a way of saving a piece of briar that would otherwise be binned.

Maybe they do use sweepings for ready-rubbed after all...


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Royal Yacht during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake in the Savinelli Venezia billiard/lovat during my morning commute to the Lake.


----------



## bluesman.54

This morning I enjoyed some 1792 in an old slightly bent Caminetto Business pipe with a long shank that I bought at the Caminetto factory back in 1979. I have never seen another one like it -- not even at the factory. It smokes beautifully.


----------



## ProbateGeek

bluesman.54 said:


> This morning I enjoyed some 1792 in an old slightly bent Caminetto Business pipe with a long shank that I bought at the Caminetto factory back in 1979. I have never seen another one like it -- not even at the factory. It smokes beautifully.


Michael, we'll say it again. . .

WHERE'S THE PHOTO?

Here's a Caminetto Business pipe to tide us over, ya know, until you get that camera.


----------



## bluesman.54

That's very close, very close, but the shank I have is a bit longer and it is a slightly bent pipe. Mine was that color years ago, but since I got it when I was 26 years old it has darkened considerably. That is a beautiful pipe though. Do you like the way it smokes? If it isnt your pipe is it for sale? And yes, I do need to get a camera. That will happen when I have enough pipes and tobacco to tide me over while I celler enough Tobacco to get me through the apocalypse....



ProbateGeek said:


> Michael, we'll say it again. . .
> 
> WHERE'S THE PHOTO?
> 
> Here's a Caminetto Business pipe to tide us over, ya know, until you get that camera.


----------



## bluesman.54

Starting the day with some 1792 in another old Caminetto Business straight Billiard pipe with a huge bowl and some coffe! Great way to start a day! Still thinking about Royal Yacht Flake...Oh that it were so! Writing, writing, writing....


----------



## freestoke

On my third straight bowl of 56 year old PA, this one in the 4Dot. Most excellent! A bit cloudy, but I think the rain will hold off long enough to get in nine. I'm going to have to augment the Golf Mix to make it through, so I think I'll add PA, KK, Tambo and 1Q, in approximately equal portions.


----------



## bluesman.54

LNF mixed with a bit of perique in a full bent rusticated Caminetto Business #154 . Mighty tasy!


----------



## splattttttt

freestoke said:


> On my third straight bowl of 56 year old PA, this one in the 4Dot. Most excellent! A bit cloudy, but I think the rain will hold off long enough to get in nine. I'm going to have to augment the Golf Mix to make it through, so I think I'll add PA, KK, Tambo and 1Q, in approximately equal portions.


 just added the Tambo nic wrap to one 'o my freestokes darths


----------



## MarkC

McClelland No. 27. I'm still amazed at how smooth their Virginias get after a few years.


----------



## freestoke

“ I THINK IT IS JUST TERRIBLE AND DISGUSTING HOW EVERYONE HAS TREATED
LANCE ARMSTRONG, ESPECIALLY AFTER WHAT HE ACHIEVED, WINNING SEVEN

TOUR DE FRANCE RACES WHILE ON DRUGS. WHEN I WAS ON DRUGS, I COULDN'T EVEN FIND MY BIKE.”

~WILLIE NELSON~


Just stumbled on it again and still think it's hysterical.

But I wanted to talk about Popeye. Was just thinking about this and suddenly realized that Bluto and Popeye never remember anything that happened in previous episodes, Bluto's eye's bug out of his head when he spots Olive Oil -- love at first sight, every time. Talk about not remembering an old girlfriend's name, Bluto doesn't even recognize her! :tsk:

Sometimes I wonder about ABF. Maybe it should be illegal. :lol:

And somebody will no doubt point out a comedian who actually thought this up, but give Willie credit for knowing a good joke when he hears one, right?


----------



## El wedo del milagro

McClelland's Drama Reserve in a Hilson Vintage Dublin during my morning commute up the mountain. I opened the tin last night and had three bowls on the porch last night. Then a bowl this morning. Four bowls in half a day. I love this stuff... I need to buy a HUGE stack of tins and see if it ages well.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> And somebody will no doubt point out a comedian who actually thought this up, but give Willie credit for knowing a good joke when he hears one, right?


I have no idea who's joke that is, but if it's not Steven Wright, it should be.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I have no idea who's joke that is, but if it's not Steven Wright, it should be.


If George Carlin was still around, I might guess him. It could actually be Willie, though. Pretty funny guy in interviews, for sure.

Having a CG with some PA. (I speak fluent Piper's Good Morning. :smile


----------



## bluesman.54

Carolina Delux in a straight volcano Brebbia Tan Rusitcated #841 pipe. Beautiful day here in Iowa. Sunny with a NW breeze and temps in the low 70's. Running my smoker. Have a couple of pork butts on since about 6:00am. Getting ready to add four racks of St Louis ribs. Life is VERY Good today!


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> Just stumbled on it again and still think it's hysterical.


Jim, do know that very often I attempt to give you some RG, but nothing doing - I think I've hit my lifetime quota for you.

Still, good stuff!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Shortcut to Mushrooms in a Gatlinburlier House pipe. First day back to work after 5 days off.


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning All! A magnificent bowl of Royal Yacht in the Leonessa dublin on the way in to work.

I haven't been able to contribute much lately thanks to work and a few other things. For the time being life has calmed down so hopefully I'll be able to post a little more.


----------



## Gandalf The Gray

Up early for the morning, and smoking a bowl of PS LNF out of the SMS meerschaum pipe.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Continuing from last night - Old Dark Fired in the meer - so good to be back at the office. 

Not.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Balkan Luxury Blend 957 in a MM hardwood


----------



## Gandalf The Gray

Tobias Lutz said:


> SPS Balkan Luxury Blend 957 in a MM hardwood


Interesting, how does the Hardwood MM smoke?


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Gandalf The Gray said:


> Interesting, how does the Hardwood MM smoke?


^What he said^

I've avoided them because I just figured they'd gurgle


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Gandalf The Gray said:


> Interesting, how does the Hardwood MM smoke?


Quite well. Honestly I think they are a better deal than a basic MM cob if you want to dedicate a pipe to a specific blend.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Quite well. Honestly I think they are a better deal than a basic MM cob if you want to dedicate a pipe to a specific blend.


I tried one a couple of years ago. The bowl got very hot, as one might expect from such a small pipe, and I disliked that enough to not persist with it. I imagine that once it was broken in, it might be marginally acceptable, but I far prefer a basic cob. Speaking of which, I'm smoking one now, the Country Gentleman with some PA in it. Sunny, windy day in store, and I plan to shoot a 32 later! :tu


----------



## bluesman.54

PA in a bent rusitcated Cassano to begin the morning. Writing, writing, wirting......Have a great day puffers. And Jim -- may your putts be straight and true on this fine day!


----------



## Marlow

Capstan in a Stanwell X-mas 2006








With a big cup of Lapsang souchong on the side, my favourite tea.


----------



## Gandalf The Gray

Marlow said:


> Capstan in a Stanwell X-mas 2006
> View attachment 45546
> 
> 
> With a big cup of Lapsang souchong on the side, my favourite tea.


That is one fine looking Stanwell.


----------



## Marlow

Gandalf The Gray said:


> That is one fine looking Stanwell.


Thanks ipe:


----------



## ProbateGeek

I second that - I like Stanwells, and love that one (at least for its looks). Though it does appear you're having a cup of waxy seashell tea this morning... :tongue1:


----------



## Gandalf The Gray

ProbateGeek said:


> I second that - I like Stanwells, and love that one (at least for its looks). Though it does appear you're having a cup of waxy seashell tea this morning... :tongue1:


Lol, it must be a Sweden thing


----------



## Marlow

Lol :biggrin:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some more Balkan Luxury 957 in a Dr. Grabow Royalton


----------



## ProbateGeek

A Kendal Kentucky and Royal Yacht mix this morning in the meer. The RY slows the burn and rounds out the flavor, while not detracting from the strength of the KK too much. I'm awake now.

Since getting my meerschaum back from the shop I think I've smoked it every day - it's now my favorite pipe.


----------



## bluesman.54

On my morning commute I enjoyed a bowl of HH ODF FLake in a straight Dunhill pipe. Excellent tobacco that made the commute almost enjoyable. Hope everyone had a great day!


----------



## BrSpiritus

It's my day off so a day to relax. Made a pot of New Orleans chicory coffee in my 1940's coffee biggin and loaded up my IRC Savinelli bent billiard with Dunhill EMP. I'm seriously down to half a tin in 3 weeks, going to have to consider ordering 2 tins next Friday...


----------



## Nachman

I had a bowl of Royal Yacht for my initial bowl this morning. Lately I have been smoking RY in the evenings. I had forgotten how good it is first thing in the morning.


----------



## freestoke

Hi, Nick. Trying some of that boomerang bomblet of Scotch Flake Aromatic I threw in your general direction last month, which seems none the worse for its adventure into the US Mail. Probably never made it past Utica, which I think is the sorting facility for this area. 

It promises to be a stunning day on the course, with temps in the high 60s, little wind, lotsa sun. :smile: And just like other years, as my game starts to "fill in", the season draws to an end and I'll have to start learning how to play all over again next spring. :tsk: The 40 I shot in the wind yesterday was a pretty good score, and would have had a lot of company in championship flight were it played in a tournament -- and I had 4 putts go right over the edge, too. What I need to do is WRITE IT DOWN, so I can read it next spring and get a jumpstart, but then somebody might get the impression that I was organized, intelligent and forward thinking, and I wouldn't want that, now could I? I wouldn't have nearly enough to complain about in early June. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of EMP in the dedicated cob during my morning commute up the mountain.

Last summer I couldn't get the boys (17 and 20) interested in shooting with me. Zach did a wee bit of skeet with me, and was a natural, but neither wanted to learn to use a rifle properly. This summer was different. They both wanted me to teach them on the lil Ruger 10/22, and then moved all the way up .50 cal Blackpowder rifles. They both are now competent and safe with rifles using cartrages and BP, small caliber and large. I'm proud of them both.

The problem is we four (my wife Kat wanted the instruction too) went through about 2,000 .22 cal rounds, and I haven't been able to buy any for more than a year. 

Well, yesterday morning and this morning I hit the jackpot! I've purchased 1600 .22 cal rounds in two mornings! I'm so stoked! I hope this means the drought is ending.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Old Dark Fired in a Stanwell Antique. I'm beginning to fear that the work done on my meerschaum has made it TOO good - everything just seems to taste and smoke better in the meer, making even my former favorite (the Stanwell) comparatively less enjoyable. 

Uh oh - no good will come of it.


----------



## Marlow

El wedo del milagro said:


> I had a bowl of EMP in the dedicated cob during my morning commute up the mountain.
> 
> Last summer I couldn't get the boys (17 and 20) interested in shooting with me. Zach did a wee bit of skeet with me, and was a natural, but neither wanted to learn to use a rifle properly. This summer was different. They both wanted me to teach them on the lil Ruger 10/22, and then moved all the way up .50 cal Blackpowder rifles. They both are now competent and safe with rifles using cartrages and BP, small caliber and large. I'm proud of them both.
> 
> The problem is we four (my wife Kat wanted the instruction too) went through about 2,000 .22 cal rounds, and I haven't been able to buy any for more than a year.
> 
> Well, yesterday morning and this morning I hit the jackpot! I've purchased 1600 .22 cal rounds in two mornings! I'm so stoked! I hope this means the drought is ending.


That is one thing I'm really jealous of as a swede, and something I cannot wrap my head around, how firearms are basically 100% banned for law abiding citizens here. You really should be proud of your second amendment, and you really need to make sure that you are able to keep it, and not let it be stolen away from you.

For sure one of those things that you do not know how much it means until you loose it.


----------



## BrSpiritus

In honor of Emperor Zurg I'm loading up my bing's favorite with some firedance flake this morning. Probably smoke half the bowl as I go to work and the other half at lunch.


----------



## freestoke

Gonna be some Golf Mix burning today! Our last scheduled scramble at Crestview this morning. I hate to play this early. :frown: But it beats not playing! :smile:

Got a bowl of PA to warm up with.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

RY in a Dr. G during the morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## bluesman.54

HH ODF FLAKE in a Willmer straight Billiard pipe. Man this tobacco is good! If you haven't tried it -- I encourage you to do so. Have a great day Puffers. I hope Jim is winning his scramble today.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> I hope Jim is winning his scramble today.


Hope you didn't putt too much money on us, Michael! :lol: Disaster! NOBODY played well. :shock: Nothing went in, either. I think everybody actually putted well and we chipped like geniuses (had a LOT of opportunities to chip :lol, but lots of lip-outs and near misses don't do any better than ordinary putts and chip shots when they don't go in, and we had hardly any short putts.

I'm having some coffee and a 4Dot of McCranie's Red Ribbon, watching the US team putting a crush on GB&I.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

EMP in the dedicated cob driving to work up the mountain a few hours ago. I'm looking forward to another bowl once I'm done feeding all the guests.


----------



## steinr1

Black Bogie Aromatic in a tiny Ropp Prince. Marvelous stuff with a serious nicotine kick.


----------



## Marlow

steinr1 said:


> Black Bogie Aromatic in a tiny Ropp Prince. Marvelous stuff with a serious nicotine kick.


What is the casing? I have liked the ropes I've tried but I'm not a big aromatics person.


----------



## steinr1

Marlow said:


> What is the casing? I have liked the ropes I've tried but I'm not a big aromatics person.


It's not really an aromatic. There is a tiny bit of sweetening and some sort of spice; honestly not that noticeable over the "unscented".

Just had another little bowl. The extra casing/topping is noticeable and makes the whole thing better IMO, but aromatic it ain't.


----------



## Marlow

steinr1 said:


> It's not really an aromatic. There is a tiny bit of sweetening and some sort of spice; honestly not that noticeable over the "unscented".
> 
> Just had another little bowl. The extra casing/topping is noticeable and makes the whole thing better IMO, but aromatic it ain't.


I'll put it on my list, sounds interesting.

For me another bowl of Tree Mixture in a Peterson system 303. Lovely as usual ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> I'll put it on my list, sounds interesting.
> 
> For me another bowl of Tree Mixture in a Peterson system 303. Lovely as usual ipe:


For what it's worth, the GH&Co and SG aromatics are not the type of aromatics that Boswell or Altadis puts out. Some, like Scotch Flake Aromatic, don't seem like aromatics at all.

I'm having an opening 4Dot full of 56 year old PA, courtesy of Dan. p Excellent! More coffee and a switch to something a bit stouter -- like Scotch Flake Aromatic! :tu


----------



## Marlow

Just tried Peterson Irish Flake for the first time, I really liked it. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Just tried Peterson Irish Flake for the first time, I really liked it. ipe:


Cut it out! :sl Would all you people with ample supplies of Royal Yacht and Irish Flake stop reminding me that I'm out of both!? :rant:

I've got to fire up something stronger than Scotch Flake Aromatic. I'm gonna boogie up some bogie or do the twist. Maybe even JKP. My Low Nicotine Warning Light seems stuck on red.


----------



## bluesman.54

LNF with added perique mixed in -- in a straight Charatan Belvedere. I really like adding some extra perique to LNF. It gives it a great kick. A writing day for me. Have a great day Puffers. And Jim -- I hope you can get your nic light to green. You'll be much happier if you do. 56 year old PA? Now that is something special. Enjoy!


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Cut it out! :sl Would all you people with ample supplies of Royal Yacht and Irish Flake stop reminding me that I'm out of both!? :rant:
> 
> I've got to fire up something stronger than Scotch Flake Aromatic. I'm gonna boogie up some bogie or do the twist. Maybe even JKP. My Low Nicotine Warning Light seems stuck on red.


Sorry!

That rant smiley is probably the greatest smiley I've seen.

Ah, nicotine, I should probably quit snus so that I don't continually get nicotine in my system, which makes it so that I never really feel it. But I could never do that, quit that is.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> ...56 year old PA? Now that is something special. Enjoy!


Indeed it is and yes I will! It came hence:

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...2015-look-what-i-just-scored.html#post3667907

And I'm feeling better with a little Sweet Rum Twist.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Former's Bird's Eye Flake for the first time this morning driving up the mountain to work this morning. It was really good! I'm looking forward to another bowl.


----------



## Desertlifter

Royal Yacht for the inaugural voyage with the new Savinelli. Good stuff, great pipe.


----------



## Beefy

H&H Stogie in a rusticated saddled bulldog by Royal Sovereign.


----------



## steinr1

Ennerdale Flake in a meerschaum (Zulu shape??) on this crisp late summer morning. Been a while since I've had a bowl and I really enjoyed it. Not too much of a nicotine kick which is sometimes an issue with this one for me.

I think now a little bowl of Germain's Rich Dark Flake.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SPS Balkan Luxury Blend 957 in a Medico Medalist.

This is one of the best SPS blends I've found. I also think their Kentucky Plater (full burley) is excellent.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Royal Yacht for the inaugural voyage with the new Savinelli. Good stuff, great pipe.


sigh. I'm out of RY, but I'm trying to contain myself and not order any until I get rid of some containers. I really need to clean out the cellar. It's not as bad having to work around the house instead of playing golf, I guess. :lol:

Two words' misuse have driven me to distraction this morning: enormity and notorious. As anyone with a grade school education should know, they both have negative connotations, which means you should not use them when talking about the King, Arnold Palmer. (Happy Birthday, Arnie! :wave Like two slugs on a ripe brandywine tomato, they showed up on The Golf Channel within a sentence or two -- the enormity of Arnold's golfing accomplishment and his worldwide notoriety. :shock: 

e·nor·mi·ty
iˈnôrmitē/
_noun_
noun: *enormity*; plural noun: *enormities*


*1*.

the great or extreme scale, seriousness, or extent of something perceived as bad or morally wrong.

"a thorough search disclosed the full enormity of the crime"

(in neutral use) the large size or scale of something.
"I began to get a sense of the enormity of the task"

synonyms:immensity, hugeness; Moresize, extent, magnitude, greatness 
"the enormity of the task"




*2*. 
a grave crime or sin.
"the enormities of the regime"

synonyms:wickedness, evil, vileness, baseness, depravity; Moreoutrageousness, monstrousness, hideousness, heinousness, horror, atrocity; 
villainy, cruelty, inhumanity, mercilessness, brutality, savagery, viciousness 
"the enormity of his crimes"

outrage, horror, evil, atrocity, barbarity, abomination, monstrosity, obscenity, iniquity; 
crime, sin, violation, wrong, offense, disgrace, injustice, abuse 
"the enormities of the regime"




no·to·ri·ous [noh-tawr-ee-uhs, -tohr-, nuh-]

adjective 1. widely and unfavorably known: a notorious gambler. Synonyms: infamous, egregious, outrageous, arrant, flagrant, disreputable.

Smoking PA56 in the cob. It makes me feel real curmudgeonly this morning.


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> Cut it out! :sl Would all you people with ample supplies of Royal Yacht and Irish Flake stop reminding me that I'm out of both!? :rant:
> 
> I've got to fire up something stronger than Scotch Flake Aromatic. I'm gonna boogie up some bogie or do the twist. Maybe even JKP. My Low Nicotine Warning Light seems stuck on red.





freestoke said:


> sigh. I'm out of RY, but I'm trying to contain myself and not order any until I get rid of some containers. I really need to clean out the cellar. It's not as bad having to work around the house instead of playing golf, I guess. :lol:
> 
> Smoking PA56 in the cob. It makes me feel real curmudgeonly this morning.


In honor of your ongoing lack of _some_ cool blends, I followed the Royal Yacht with a great bowl of Irish Flake. Seriously - it was amazing. Small pipe for the win. I now "get" the flake pipe thing. Tomorrow this will be confirmed with a dose of Brown Bogie.

If it makes you feel any better, I am wholly lacking in ODF at this point in time.


----------



## MarkC

Arnold Palmer has made some notoriously bad commercials...


----------



## Marlow

Smoked a half bowl of Frog Morton OTT in my new Savinelli Gaius, with black coffee. Lovely.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Robert McConnel Original Scottish Cake in a GBD Prehistoric


----------



## steinr1

A small bowl of that infamous and notorious blend, Ennerdale Flake in its dedicated meerschaum.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Arnold Palmer has made some notoriously bad commercials...


Right you are, Mark! :lol: When he was in his advertising prime, in the late '60s and through the '70s, his face on any magazine would boost the sales of that magazine more than anything else you could legally put on the front cover. The all-time record month to month increase in sales for any magazine was the issue of National Lampoon with the dog on the cover:










Scotch Flake Aromatic for me to start the day. I need a lot of coffee this morning, too. We're facing the hottest day of the summer today and Friday there will be a high in the 50s. :dunno:


----------



## Desertlifter

Brown Bogie eluded me this morning, so a bowl of ABF will sacrifice itself in BB's stead.


----------



## Nachman

I've been enjoying Red Rapparee in the mornings lately. Sort of a fall is coming thing.


----------



## madbricky

Ironically for a guy that blends much of his own baccy, many of the blends mentioned here do not ring a bell for this Puff Newbie. It would be great to see the manufacturer mentioned as well. Im living in a cave on a farm and rarely find myself in the shops anymore puffing new stuff in polite company. I miss those days
I chainsmoked three bowls of Altadis-Sutliff Chocolate Truffle in a Ben Rodgers bent apple estate pipe and a pot of hot coffee this am. What a great bulk blend @$2.50 an ounce. I sprung for 8 ounces this time from Pipes and Cigars. A+ on this one!


----------



## bluesman.54

I hope you enjoyed it and it was as good as you remembered it to be. Sniff.....this brings a tear to my eye......

Ennerdale for everyone!!



steinr1 said:


> A small bowl of that infamous and notorious blend, Ennerdale Flake in its dedicated meerschaum.


----------



## steinr1

bluesman.54 said:


> I hope you enjoyed it and it was as good as you remembered it to be. Sniff.....this brings a tear to my eye......
> 
> Ennerdale for everyone!!


That bowl was quite sublime. Ennerdale is a blend that sometimes doesn't work for me but when it does it's stunning. The almond flavour in particular has really shined through over the last few bowls. This lot is getting on a bit; maybe that's the difference.

Ennerdale for everyone!! (Sometimes...)

This morning I smoked (so far) a bowl of Germain's Rich Dark Flake in a bright red Venturi Straight Pot while taking a walk. These plastic pipes are ideal for drizzley days when a briar or meerschaum pipe would get ruined outdoors, particularly if used with a clip-on Whitecross type wind cap. The bowl is larger than I use for this blend usually and the effect is for it to smoke a bit quicker and with a bit less of its aromatic character (Oh oh...) showing. Still quite splendid.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Bow-Legged Bear in a Dr. Grabow Color Duke


----------



## Er999

Tobias Lutz said:


> Bow-Legged Bear in a Dr. Grabow Color Duke


Hear that @Techette? Bow legged bear!!!!



steinr1 said:


> ...particularly if used with a clip-on Whitecross type wind cap.


Pic please or link to site where I can buy it. Thanks in advance....just curious about the use (or potential lack of) of wind caps.


----------



## DanR

Er999 said:


> Hear that @Techette? Bow legged bear!!!!


Where's she been, anyway? @TTecheTTe, where are you??

Two flakes of Erinmore Flake in my Radice Silk Cut tonight. Lovely!


----------



## steinr1

Er999 said:


> Pic please or link to site where I can buy it. Thanks in advance....just curious about the use (or potential lack of) of wind caps.


4pcs Practical Stainless Steel Tobacco Smoking Pipe Outdoor Wind Cap | eBay

These are Chinese copies of the original Whitecross manufactured ones; there are lots of different places and eBay traders. They stopped being made by Whitecross years ago, I believe. I have copy ones myself. I believe that they should cost about $2-$3 each. I can't comment on the quality or reliability of any particular supplier...

(Actually, these ones look pretty crappy. The ones I have are completely unbranded but are not such crude stampings. The basic design is identical.)


----------



## Er999

steinr1 said:


> 4pcs Practical Stainless Steel Tobacco Smoking Pipe Outdoor Wind Cap | eBay
> 
> These are Chinese copies of the original Whitecross manufactured ones; there are lots of different places and eBay traders. They stopped being made by Whitecross years ago, I believe. I have copy ones myself. I believe that they should cost about $2-$3 each. I can't comment on the quality or reliability of any particular supplier...
> 
> (Actually, these ones look pretty crappy. The ones I have are completely unbranded but are not such crude stampings. The basic design is identical.)


(So that's a whitecross style....) thanks for the information, I'll keep an eye on them.


----------



## bluesman.54

I'm in Chicago for a few days visiting my Brother. Getting ready to go hit some tobacco shops and see what they have around here. There aren't any B&M's in the small town I live in Iowa -- so this should be fun! HH ODF in an old Stanwell Royal Guard on this beautiful, sunny, cool morning. Hope everyone has a great Friday the 13th! It's a lucky day ya know!


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> It's a lucky day ya know!


Triskadekaphilia! :lol: Stonehaven in the Legend. p


----------



## bluesman.54

Now there's a word I am unfamiliar with. Care to give the definition?

I wish I could get my hands on some Stone Haven. Do you know of anyone that has it in stock? It is one of the specific things I am looking for here in Chicago.



freestoke said:


> Triskadekaphilia! :lol: Stonehaven in the Legend. p


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Now there's a word I am unfamiliar with. Care to give the definition?


Making a little play on "triskadekaphobia" is all, the fear of the number 13.

I've heard that it helps to get on the waiting list at Pipes and Cigars or Smokingpipes, so that you get notification of new supplies. I had links to various regular online sites' Stonehaven order pages and cycled through them quickly every day until I got a winner and placed an order. Was at it for months before I hit, but it was worth it. Good stuff, Stonehaven.


----------



## bluesman.54

Thank you for the definition.

As to the Stonehaven -- I am doing those exact things. Glad to know it will be worth the effort once I finally do get some. Enjoy yours -- and your PA56! You've got it made Man!



freestoke said:


> Making a little play on "triskadekaphobia" is all, the fear of the number 13.
> 
> I've heard that it helps to get on the waiting list at Pipes and Cigars or Smokingpipes, so that you get notification of new supplies. I had links to various regular online sites' Stonehaven order pages and cycled through them quickly every day until I got a winner and placed an order. Was at it for months before I hit, but it was worth it. Good stuff, Stonehaven.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Little bit o' the Frog in a <... wait for it ...> $4.00 Cob
Testing the waters on the new FM Cellar - replete with stave cube


----------



## freestoke

Smoked a cob of PA/SRT to start the morning, watching the ladies' last major, the Evian. There was an article about reopening trade with Cuba this morning that I commented on -- not trying to get into a political discussion here -- and my observation was that cigars were never mentioned in all the benefits that would accrue from more friendly relations. I noted that no discussion about normalization of relations with Cuba can be taken seriously if it doesn't mention cigars. Can't WAIT for the flack from the TabakNazis. :lol:


----------



## Nachman

It was cool this morning so I smoked a big bowl of Penzance. On the subject of cigars, if Cuban cigars could be imported a lot of the drech that we have to buy now might go down in price to where we could afford them.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

F&T Blackjack in a Dr. G Duke.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

EMP in the dedicated cob, at work, outside on the deck.


----------



## Desertlifter

Too early to post the morning 'baccy choice? Nay, say I. For this morning a flake of Orlik Brown shall burn.

Yes, Brown. I have a small stash that shall be smaller tomorrow.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

C&D Bowlegged Bear in a Dr Grabow Duke


----------



## Gandalf The Gray

Just about to smoke a bowl of PS LTF in the sms meerschaum.


----------



## freestoke

Getting ready to watch the final round of the BMW with a bowl of Mac Baren Navy Flake. Not a lot of umbladee to it, so I'll have to smoke three or four bowls fast. p


----------



## Stonedog

Royal Yacht in the Edward's bulldog this morning. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm still not able to contribute much on Puff unfortunately.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

H&H Anniversary Kake in a mm cob


----------



## TTecheTTe

Tobias Lutz said:


> H&H Anniversary Kake in a mm cob


Ditto.



DanR said:


> Where's she been, anyway? @TTecheTTe, where are you??


:behindsofa:



Er999 said:


> Hear that @Techette? Bow legged bear!!!!


:jaw:



Stonedog said:


> Royal Yacht in the Edward's bulldog this morning. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm still not able to contribute much on Puff unfortunately.


I hear ya...hope you are well!


----------



## Gandalf The Gray

TTecheTTe said:


> Ditto.
> 
> :behindsofa:
> 
> :jaw:
> 
> I hear ya...hope you are well!


And Ttechette rises from the dead, she's alive!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

TTecheTTe said:


> Ditto.


Copycat! :wink:

Nice to see you Mari.


----------



## freestoke

Mornin', Mari! You're here to witness me smoking my first bowl of Prince Albert ordinarius in several weeks. The briars have been relaxing all summer, too, just now getting them back into action for the fall season, right now, the 4Dot. p


----------



## TTecheTTe

Morning! p. Cobbing Balkan Supreme. A/C is cranked up so I can pretend it is winter.


----------



## BrSpiritus

TTecheTTe said:


> A/C is cranked up so I can pretend it is winter.


I hear that! Here in N.E. Florida it's been so humid drying out my tobacco has been problematic. Back to smoking some Dunhill EMP in an IRC Savinelli Bent Billiard...


----------



## Stonedog

Morning Jim, Mari and Louis (and all of Puff)!

The weather is overcast and cool here in Atlanta, quite pleasant. Perfect pipe weather! This morning I enjoyed a nice bowl of '07 BTF (Bulging Tin Fillmore). Traffic was horrendous which allowed me to spend more time focusing on the pipe. Life is better with a pipe in hand.


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Morning Jim, Mari and Louis (and all of Puff)!
> 
> The weather is overcast and cool here in Atlanta, quite pleasant. Perfect pipe weather! This morning I enjoyed a nice bowl of '07 BTF (Bulging Tin Fillmore). Traffic was horrendous which allowed me to spend more time focusing on the pipe. Life is better with a pipe in hand.


Hard to believe I lived there when the population was at its highest, during the 70s. :ask: (At least that's what the wiki tells me...) I won a $10 bet with a guy at the bar in George's Delicatessen on North Highland, circa 1971. I bet him that I could beat him to Georgia State University (we agreed on a meeting place for the finish line), him in car and me on bicycle. No contest, as I went down the sidestreets, into the park, and straight over. Totally impossible to get a car there in the time that took me, possibly even an ambulance. At the time, I could really use the money! :lol:

Think I'm gonna burn some of the last of this Mac Baren Navy Flake in the Country Gentleman. Pretty good smoke -- pretty old I think, possibly 5 years or more, not sure.


----------



## Stonedog

freestoke said:


> *Hard to believe I lived there when the population was at its highest, during the 70s. :ask: (At least that's what the wiki tells me...) * I won a $10 bet with a guy at the bar in George's Delicatessen on North Highland, circa 1971. I bet him that I could beat him to Georgia State University (we agreed on a meeting place for the finish line), him in car and me on bicycle. No contest, as I went down the sidestreets, into the park, and straight over. Totally impossible to get a car there in the time that took me, possibly even an ambulance. At the time, I could really use the money! :lol:
> 
> Think I'm gonna burn some of the last of this Mac Baren Navy Flake in the Country Gentleman. Pretty good smoke -- pretty old I think, possibly 5 years or more, not sure.


Good deal on the bet, but I'm not too sure about Atlanta's population peak in the 70's. Metro Atlanta has exploded in the 80's and 90's and as far as I know is still growing. It may be that people have left the Highlands or Atlanta city populate has dipped a little?


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> Good deal on the bet, but I'm not too sure about Atlanta's population peak in the 70's. Metro Atlanta has exploded in the 80's and 90's and as far as I know is still growing. It may be that people have left the Highlands or Atlanta city populate has dipped a little?


Yeah, that's the "core" population. It's WAY bigger now, including the 'burbs, with just the population within the city limits falling, although it's going back up.


----------



## Desertlifter

Evenmorn all!

Cheating, as is my wont. The morning bowl is determined after much forehead tapping the night before. Since I am breaking in a new Savinelli I am sticking with stouter and VA/VaBur/Burley fare.

I've narrowed it down to two options:

Five Brothers or....

Five Brothers


----------



## Tobias Lutz

H&H Anniversary Kake in a Medico Double-Dri


----------



## ProbateGeek

Straight KK in the meer - with black coffee I'm feeling like a champ'.


----------



## bluesman.54

Desertlifter said:


> Evenmorn all!
> 
> I've narrowed it down to two options:
> 
> Five Brothers or....
> 
> Five Brothers


So tell us -- the suspense is killin' me -- which one did you chose?


----------



## bluesman.54

Tobias Lutz said:


> H&H Anniversary Kake in a Medico Double-Dri


I was looking at that H&H Anni Kate and it sounded pretty good -- almost goood enough to try and buy. How is it? Do you find ot to your liking? Is it a regular rotation tobacco for you?


----------



## Tobias Lutz

bluesman.54 said:


> I was looking at that H&H Anni Kate and it sounded pretty good -- almost goood enough to try and buy. How is it? Do you find ot to your liking? Is it a regular rotation tobacco for you?


I find it to be pleasant, but somewhat unusual. I'm not exactly sure how to describe it (and that probably has more to do with my brain being fried from writing a paper this evening moreso than the complexity of the blend.)

I don't know if I still have your address since the last time I mailed you something, but refresh my memory with a PM and I'll drop a sample in the post office box for you ipe:


----------



## bluesman.54

ProbateGeek said:


> I'm feeling like a champ'.


My Good Sir - You Are a Champ.

I have been smoking pipes and cigars for 40+ years and I have learned so much on this forum in the four months I have participated. Pipes I knew well -- but now I am smoking tobaccos I had never heard of -- or were afraid to try as they might wind up a waste of money -- especially tins -- I'm more of a bulk man -- which only increased the risk. Some are "meh" but many have been wonderful new finds. Can't remember the last time I smoked 1Q. I now even buy tins -- Royal Yacht and Davidoff Flake Medallion-- but I buy them. (If they ever make RY in a flake and sell it in bulk heaven will indeed have come to earth!)

Ergo -- You Are an Official Certified Champ Sir.


----------



## Desertlifter

bluesman.54 said:


> My Good Sir - You Are a Champ.
> 
> I have been smoking pipes and cigars for 40+ years and I have learned so much on this forum in the four months I have participated. Pipes I knew well -- but now I am smoking tobaccos I had never heard of -- or were afraid to try as they might wind up a waste of money -- especially tins -- I'm more of a bulk man -- which only increased the risk. Some are "meh" but many have been wonderful new finds. Can't remember the last time I smoked 1Q. I now even buy tins -- Royal Yacht and Davidoff Flake Medallion-- but I buy them. (If they ever make RY in a flake and sell it in bulk heaven will indeed have come to earth!)
> 
> Ergo -- You Are an Official Certified Champ Sir.


Nothing wrong with a bit of 1Q now and again. Pretty darn good stuff, and well behaved.

And for the record, I went with Five Brothers. Stout, well behaved, quite one-dimensional. ipe:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Billy Budd in a latakia dedicated Falcon during my morning commute up the mountain.

I haven't smoked Billy Budd in a LONG time and I really enjoyed it.


----------



## bluesman.54

Desertlifter said:


> Nothing wrong with a bit of 1Q now and again. Pretty darn good stuff, and well behaved.
> 
> And for the record, I went with Five Brothers. Stout, well behaved, quite one-dimensional. ipe:


True, but for years I smoked 1Q exclusively. This forum has greatly enhanced my pipe smoking experience by introducing me to a wide range of varied tobaccos and tastes. And I glad to have the record set straight. Thank you!

This morning as I write I am enjoying a bowl of Penzance in a slightly bent smooth briar Wessex pipe. Perfect for a chilly, overcast morning here in Iowa.


----------



## ProbateGeek

bluesman.54 said:


> My Good Sir - You Are a Champ.
> 
> I have been smoking pipes and cigars for 40+ years and I have learned so much on this forum in the four months I have participated. Pipes I knew well -- but now I am smoking tobaccos I had never heard of -- or were afraid to try as they might wind up a waste of money -- especially tins -- I'm more of a bulk man -- which only increased the risk. Some are "meh" but many have been wonderful new finds. Can't remember the last time I smoked 1Q. I now even buy tins -- Royal Yacht and Davidoff Flake Medallion-- but I buy them. (If they ever make RY in a flake and sell it in bulk heaven will indeed have come to earth!)
> 
> Ergo -- You Are an Official Certified Champ Sir.


Michael, I read right through this without realizing you had quoted @ me (thought you were gushing nice about someone else). The last 3 weeks or so I've been busier than usual (doing what? I dunno) or less productive with my time (more likely), and have been unable to keep up with puff threads - when I do have time to pop on, it's just to read quickly and not so much to post. As a wise man once foretold - no good will come of it.

I'll try to slow down and keep up. Old Dark Fired this morning in the meer was a good first step in that direction. Good weekend, gentlemen.


----------



## bluesman.54

ProbateGeek said:


> Michael, I read right through this without realizing you had quoted @ me (thought you were gushing nice about someone else). The last 3 weeks or so I've been busier than usual (doing what? I dunno) or less productive with my time (more likely), and have been unable to keep up with puff threads - when I do have time to pop on, it's just to read quickly and not so much to post. As a wise man once foretold - no good will come of it.
> 
> I'll try to slow down and keep up. Old Dark Fired this morning in the meer was a good first step in that direction. Good weekend, gentlemen.


 @ProbateGeek Being busy can be good. But slowing down to enjoy a pipe of fine tobacco or a fine cigar renenergizes and recharges us. Don't be so busy that you don't take some time for yourself Friend. You'll be more productive during the times when you are busy if you take time for yourself. And then something good will come from it!


----------



## bluesman.54

Began the morning with a bowl of Stonehaven in a slightly bent Chacom Gold #256 . Now I have moved on to a bowl of Penzance in a slightly bent Chacom Regate # 845. Up next I am thinking HH ODF -- in a Wessex, but haven't decided exactly which one. Back to writing. Have a great day Puffers!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Five Brothers in a cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## MarkC

Astley's No. 109. Not one of my 'top three' Virginias, but perfectly fine.


----------



## Desertlifter

Up at 0400 for dayshift at the patrol, I found myself ready early.

My morning bowl of ABF in the Sav was accompanied first by a crisp late summer morning as I watched a set of clouds roll east from Mt. Adams, then by weekend jazz on NPR.

Made working dayshift actually tolerable.


----------



## freestoke

No golf today. out: We're experiencing an English weather event. I should be smoking an English, like Royal Yacht today, but alas, I'm fresh out. The Mac Baren Navy Flake is now officially done, rounding down to full bowls as I post, burning in the 4Dot. The rest of it goes into the Golf Mix.

Note that "golf" in the first sentence fragment of this post is a noun. In other words, there will be no "golf", just as there is no orangutan in my living room at the moment. I have encountered annoying, ungrammatical use of the word "golf" on, of all places, The Golf Channel, forcing me to put them right, right here, where the whole world can see their ignorance and folly. I care not what the Scots say, or what etymology has to offer, "golf" is a noun, not a verb. One does not football or tennis or baseball, one plays it. You play golf, you do not golf. Football player, tennis player, baseball player...okay, I give you "golfer". And a golfer is called a player, too, but idiom calls for "player of the gaemmme". (That's Scottish Esperanto. :smile In my world (the only correct one, of course, because, as somebody's avitar states, "I have a pipe."), you might have played golf today, but you have never golfed in your life -- nor have I orangutaned.


----------



## Nachman

Freestoke, the jury is still out on that one. We need a note from Audry confirming that you have never orangutaned.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Freestoke, the jury is still out on that one. We need a note from Audry confirming that you have never orangutaned.


:biglaugh:


----------



## BrSpiritus

Day off today with the wife working so I have the place to myself. I think a bowl of Capstan Blue in Bing's Favorite is in order while I continue with the restoration of my latest Ebay find (1960's Kaywoodie Standard Medium Billard with an extended stem $5 with shipping) and finish watching the Soviet Storm series about WWII in Russia...


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## freestoke

Some days have a cheery news blip to brighten my mood, and this is such a day. :mrgreen: "Health care providers are seeing an increase in "walking while texting" accidents, with terrible injuries undermining the "viral" explosion of tragi-comic trips, pratfalls, and collisions." Almost as satisfying as snowmobile accident reports. I live for schadenfreude. 

And I'm really liking this fill method, wherein I take a coin of SRT, wad it up tight into a PA-coated musketball, and cram it into the Legend. Yummy and sturdy.


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## El wedo del milagro

GLP Union Square again. It's every bit as good as last night. Sweet flavors, spicy flavors, and dark almost "meaty" flavors.

I need to buy a stack of these tins and see what it's like in a few years.


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## BrSpiritus

El wedo del milagro said:


> I need to buy a stack of these tins and see what it's like in a few years.


I just finished a tin from 2009, in a word, incredible!


----------



## steinr1

Dunhill London Mixture in a small, slightly bent, Kiko Meerschaum Bulldog. This pipe is starting to colour up nicely (in the African meerschaum styley.)


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Anni Kake in a brand new MM Great Dane egg

The new cob is stealing the fruity flavors and much of the sweetness but none of the pepper.
It tastes like a nondescript pepperbomb at this point with corny undertones


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## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> The new cob is stealing the fruity flavors and much of the sweetness but none of the pepper.
> It tastes like a nondescript pepperbomb at this point with corny undertones


Sounding more and more like you burned out the pine insert before it was charred over or something. I never smoke a cob down to the bottom at first; the minute I taste turpentine, I dump the bowl. The chamber gradually chars up enough to smoke a full bull, while ash and tar fill it in through the cracks and it becomes like a normal pipe. Burn the stem out early and you wind up with a pipe that has the equivalent of a too-high drill and you have to resort to pipe mud or something.

Having a 4Dot and some PA to start the day, which promises to be a bit warmer and playable for a change. After yesterday's work at the range, I expect big things. That half an hour of practice should do wonders for my iron play.


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## Marlow

Five Brothers in Savinelli Gaius Smooth 641 KS.


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## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> Sounding more and more like you burned out the pine insert before it was charred over or something. I never smoke a cob down to the bottom at first; the minute I taste turpentine, I dump the bowl. The chamber gradually chars up enough to smoke a full bull, while ash and tar fill it in through the cracks and it becomes like a normal pipe. Burn the stem out early and you wind up with a pipe that has the equivalent of a too-high drill and you have to resort to pipe mud or something.


Naw, I haven't even made it to the bottom of the bowl the first time on this one. I'm just smoking tobacco-against-raw-cob. I've got three of these things to break in before I switch back to the old standby so I'm suffering thru it all at once. With the ceramic inner tube, they don't burn the stem at all for some reason. When you get close to the bottom, the pipe simply won't stay lit anymore. There is a lot of dottle left in these cobs though... I'm working on another improvement to combat that.  Going to try the idea out on a $4.00 Pride before I take a chance of ruining anything nicer.


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## freestoke

If I might be so bold, Your Imperial Majesty (had to look up the proper honorific :smile, I would experiment with lighter filling. Too much tobacco in the pipe leads to too much moisture building up in the lower layers and creating an impenetrable, fireproof wad at the bottom. A mound of tobacco on a gravity fill, pushed in from the sides without pushing into the bowl with fingers or thumb gives a good start, with an assiduous use of the tamper (preferably wood) to achieve a perfect draw.

Loading up a cob with a coin of SRT and some PA for the burn. p


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## MarkC

I'm smoking another bowl of Astley's No. 109, but actually I'm just posting to make sure my new avatar works...


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## Marlow

Just tried Hamborger Veermaster for the first time, It could become my favourite virginia if it tastes like this throughout the tin.


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## steinr1

freestoke said:


> Burn the stem out early and you wind up with a pipe that has the equivalent of a too-high drill and you have to resort to pipe mud or something.


Like the patented Stein Supercob with Bruyere Veritable Insert. Highly recommended.

btw - With all my effort going into promoting *ROBERT LEWIS TREE MIXTURE*, I don't appear to have had time for a pipe this morning (Late SitRep). I smoked a couple of half Toscano Antico cigars instead. Splendid.


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## bluesman.54

PA in an old rusitcated Sav Hercules #606 . It's writing day and PA is perfect for this work. I hope your practice pays off as you supect Jim. Have a great day on the links.


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## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> If I might be so bold, Your Imperial Majesty (had to look up the proper honorific :smile, I would experiment with lighter filling. Too much tobacco in the pipe leads to too much moisture building up in the lower layers and creating an impenetrable, fireproof wad at the bottom. A mound of tobacco on a gravity fill, pushed in from the sides without pushing into the bowl with fingers or thumb gives a good start, with an assiduous use of the tamper (preferably wood) to achieve a perfect draw.


Thou mayest haveth a point, oh great Sotweed Golf-Course Guru.

I tend to pack in 'just a little more for good measure' and I am getting a wet mess in the bottom.
I have no idea how to do this gravity fill of which you speak. These are the terrible limitations of impersonal, intergalactic, internet communications: I cannot figure a way to hand the thing to you and say "here, pack this for me" or "show me how you did that"


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## ProbateGeek

Emperor Zurg said:


> . . . I have no idea how to do this gravity fill of which you speak.


Our resident pro gave me the gravity fill lecture way back when, which got me my first perfect bowl. Here's Jim's advice, to which I've added a few of my own edits, based on my experience (YMMV):

"My guess is the pack is still too tight. Just to be sure I'm right about this, I am right now smoking a cob with a pure "gravity fill". First, put a couple of bowls of tobacco on a paper plate or empty box lid, and let it sit for about 30 minutes. This is more time than needed, but helps a great deal towards your first really good smoke. When sufficiently dried, put the tobacco in the pipe and only tap the side of the pipe to let the tobacco settle into the bowl -- NO packing at all. Fill it to the top, do not pack at all. Tap, fill, tap, fill, tap - it'll end up right up to the rim of the bowl. Now, apply the lit match while taking short light puffs. The first light (called the false light or charring light) should go completely from wall to wall. If not, try again after letting the tobacco dry out a bit more. After smoothing the surface with your tamper (no, NOT packing it down), relight. Once again, the ember should go from wall to wall. Once it's going, tamp it down ever so slightly, letting the weight of the tamper do the work. There will be very little resistance to these tamps. Continue smoking slowly with frequent, very light tamps. This bowl will last no longer than 15 minutes, probably less, because there's very little tobacco in there and it will burn rather quickly too. If all goes well, you should be able to smoke the bowl clear to the bottom, with nothing left but ash.

Now try another bowl starting with the gravity fill. On top of the gravity fill, put a little mound of tobacco on top of the bowl and push it down evenly without your thumb entering the bowl. Push the edges of the little pile toward the center and get the whole mound (more or less) into the bowl without pushing down past the rim of the bowl - think motion from the rim inward, not downward. Now go through the same procedure as above. With more tobacco, you might be up to 20 minutes or so. Increasing the size of the mound will put more tobacco in the bowl and get to a max of about 30 minutes, which is what a cob lasts for me for loose cuts, but I'm a very light packer anyhow."

Again, thanks Jim.


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## Emperor Zurg

ProbateGeek said:


> Our resident pro gave me the gravity fill lecture way back when, which got me my first perfect bowl...


I will have to try this method but a couple of questions...

With such a light pack, what keeps the tobacco from blowing out of the bowl in the wind? Or for that matter, all dumping out should your pipe tip over? Or is this something you can't smoke while driving down the road or doing other things?


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## ProbateGeek

Emperor Zurg said:


> I will have to try this method but a couple of questions...
> 
> With such a light pack, what keeps the tobacco from blowing out of the bowl in the wind? Or for that matter, all dumping out should your pipe tip over? Or is this something you can't smoke while driving down the road or doing other things?


I suggest not trying it whilst skydiving or during a hurricane, but otherwise I've not had any trouble.


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## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> With such a light pack, what keeps the tobacco from blowing out of the bowl in the wind? Or for that matter, all dumping out should your pipe tip over? Or is this something you can't smoke while driving down the road or doing other things?


First, it doesn't take much of a little push of extra tobacco to keep it from popping out of the pipe. Second, the idea is to have a starting point that is easy to light and get an ember going, at which point one uses a tamper (gently) to compress the tobacco a bit and improve the draw. It is far easier to approach a good draw, smoking while you to tamp, than trying to nail the perfect pack as you fill it. I go by a general rule, which is that a lightly filled pipe can always be made a tighter fill with a tamper, while there is no good remedy to a too-tight load.


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## freestoke

Turning to the 4Dot for a bowl of PA this morning, as I immediately begin grousing about the collapse of English, this time after suffering yet another "TAKE MORE DRUGS!" ad, this one for "Acid Reflux Disease". Although my degree is a bachelor of science (not arts! :nono in psych, it still was a pre-med degree, so there was a somewhat strict adherence to the proper use of words to describe physical maladies in courses I took. Somewhere here I have already vented my spleen over the redefinition of "addiction" to apply to everything from gambling to sex, but today the word is "disease". I'm sorry, I cannot accept that acid reflux disorder is a disease, no matter what the drug commercials say; it could be CAUSED by an underlying disease, say cancer or persistent infection of the stomach or esophagus, but it is not a disease, it is a DISORDER. Same with diabetes. Diabetes is not a disease, it is a disorder, in the case of Type I, a genetic disorder. Type II diabetes has more in common with repetitive stress injuries than with a pathogen like measles. Tuberculosis is a disease that causes bronchitis, for example, but bronchitis is not a disease in and of itself.

More coffee! :cp


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## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Turning to the 4Dot for a bowl of PA this morning, as I immediately begin grousing about the collapse of English, this time after suffering yet another "TAKE MORE DRUGS!" ad, this one for "Acid Reflux Disease". Although my degree is a bachelor of science (not arts! :nono in psych, it still was a pre-med degree, so there was a somewhat strict adherence to the proper use of words to describe physical maladies in courses I took. Somewhere here I have already vented my spleen over the redefinition of "addiction" to apply to everything from gambling to sex, but today the word is "disease". I'm sorry, I cannot accept that acid reflux disorder is a disease, no matter what the drug commercials say; it could be CAUSED by an underlying disease, say cancer or persistent infection of the stomach or esophagus, but it is not a disease, it is a DISORDER. Same with diabetes. Diabetes is not a disease, it is a disorder, in the case of Type I, a genetic disorder. Type II diabetes has more in common with repetitive stress injuries than with a pathogen like measles. Tuberculosis is a disease that causes bronchitis, for example, but bronchitis is not a disease in and of itself.
> 
> More coffee! :cp


I love your rants about incorrect use of the english language.


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## MarkC

Up bright and early (time for another trip to the doctor for "Noxious Chemical Injection Day" (don't celebrate-it's not worth it! ) so I'm sitting here with a cup of tea and a bowl of Astley's No. 109 trying to focus the eyes...


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## El wedo del milagro

Bird's Eye Flake in a MM cob.


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## ProbateGeek

1792 Flake in the Stanwell Antique - letting the meerschaum rest today after 3+ weeks of daily usage. I may soon be entering the market for another meer, which I've realized is hands down my best smoker.


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## freestoke

This is different. I have the Sasieni "Canadian" burning some old HV and grand it is. p Absolutely perfect moisture content for loading, perfect light, and I haven't smoked this superior piece of briar in MONTHS! "I like a Sasieni pipe." -- Prince Edward.

Using the big tamper for this smoke. Lots of tobacco goes into the "Canadian". And it's burning to the bottom without a relight. :tu


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## El wedo del milagro

PA in a MM cob.


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## MarkC

The last of the No. 109 tin.


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## El wedo del milagro

Freezing rain last night.

It took a while to clear the half-inch sheet of ice off my windshield this morning. The side window was frozen shut too. It took half my morning commute before the heat let me crack open the side window and have a smoke. A bit of Royal Yacht in it's dedicated bent acorn.


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## freestoke

Had a few bowls earlier. Right now I'm reporting for the Western region morning shift, while smoking a Legend of SRT, pretty much straight up, with a smattering of PA and HV crumbs.


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## Desertlifter

In a bit of a quandary this evening. 

For the morning bowl whilst enroute to the patrol I have narrowed things to Tambolaka, Bald Headed Teacher, or Shortcut to Mushrooms.

What to burn.....what to burn....


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## freestoke

The penultimate bowl of HV from this container. Pretty soon, I'll have more closet, floor, cabinet, drawer, and desktop space. :smile:


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## Desertlifter

HV is good stuff. 

As is this Bald Headed Teacher, merrily transforming to ash in my Bjarne Saucer.


----------



## Salty

Wow. I just finished a bowl of Old Gowrie in the Peterson. I forgot how amazing this stuff is.


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## Nachman

I got a new Sav with a giant, almost one inch diameter, bowl so I decided to dedicate it to mild to medium Latakia blends. I learned from dedicating another rather large bowl to Lakelands that there can be too much of a good thing. Had a big bowl of six year old Squadron leader in it this morning.


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## freestoke

I think it's still morning in Hawaii, so aloha kakahiaka! Another Old Mil and some more Dart Mix for me. Sheesh, Nick, you and your gigantic pipes. I feel like such piker with these cobs and Group 3s.  When I grow up, I want to be real pipe smoker, sitting immovable for 3 hours with a 6g load of Royal Yacht in a Group 5. p And an Old Mil. :beerchug:


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## Er999

freestoke said:


> I think it's still morning in Hawaii, so aloha kakahiaka! Another Old Mil and some more Dart Mix for me. Sheesh, Nick, you and your gigantic pipes. I feel like such piker with these cobs and Group 3s.  *When I grow up, I want to be real pipe smoker, sitting immovable for 3 hours with a 6g load of Royal Yacht in a Group 5*. p And an Old Mil. :beerchug:


Me too, the difference being the pipe and the tobacco unless I come across royal yacht sometime in the near future....but you get the idea. :biggrin:


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## steinr1

Nachman said:


> I got a new Sav with a giant, almost one inch diameter, bowl...


By ancient Ropp standards, that would need to be stamped "Medium".

This morning I had a Toscanelli Cafe - a great breakfast smoke with a coffee and mild vanilla/caramel aroma. Just finished a bowl of Germain's Medium Flake in a Barling Straight Rustic Meerschaum Apple. Smallish bowl but a long pipe with a lovely iridescent marbled green stem. Decent smoker that I don't smoke very often. I'd be pressed to describe the tobacco's taste more fully than "Virginia". It does have a hint of citrus at the start of the bowl. A good, honest tobacco with a firm dose of nicotine.


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> By ancient Ropp standards, that would need to be stamped "Medium".


Two things keep me from buying big pipes: vanity and English teeth. I need a smaller pipe that I can clench, or all is lost. Even when I didn't clench very often, merely to free a hand occasionally, I still didn't like doing that with a big pipe, say my Wade freehand. Just was not comfortable. The first reason, vanity, is because I have a head the size of a ball bearing (or bald bearing, if you like), and a pipe with a bowl than is larger than my hat looks silly.

Smoking a Legend full of Stonehaven. p More coffee. :cp I'll wake up eventually this morning.


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## Nachman

Smoked another bowl of Squadron Leader in my new Sav this morning and it went so well I called and ordered another Sav while they are on sale.


----------



## freestoke

The biggish Savinelli right off the bat, with a worthy fill of Stonehaven. Coffee tastes extra good this morning.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> ... I have a head the size of a ball bearing (or bald bearing, if you like), and a pipe with a bowl than is larger than my hat looks silly.


Come now, sir. I refuse to believe your noggin is the size of a ball bearing.

Possibly a billiard ball - the cue if you're hairless - but a ball bearing?
(Of course if that is the case, maybe a billiard pipe is just what the doctor ordered.  )


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## freestoke

Okay, Mighty Zurg, how about one of those old Magic 8 Balls, left in an attic and covered with cobwebs? "Concentrate and ask again" :faint:

Got a mix of ABF and Stonehaven going in the cob, scraps from previous loads adding up on the plate. Very satisfying, basic smoke. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Dark Birdseye in a MM Cob


----------



## freestoke

This might be the last small batch of the HV, but I'm smoking it. p Good coffee, whiffling a cob. Can't wait to get out to the course later. :banana:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> This might be the last small batch of the HV, but I'm smoking it. p Good coffee, whiffling a cob. Can't wait to get out to the course later. :banana:


I'm thinking of trying some H&H Marble Kake this morning. (Don't know yet if I will or not)
Have you had this one to compare to your HV?


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> I'm thinking of trying some H&H Marble Kake this morning. (Don't know yet if I will or not)
> Have you had this one to compare to your HV?


I think I had some in the Blind Taste Test, but I'm not sure. If that was MK in the test, I don't remember it as being particularly similar, but it would be faint memory at best. The HV is a medium sturdy flake and the MK was sorta fluffy, if memory serves, so I would have different burns the lazy way I prepare things. I don't remember the MK having as much nicotine, either, although HV isn't all that hefty either.

Think I'll have another bowl of HV in the same cob. p Pretty good whiffle! :tu


----------



## MarkC

I think you're misremembering; I can't imagine the word "fluffy" coming up in association with Marble Kake.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I think you're misremembering; I can't imagine the word "fluffy" coming up in association with Marble Kake.


Maybe crumbly would be a better description, sorta dry and falling apart. Maybe it was Plum Kake? :dunno:


----------



## MarkC

Crumbly and dry sounds right. All I remember was that if I tried to rub it out completely, I'd get shards in my hand...


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Hamborger Veermaster in a Dr. G Royalton


----------



## laloin

MK reminds me of sheet rock/dry wall. it sorta of crumbles into shards. Probley a good blend to cube cut. I haven't forgotten you either Mark


----------



## freestoke

laloin said:


> MK reminds me of sheet rock/dry wall. it sorta of crumbles into shards. Probley a good blend to cube cut. I haven't forgotten you either Mark


Mark -- shards. Troy -- shards. I did not have Marble Kake before. :nono: Burley Kake?

Just some PA in the CG this morning. Another beautiful day in store! If I get I around the front side in even or better, I'm taking a cart and playing nine more. I feel like a real golfer again all of a sudden and might scrape it around shooting my age before the season is over. :banana:


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## laloin

Not a fan of CBK. well pretty much any burley blends in general. Only Burley blend I do like is C&D Haunted Bookshop. it doesn't have that burnt chocolate taste. More spicy and body with the Perique, and the hay notes from the red virginia added. Go figure


----------



## Marlow

Robert McConnell Oriental in a cob with lapsang souchong.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

HV in a MM cob.


----------



## MarkC

HV in a Cavicchi bent dublin.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

HV in a Hilson Vintage bulldog.


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## Emperor Zurg

Marble Kake in a cob.
First time I rubbed it out and "let it dry" (got distracted and forgot all about it) for hours and it tasted like ashes.
This time, it's straight from the 'pouch' (ziplock baggie) and rubbed out fairly coarse. It's tasting much better.


----------



## Nachman

I felt like something topped this morning so I smoked a flake of University Flake. Now this is what an aro should taste like.


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## freestoke

I like UF, too. :tu But I'm smoking ABF this morning...left a few flakes out last night and they're about perfect. p

And I gotta say, Jack Nicklaus could be a bit biased. In the intro to the President's Cup this week, he proclaimed Columbus, Ohio to be the best sports city in the USA. (Or was it the world? :ask Hmm...no NFL team, no NHL, no NBA. I guess he means that the people who come to see his Memorial golf tournament pretty much covers sporting, huh? :lol: (Maybe Ohio State makes up this difference? :dunno: I'm not sure they're as rabid as say Alabama or Texas, though.)


----------



## freestoke

Finishing up the HV in a cob for my opening smoke this morning. Can't believe I've been up so long without a smoke! :shock: I'll try to catch up as the day wears on, okay?


----------



## Nachman

A giant bowl of Stonehaven. I am spoiled and I like it.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Instead of a bowl of something during my morning commute, I opted for a cheap-o cigar.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> A giant bowl of Stonehaven. I am spoiled and I like it.


:lol:

Got a few Erinmore Flakes to empty another jar, so I'm going for it. :smile:


----------



## bluesman.54

This may well be my last post on Puff. For some reason I have to sign in again for every single page I open and I have grown weary of it.

I have enjoyed our conversation immensely and learned so much for my fellow pipe smokers here. Thank you for your patience with me and all of your comments. You have truly been an inspiration to me.

I will post this same message on the three other boards where I most often post. I wish you and yours well and may you all acheive your dreams and then dream again and capture the momment.

God's blessings to you all. Good bye.


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## Desertlifter

All of this HV talk makes me want some.....HV. I think that I have a bit tucked away somewhere...

But for today I am cheating on my pipes with a very nice Berger & Argenti Clasico.


----------



## BrSpiritus

It's a cruddy morning here in NE Florida. Tons of humidity again and the threat of rain all day. At least the wife and I are off today. As I make my coffee in my 1940's biggin I'm prepping the last 2 flakes of Wessex Burley Slice. I don't know if I'll be ordering them again as the price has skyrocketed and since I was originally looking for an Edgeworth Sliced replacement I feel the Wessex came up a bit short in that department. It's possible if you read between the lines in their description that they were going for what Edgeworth tasted like in the Larus & Bros days rather than the Lane days I am familiar with. I intend to enjoy these last couple of flakes in my IRC Savinelli whilst enjoying a strong cup of coffee...


----------



## laloin

BrSpiritus said:


> It's a cruddy morning here in NE Florida. Tons of humidity again and the threat of rain all day. At least the wife and I are off today. As I make my coffee in my 1940's biggin I'm prepping the last 2 flakes of Wessex Burley Slice. I don't know if I'll be ordering them again as the price has skyrocketed and since I was originally looking for an Edgeworth Sliced replacement I feel the Wessex came up a bit short in that department. It's possible if you read between the lines in their description that they were going for what Edgeworth tasted like in the Larus & Bros days rather than the Lane days I am familiar with. I intend to enjoy these last couple of flakes in my IRC Savinelli whilst enjoying a strong cup of coffee...


One hot and humid summer spent in Orlando Fl, with the chiggers and mozzie told me never again. Would I spend any time in Fl without air-conditioning, and a cold beer handy


----------



## BrSpiritus

laloin said:


> One hot and humid summer spent in Orlando Fl, with the chiggers and mozzie told me never again. Would I spend any time in Fl without air-conditioning, and a cold beer handy


Ever since I suffered through Dengue Fever in 2007 the mosquitoes seems to find me unpalatable and hence leave me alone. Chiggers, you just have to know where not to go, they're more interested in the lizards than us. As for hot and humid we live in an old apartment and there's only aircon in the bedroom which we turn on at night, otherwise we're sweating under the ceiling fans. To be honest it doesn't bother me much after having lived in the Philippines for 3 years, I just get annoyed at the fact I can't dry out my tobacco enough for my taste.


----------



## Nachman

Anyone who has survived the Dengue deserves respect. To those who have never been in the tropics, it is like malaria on steroids with a rash and sore eyes thrown in for good measure.


----------



## laloin

wow Fl, has nothing on the heat index like South-East asia does. That's hot. Glad you made it through ok with the Dengus fever


----------



## freestoke

When I was in the service, '66-'70, they vaccinated us against everything they had a vaccine for except rabies, I kid you not. Yellow fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhus, typhoid, tetanus...maybe another 20 or thirty, including cholera, polio, and *dengue fever*. Sounds like a major bummer.  Good that you pulled through, Louis.

Yeah, the people around here complain about the heat somewhere around 80F. Amazing. While it wasn't "Africa hot", as Fox said in "Biloxi Blues", it was pretty hot around Newport News in the summer, and humid. I slept in the hall where we had the big exhaust fan on. We went to the movies to escape the heat as much as anything, and spent a lot of time in the drug store, the Firestone tire store, and even walking into the bank from time to time to cool off. I am perfectly happy on the golf course into the low 90s, and can tolerate it into the high 90s if the humidity isn't too bad. Any hotter, I need a golf cart or simply say it's too hot to play. I think we had about three days over 90 this summer, with maybe another three or four during the spring, so while I'm barely breaking a sweat, the locals are fleeing the sun in panic that they'll die of heat stroke out there -- this occurs at about 83.7F. We get the golf course to ourselves a lot, when the temp hits 85, which is splendid temp for golf, in my opinion. :smile:

And it was great out there this morning. A warm, southerly wind, at a bracing 25-30 mph made things very interesting. :lol: I managed 5 bogies and 4 pars, for a 41, but consider: I made a TOTAL, of 7 feet of putts for the whole nine holes. :faint:


----------



## BrSpiritus

Thanks everyone, I can assure it's not without cause that Dengue used to be known as "Breakbone Fever". Around here it's funny, above 85 and everyone is in the aircon, below 75 they're breaking out the winter coats. I have to laugh.


----------



## Nachman

Freestoke, We used to line up for dozens of shots and vaccinations every time they sent us anywhere (my left arm looks like a moonscape from the many smallpox vaccinations), but not for dengue. They haven't developed a vaccine for dengue. Deet is your friend.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Capstan Blue Flake in a Dr. Grabow Freehand


----------



## Gandalf The Gray

Tobias Lutz said:


> Capstan Blue Flake in a Dr. Grabow Freehand


That does not sound too bad at all Tobias


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Gandalf The Gray said:


> That does not sound too bad at all Tobias


I find this Capstan to be pretty decent stuff, but I'm still curious as to what the original blend tasted like.


----------



## Gandalf The Gray

Tobias Lutz said:


> I find this Capstan to be pretty decent stuff, but I'm still curious as to what the original blend tasted like.


I have not had the chance to try the Capstan. How does it taste?


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Gandalf The Gray said:


> I have not had the chance to try the Capstan. How does it taste?


I'm normally not a huge fan of straight VAs, but I like the grassy notes in this and I find it to be a nice balance of sweet and spice without being too overwhelming. C&Ds Exhausted Rooster in an example of a primarily VA blend that I find to be overwhelming, and this is nice and mild compared to that. I've read where people say they get all sorts of flavor nuances from figs to vanilla. If there is anything in there that I pick up on, I would have to say a faint nuttiness.


----------



## freestoke

I'd been without KK too long, so I refilled the "ready jar" and the Legend for my wake up smoke. p Been missing it bad.


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> I'd been without KK too long, so I refilled the "ready jar" and the Legend for my wake up smoke. p Been missing it bad.


Ah KK. The Royal Yacht of G&H. ipe:

Puffed my way through a few bowls of it this week. Lovely stuff, although I don't know where it will fit in my ODF/RY rotation.

For my part, I am on a long road trip starting tomorrow afternoon. My parents are moving to Hawaii in two weeks, so I am making one last trip to the home in which I was raised. Bittersweet? Oh yeah.

So to commemorate the event - which is coupled with a 4 1/2 hour drive either way - I have packed two of my pipes and:

Rattray's OG
Petersons Nutty Cut
Bald-Headed Teacher

Should keep me entertained.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Ah KK. The Royal Yacht of G&H. ipe:


I like that analogy. :tu Tempis fugit, Brian. Don't let the nostalgia ruin your smoking time, okay? :lol:

I'm actually a fairly new flake smoke (something close to 3 years, so my experience is limited), but I think I've decided that a lot of flakes are more amenable to ripping than rubbing -- at least for me, since I have a "classical guitar thumb nail", capable of cutting the threads into a hefty shag. Having my penultimate bowl of this jar of Erinmore Flake, in a Legend. Another beautiful day on tap! :banana:


----------



## Nachman

Since I got my new Sav pot which I dedicated to mild Latakia mixtures, I have been smoking Squadron Leader as my first pipe of the day. I have gone through two and a half ounces in the pipe, about half way to breaking it in.


----------



## piperdown

I dusted my pipes this morning in readiness for colder weather....lol
And, no, I'm not joking. My pipes and racks were lightly coated with dust.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

piperdown said:


> I dusted my pipes this morning in readiness for colder weather....lol
> And, no, I'm not joking. My pipes and racks were lightly coated with dust.


I see how it is Eric, we're just a seasonal pastime you take up when it's convenient :biggrin:

About to burn some Drew Estates 7th Ave Blonde in a Vauen Maple


----------



## piperdown

Tobias Lutz said:


> I see how it is Eric, we're just a seasonal pastime you take up when it's convenient :biggrin:
> 
> About to burn some Drew Estates 7th Ave Blonde in a Vauen Maple


Why, yes....yes it is!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Harvest on the Hudson in a Dr. G Duke


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Central Park Stroll in a MM cob.

Then my dumb ass wasn't paying attention, and I held the pipe lazily (bottom of the stem, rather than the shank) and snapped the stem clean off tapping it out on my shoe.










First time I've ever broken a pipe in a number of years of smoking.

:rip:


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> First time I've ever broken a pipe in a number of years of smoking.
> 
> :rip:


It's just the stem. :ask: Why :rip:? A new stem costs 50c or so, and that looks ready for a Forever stem in any event, if you ask me.

Coinicidentally, I'm smoking one just like it full of ABF.

It's a morning of encountering the mixed metaphors as I browse the news, and this one struck me as particularly odd and funny: "...playing his cards close to his chest." :biglaugh: Whenever I encounter something that stupid, I write the author off as an idiot and move on. :lol:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> It's just the stem. :ask: Why :rip:? A new stem costs 50c or so, and that looks ready for a Forever stem in any event, if you ask me.


You're probably right Jim. I need to chisel the remaining plastic out the shank since it didn't break off clean. I like the idea of a nice Forever stem, I just have a hard time swallowing the idea of paying for it. I can buy a whole Dr. G for around the same price ipe: I'll pick up a couple cheap cob replacement stems to have on hand. It is a shame to waste a broken-in bowl. Are all MM shanks the same diameter?


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> You're probably right Jim. I need to chisel the remaining plastic out the shank since it didn't break off clean. I like the idea of a nice Forever stem, I just have a hard time swallowing the idea of paying for it. I can buy a whole Dr. G for around the same price ipe: I'll pick up a couple cheap cob replacement stems to have on hand. It is a shame to waste a broken-in bowl. Are all MM shanks the same diameter?


All the same if they take the filter, but the unfiltered cobs are smaller. That's why a Forever stem fits most of the regular cobs, the Dips, Legends, CGs, Eggs, and so forth. You only need one stem for them all, just interchanging the bowls.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> All the same if they take the filter, but the unfiltered cobs are smaller. That's why a Forever stem fits most of the regular cobs, the Dips, Legends, CGs, Eggs, and so forth. You only need one stem for them all, just interchanging the bowls.


Brookfield Black Bourbon in a MM Diplomat, and also I just ordered a forever stem. :smile:


----------



## steinr1

freestoke said:


> "...playing his cards close to his chest." :biglaugh: Whenever I encounter something that stupid, I write the author off as an idiot and move on. :lol:


At least it's in the same general area. I've recently watched all three series of "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin". The boss character, C.J., throws out mixed metaphor after mixed metaphor. Absolutley classic series, very funny and quite dark (try "Nighty, Night" if you enjoy deeply black humour); very highly recommended if you've never caught it.

"Neither Mrs C.J. nor I got where we are today by being hung for a sheep as for three shakes of a lamb's tail..."


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Meatpie in a Dr. Grabow Royalton


----------



## freestoke

steinr1 said:


> "Neither Mrs C.J. nor I got where we are today by being hung for a sheep as for three shakes of a lamb's tail..."


:lol: I love the mixed metaphor, just not in an article that's supposed to be "serious", where the author is presumed to "know stuff". When the author tries to make a point with a metaphor and fails, it indicates that the writer is only marginally literate. I have a similar response to the misuse of words, bad punctuation, etc. They don't bother me much unless the writer is posing as an intellectual or an authority or an expert -- and then it isn't really much of a bother, since I immediately stop letting the writer bother me. :lol:

ABF in the 4Dot, crimped ala PA. I noticed the Filmore was bulging this morning. :shock: Never had any Filmore. Might have to go where the hand of man has never set foot sometime soon. :smile:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Union Square in a MM cob.


----------



## ProbateGeek

steinr1 said:


> At least it's in the same general area. I've recently watched all three series of "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin". The boss character, C.J., throws out mixed metaphor after mixed metaphor. Absolutley classic series, very funny and quite dark (try "Nighty, Night" if you enjoy deeply black humour); very highly recommended if you've never caught it.
> 
> "Neither Mrs C.J. nor I got where we are today by being hung for a sheep as for three shakes of a lamb's tail..."


I truly love Reggy Perrin, and the whole gang on that show. I believe I once wet myself listening to a party discussion regarding the weather in Peru:

It's like Brazil? 
No, I was in Brazil.

< pause >

What's the weather like in Brazil? 
Chile.

Reginald Perrin RIP.</pause>


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> :lol: I love the mixed metaphor, just not in an article that's supposed to be "serious", where the author is presumed to "know stuff". When the author tries to make a point with a metaphor and fails, it indicates that the writer is only marginally literate. I have a similar response to the misuse of words, bad punctuation, etc. They don't bother me much unless the writer is posing as an intellectual or an authority or an expert -- and then it isn't really much of a bother, since I immediately stop letting the writer bother me. :lol:


Wish I could say the same. It ALWAYS drives me up the wall when someone uses a term that they've obviously heard in use, but equally obviously have no clue as to the actual term or it's actual meaning. Last version I heard in 'real life': someone at work used the term "all intensive purposes". Yeah, they were offended when I laughed in their face, but tough shit.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Heirloom Cherry Jam in a MM cob


----------



## MarkC

I'm getting ready to smoke a bowl of Best Brown Flake. I can't believe it's been three years since I smoked this. I sure hope I don't like it; I'm starting to get my TAD under control, and this could blow it wide open again...


----------



## MarkC

Crap. It's good. Really good.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Drama Reserve in a Dr G during my commute up the mountain to work.

It was sublime.


----------



## freestoke

ABF in the Legend, followed by KK in the Country Gentlman. Looks like it could be the last day of golf for a while, judging from the forecast. Sometimes we get a few playable days all the way through November, sometimes not, depending on the snow. We got snow on Halloween night some years back and we didn't see the ground again until April. :faint: Heading for more KK.

I remember hardly being able to tell FVF and Best Brown apart. Any of you Virginia gurus want to enlighten my palate? :lol: The reviews don't seem to be helpful in this regard. :ask: I'm almost tempted to open a tin of each and transfer them to jars, just to look -- but I will resist.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> I remember hardly being able to tell FVF and Best Brown apart. Any of you Virginia gurus want to enlighten my palate? :lol: The reviews don't seem to be helpful in this regard. :ask: I'm almost tempted to open a tin of each and transfer them to jars, just to look -- but I will resist.


 Thanks a lot, jerk. I opened a tin of each last night while preparing a noob trade package, so I just pulled out both jars to compare them. Now I'm not sure I got the right lid on the right jar...

But seriously...

the BBF seems to be slightly lighter in color than the FVF (though I remembered it the other way around), but the tin aroma seems to be really close.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Happy Brown Bogie this morning in the meerschaum, with a skosh of PA. 
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY! 

p


----------



## MarkC

Smoking a bowl of FVF now. It's tangier and smokes a bit 'brighter' than BBF, if that makes any sense.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I was gonna pack a bowl of HV until I saw the Drama Reserve. Another bowl of Drama Reserve, this time in a cob.

This stuff is superb!


----------



## freestoke

Finishing a few scraps of ABF with supplemental KK, in the Forever stem-equipped Country Gentleman. The course was already wet, so the rain last night -- rather a lot of of it -- will push the course yardage up to around 4000 yards. :faint: Definitely the last playable day, maybe for the season, and just barely playable. Fifteen mile an hour winds. :faint: I feel the the bishop scene from Caddyshack coming on. :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

Good morning all! I haven't enjoyed a pipe in almost two weeks but wanted to check in anyway.

I was over in Ireland for two weeks on business and slipped away for a little sight seeing over the weekend. While I was touring through the Burrens area I managed a few bowls of Old Gowrie and Royal Yacht. Those were the last pipes I've been able to enjoy thanks to some sort of respiratory infection I brought back...


----------



## freestoke

Good you're feelin' better, Jon! :tu 

We forgot to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Oil Embargo of 1973 Wednesday! :shock: I have fond memories of the oil embargo, since I was driving a diesel at the time. There would be lines of cars wrapping around the block, which I'd drive past and cut into the station ahead of, with people screaming at me to get in line, honking their horns, flipping me the bird, while I serenely sailed to the rear of the station, smiling seraphically on my way to the diesel pump. Never had to wait even once. :lol:

Had a bowl of the new Golf Mix, with a generous dash of Peterson Holiday (Xmas?) 2011 thrown in. Smells REAL good now! :banana: Very nice tobacco for an aromatic, actually.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Repeat of yesterday's Happy Brown Bogie in the meer - should have had a bigger breakfast.

:wacko:


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Repeat of yesterday's Happy Brown Bogie in the meer - should have had a bigger breakfast.
> 
> :wacko:


The "happy" part of Brown Bogie is somewhat like your friendly neighborhood IRS agent. :spy: I'm breaking out a new reject MM Pride for the course today. The wind is something else, 17-25 mph.  I don't know...I'm thinking of skipping it. Almost too brutal to deal with today. Maybe some afternoon darts instead. :lol: I'll get to wheel out the new Dart Mix! :banana:


----------



## freestoke

I really hate following my own posts, especially since I did it yesterday on the afternoon thread, too. Makes it seems like I'm talking I'm to myself, but I'll check in with a bowl of the new Golf Mix to start the day anyhow. I think I need a little more Vitamin N this morning, though, so a simple cob of KK should be about right. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE Toasted Black Cavendish in a Graco Ocean


----------



## Desertlifter

Tobias Lutz said:


> DE Toasted Black Cavendish in a Graco Ocean


Good stuff isn't it?

Trying the Grand Central in the morning.


----------



## freestoke

Been smoking Glengarry Flake all morning. Up early to do the first pass of the bourguignon, a solid 5 hour operation. :faint: Three of that's in the oven, so it isn't THAT terrible, and it's almost ready to come out of the oven. Cool it, heat it back up later for dinner and add the mushrooms and onions sauteed in butter. I love bourguignon! :banana: Merely looking at it will raise your cholesterol 10 points. :lol:


----------



## ProbateGeek

Gleeful mix of Brown Happy Bogie and Kendal Kentucky in the meerschaum. Need more coffee.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Gleeful mix of Brown Happy Bogie and Kendal Kentucky in the meerschaum. Need more coffee.


Now there's a cheerful morning smoke! :tu Puts some hair on your smile. I'm having some KK myself this morning and some fresh ground coffee.


----------



## Stonedog

On the mend and able to enjoy pipes again. This morning was a very well rested bowl of Old Gowrie that forced me to take the extra long route to the office.


----------



## ProbateGeek

Back to Royal Yacht this morning, in the meer. So good, so good...


----------



## Nachman

I smoked Liz Mix this morning for the first bowl. It is better since it has breathed a bit, but still not my favorite Vaper. Maybe it will continue to grow on me and I will really like it by the time I finish the three tins I have.


----------



## freestoke

More PA/SRT in the Diplomat.


----------



## ProbateGeek

KK in the Country Gent - been a while.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Grand Central in a Dr. Grabow Freehand


----------



## freestoke

I set out to fill a pipe with PA and SRT, got to morning dreaming (as in, not awake yet) about the effect of various pipe shapes on intelligence, and wound up leaving out the twist. :doh:, but I am really enjoying this bowl of straight PA anyhow. I selected the Two Dot Canadian, thinking that the Canadian shape was suitable for literary activities, as opposed to a bent for math (Einstein) or a big billiard for emergency situations, say dealing with Godzilla (Raymond Burr) or trying to save benevolent creatures who crash land on Earth (It Came from Outer Space/Richard Carson).


----------



## Hambone1

Had a mixture of Prince Albert and Peterson's Hyde Park on the way to work today. Yummy.


----------



## freestoke

Hambone1 said:


> Had a mixture of Prince Albert and Peterson's Hyde Park on the way to work today. Yummy.


I'm still stuck on the PA/SRT train. p PA mixes with anything. :smile:

Good luck in the LTF contest, Shawn! (And thanks for filling in a proper entry form as an example. :lol


----------



## ProbateGeek

Royal Yacht in the meer this morning - I seem to be fairly set in my ways.

No good will come of it.


----------



## bluesman.54

ProbateGeek said:


> Royal Yacht in the meer this morning - I seem to be fairly set in my ways.
> 
> No good will come of it.


Sometimes good thing do come from being habitual. You know what you like, you enjoy what you want, and Life is Good!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

bluesman.54 said:


> Sometimes good thing do come from being habitual. You know what you like, you enjoy what you want, and Life is Good!


YAY!!! Michael is back! :dance:

A bowl of Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation 1931, courtesy of @Desertlifter in a no name briar with a hideous bass carved into the bowl ipe:


----------



## Salty

Exotique in my Peterson, with a cup of dark roast. Good start to the day.


----------



## freestoke

Almost straight SRT with just a few crumbs of PA in it. Gotta keep the liquids comin' with a nice strong smoke like this. :cp And I made the coffee extra strong, too, so I should be ready to rip by noon. :banana:


----------



## ProbateGeek

bluesman.54 said:


> . . . and Life is Good!


Yea!


----------



## bluesman.54

Tobias Lutz said:


> YAY!!! Michael is back! :dance:


Thank you! It's good to be back. Sometimes Puff works and sometimes it doesn't. Either way -- Life is Good!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

RY in the dedicated acorn.


----------



## freestoke

PA in the Legend ala Forever stem. I can't remember...seems that a poll here revealed that righthanders clench left and left handers clencher right, but that could just be what I expected the poll to show. I did just notice one other thing that might contribute to the favored side -- the dominant eye. Clenched right, it seems more distracting in the field of vision, and more smoke drifts past the dominant eye.


----------



## Marlow

I clench to the right 90% of the time, but it has to do with a tooth that had no new tooth under it, so my second molar from the front is very low. I don't know if that made any sense.

Edit: forgot to mention that I am right handed.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> I clench to the right 90% of the time, but it has to do with a tooth that had no new tooth under it, so my second molar from the front is very low. I don't know if that made any sense.
> 
> Edit: forgot to mention that I am right handed.


Yeah, tooth problems would definitely play into the choice. :nod: We need more stats! Just looked at the original poll, http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/293396-study-clenching.html, and more right handers do clench left than right, but the lefties showed their inborn eccentricity. :lol:

Left clenching some Stonehaven. Anybody who would like to flesh out the data base, feel free!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> I can't remember...seems that a poll here revealed that righthanders clench left and left handers clencher right, but that could just be what I expected the poll to show. I did just notice one other thing that might contribute to the favored side -- the dominant eye. Clenched right, it seems more distracting in the field of vision, and more smoke drifts past the dominant eye.


I hold my pipe in the left side of my jaw.

I am right-handed and hold a pipe in my left hand, and a cigar with my right hand.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> I hold my pipe in the left side of my jaw.
> 
> I am right-handed and hold a pipe in my left hand, and a cigar with my right hand.


Well, you can hold right and clench left or hold left and clench right. Raymond Burr held right and clenched right, for example. At least that's what he does in his clenching instructional video, *Godzilla*.










I'm still clenching left with Stonehaven.


----------



## Desertlifter

Meat Pie in the Bjarne saucer. Lovely stuff. 

I clench and hold left while driving to keep the pipe near the window, otherwise I pipe ambidextrously, if that be a word. When not driving I clench left and hold with either. Cigar right, beer left. Left eye dominant, fwiw. 

I shoot pistol from modified isosceles, prefer dry flies over wet, hit a slight draw with my irons, and strongly prefer single malts. 

There - assignment complete with extra credit


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> There - assignment complete with extra credit


Did you enter your answers in the data base? oke: (If you voted earlier, please disregard this message. :lol

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/293396-study-clenching.html


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> I did just notice one other thing that might contribute to the favored side -- the dominant eye. Clenched right, it seems more distracting in the field of vision, and more smoke drifts past the dominant eye.


I think you're on to something; that's the only thing I can think of to explain why my most common smoking position is holding onto the bowl with my left hand while it's in the right side of my mouth.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I think you're on to something; that's the only thing I can think of to explain why my most common smoking position is holding onto the bowl with my left hand while it's in the right side of my mouth.


Oddly enough, Hinson was one of the last replies to the poll and said, "I clench in my left and am right handed,* but I am left eye dominant *and also fire weapons with my left. Not sure if they plays into it or not. " This is reverse of what I was thinking, but he actually thought of it before I did. Not that I remembered when I made the observation on this thread, though.

I really wish I'd made that a public poll. It occurs to me we could have ferreted out the sinister smokers and known who the righteous smokers among us are. :lol: And being a Gemini, why am I not ambidextrous? :ask: Probably too early for thoughts of such depth and import, so I'll smoke a bowl of McC Anniversary to open the proceedings today.


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> PA in the Legend ala Forever stem. I can't remember...seems that a poll here revealed that righthanders clench left and left handers clencher right, but that could just be what I expected the poll to show. I did just notice one other thing that might contribute to the favored side -- the dominant eye. Clenched right, it seems more distracting in the field of vision, and more smoke drifts past the dominant eye.


Excellent observations, Jim - I'm right handed and clench left, whether driving or not. Otherwise, I'm with Brian and hold equally well left and right.

After many weeks hiatus, 1792 Flake made a showing for my morning commute. The meer handled it well.


----------



## freestoke

ProbateGeek said:


> Excellent observations, Jim - I'm right handed and clench left, whether driving or not. Otherwise, I'm with Brian and hold equally well left and right.
> 
> After many weeks hiatus, 1792 Flake made a showing for my morning commute. The meer handled it well.


I fired up some 1792 earlier, too, after not smoking any in a couple of weeks! :spy: As a matter a fact, I'm heading out with the Szabo walking pipe for another bowl.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm smoking a bowl of Drama Reserve in a Peterson Belgique.

This tobacco is wonderful. It is quite buttery, with a bit of sweet and a hint of sour in the background. I tried it for the first time a month and a half, or two months ago. It has become a daily smoke for me and I've smoked at least a bowl of it every day since I tried it.

Is there anyone out there that can suggest some other Oriental blends (sans latakia) that I might like?


----------



## Stonedog

50/50 mix of PA and 1Q this morning. I used a nice pot shaped Mason House pipe inherited from my wife's grandfather. For a couple of years now I couldn't bring myself to use it, but finally the time was right. I'm happy to report it's an excellent smoker and that fact that it has some history makes it that much more enjoyable.


----------



## Marlow

El wedo del milagro said:


> I'm smoking a bowl of Drama Reserve in a Peterson Belgique.
> 
> This tobacco is wonderful. It is quite buttery, with a bit of sweet and a hint of sour in the background. I tried it for the first time a month and a half, or two months ago. It has become a daily smoke for me and I've smoked at least a bowl of it every day since I tried it.
> 
> Is there anyone out there that can suggest some other Oriental blends (sans latakia) that I might like?


Robert McConnells Oriental maybe? Even though it is supposed to have latakia, some on tobaccoreviews seem to think it does not, while others say it is only there for complexity, and is not too much. I have tried it and liked it.

Also, the same goes for McClellands Jubilee, which I have but have not tried.

Edit: Maybe McClellands Tudor Castle?


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Thanks for the suggestions, Per!


----------



## Marlow

My pleasure, hope I can help even with my meager experience. :smile:


----------



## Salty

Solani Silver Flake in my Bjarne Viking. I have been fairly ambivalent about this tobacco, but this morning I got some really nice sweetness that I have not noticed before. The Kentucky is also much more noticeable in this bowl. Must be growing on me.

Happy Wednesday!


----------



## freestoke

Today is when the media shows that they don't know what Halloween means. Everybody who's anybody knows that it's All Hallow's Eve or Hallowe'en, among other variations, and had origins in Samhain, a Gaelic festival marking the end of the year. I've only been up for an hour and I've already heard "Halloween Eve" twice. :tsk: That would make December 23 Xmas Eve Eve, I suppose. :lol: (My favorite redundancy is the La Brea tar pits, which translates to "the tar pit tar pits".)

Gonna start right off with PA and the final scraps of Anniversary 2010 and pretty strong coffee. Dreary out, but not as cold as it has been. More rain coming up. Been a very wet fall so far.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Today is when the media shows that they don't know what Halloween means. Everybody who's anybody knows that it's All Hallow's Eve or Hallowe'en, among other variations, and had origins in Samhain, a Gaelic festival marking the end of the year. I've only been up for an hour and I've already heard "Halloween Eve" twice. :tsk: That would make December 23 Xmas Eve Eve, I suppose. :lol: (My favorite redundancy is the La Brea tar pits, which translates to "the tar pit tar pits".)
> 
> Gonna start right off with PA and the final scraps of Anniversary 2010 and pretty strong coffee. Dreary out, but not as cold as it has been. More rain coming up. Been a very wet fall so far.


I recently heard somebody say 'descend down'. 'Fly through the air' is one I like. Also recently heard 'consecutively in a row' in some sport context. Now, remember that I'm not a native english speaker, but that last one can't be right can it?

When it comes to tautologies and place names there is the classic Torpenhow Hill which means 'Hillhillhill Hill'.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> I recently heard somebody say 'descend down'. 'Fly through the air' is one I like. Also recently heard 'consecutively in a row' in some sport context. Now, remember that I'm not a native english speaker, but that last one can't be right can it?
> 
> When it comes to tautologies and place names there is the classic* Torpenhow Hill which means 'Hillhillhill Hill'.*


:biglaugh:

Nope, "consecutively in a row" doesn't work in any language that I'm aware of. And I just read a headline with "Bosphorus" spelled "Bosporos". Yeah, "Bosporos" is okay, but...but...it's "BOSPHORUS", dammit!! :rant:

Gonna hit the straight KK, the Low Nicotine Warning Light is on.


----------



## Stonedog

This morning it was PA/1Q mix enjoyed at a leisurely pace in the Edward's Bulldog. Pleasant way to start the day.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

How about Co-conspirators? Doesn't the act of 'conspiring' generally require 2 or more people? Aren't they all just 'conspirators'?

I've been taking mornings off from tabaccy. Might try some Tambo this afternoon though if time permits.


----------



## freestoke

Irregardless (har har -- the spellchecker doesn't flag it! :biglaugh. Edwin Newman pointed out a couple of beauties (I think in *Strictly Speaking*): fist punch and head butt, likening them to a foot kick and a knee knee. :lol:

As to "co-conspirators", the "co-" narrows it down to conspiring on the same conspiracy, as opposed to a conspirators' convention, sort of like workers and co-workers.

I have to open something. I think I saw a can of FVF that could use a little smoking, but at the moment I'm finishing the 1792.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Irregardless (har har -- the spellchecker doesn't flag it! :biglaugh. Edwin Newman pointed out a couple of beauties (I think in *Strictly Speaking*): fist punch and head butt, likening them to a foot kick and a knee knee. :lol:
> 
> As to "co-conspirators", the "co-" narrows it down to conspiring on the same conspiracy, as opposed to a conspirators' convention, sort of like workers and co-workers.
> 
> I have to open something. I think I saw a can of FVF that could use a little smoking, but at the moment I'm finishing the 1792.


First and foremost, I will begin by saying that in my opinion, I consider it a necessary requirement to reiterate again that I love freestokes posts about language.

Now, I'm going to smoke a bowl of Dark Birdseye in a MM Diplomat. It should be in my close proximity somewhere...


----------



## freestoke

Thanks, Per, but I'm forced to correct myself! I'm going with Bosporos from now on! It's Βόσπορος, in Homeric Greek, so of course that makes it indisputably Bosporos in English as well. For some reason I was trying to find an etymology relating to "phosphorus" to validate "Bosphorus" but now realize that's not going to cut it.  How the hell did it ever turn into "Bosphorus" anyhow? :ask: Since when does Bulgarian have anything to say about how it's pronounced or written? :sl I have been misled on this for decades, apparently. :dunno:

Just the last of the 1792 scraps and some PA to fill the load.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Thanks, Per, but I'm forced to correct myself! I'm going with Bosporos from now on! It's Βόσπορος, in Homeric Greek, so of course that makes it indisputably Bosporos in English as well. For some reason I was trying to find an etymology relating to "phosphorus" to validate "Bosphorus" but now realize that's not going to cut it.  How the hell did it ever turn into "Bosphorus" anyhow? :ask: Since when does Bulgarian have anything to say about how it's pronounced or written? :sl I have been misled on this for decades, apparently. :dunno:
> 
> Just the last of the 1792 scraps and some PA to fill the load.


I forgive you. :wink:

But don't tell me you missed that my last post was a masterpiece of redundancy? :ask: :frown:


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> I forgive you. :wink:
> 
> But don't tell me you missed that my last post was a masterpiece of redundancy? :ask: :frown:


"Close proximity" was a nice little flourish! :tu


----------



## Er999

Marlow said:


> I forgive you. :wink:
> 
> But don't tell me you missed that my last post was a masterpiece of redundancy? :ask: :frown:


Looked back at that post and figured it out. :lol:


----------



## MarkC

Marlow said:


> Also recently heard 'consecutively in a row' in some sport context.


Sports announcers are usually good for at least one good example of garbled language per broadcast; I think it's in their contract.


----------



## ProbateGeek

I once heard I guy say he "literally bent over backwards" for someone. . . sounded painful.


----------



## Stonedog

Well, I just had a re-look at this thread again. I have to say I learned something new. Good to see everyone really flushing out the details of this garbled language phenomenon. Supposably this will help all of us with the grammar we communicate with.

(Before Jim jumps on my case I'm actually poking fun at a few of the management types I work with)

Royal Yacht in the Country Gentleman this morning. And it must be Halloween, I saw a landscaper dressed as Beetlejuice on a riding mower two office parks over.


----------



## Marlow

MarkC said:


> Sports announcers are usually good for at least one good example of garbled language per broadcast; I think it's in their contract.


I think you are right.

Now, different language, but there is a football team in Italy that is called Cagliari, and everytime this swedish announcer says the name of the club, he says 'Calgary'. I always found that interesting. And years later, he still does it.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Sports announcers are usually good for at least one good example of garbled language per broadcast; I think it's in their contract.


Speaking of sports announcers, I've been able to avoid hearing who won the World Series so far. I've actually been able to not find out at all a couple years since 1994, when baseball ceased to exist for me. Once a big baseball fan, the strike showed the complete indifference of the players to the fans, or even to the history of the game itself. (Not that I was on the side of the owners. :nono I have not watched a single MLB game since, and even leave the room if other people are watching a game on TV. I have come to hate both the game and the players now, about the only joy I get from it being to read about players squirming under Congressional questioning, trying to figure out a new way to lie about pumping up on steroids, and cheering when I see them arrested for DWI, weapons violations, or anything else that takes their money or makes their lives miserable. I only bring this up, because the front page headline merely says, "CHAMPS!", and no further information! :banana:

Big rain today! I'll be emptying a jar of HH Mature Virginia -- off goes another head! p


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Speaking of sports announcers, I've been able to avoid hearing who won the World Series so far. I've actually been able to not find out at all a couple years since 1994, when baseball ceased to exist for me. Once a big baseball fan, the strike showed the complete indifference of the players to the fans, or even to the history of the game itself. (Not that I was on the side of the owners. :nono I have not watched a single MLB game since, and even leave the room if other people are watching a game on TV. I have come to hate both the game and the players now, about the only joy I get from it being to read about players squirming under Congressional questioning, trying to figure out a new way to lie about pumping up on steroids, and cheering when I see them arrested for DWI, weapons violations, or anything else that takes their money or makes their lives miserable. I only bring this up, because the front page headline merely says, "CHAMPS!", and no further information! :banana:
> 
> Big rain today! I'll be emptying a jar of HH Mature Virginia -- off goes another head! p


I see where you are coming from, but these days it is the same in all sports. Sometimes a true loyal kind of player comes along, like Skipper Jones, and you just need to appreciate that, and get your fill. I mean, do you still like football? Or basketball?

Also, I really like baseball, but I don't like american football. The funny thing is that I find football boring.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Marlow said:


> I see where you are coming from, but these days it is the same in all sports.


You are correct sir. This is one of the many reasons I hate all sports and leave the room if a game is being watched. Pro sports is nothing but an industry these days and most of the players wouldn't give a fan the time of day. In fact they have security to keep them away. What a waste of time.

Still working myself up to try some Tambo...


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> I see where you are coming from, but these days it is the same in all sports. Sometimes a true loyal kind of player comes along, like Skipper Jones, and you just need to appreciate that, and get your fill. I mean, do you still like football? Or basketball?
> 
> Also, I really like baseball, but I don't like american football. The funny thing is that I find football boring.


I stopped watching football before I stopped watching baseball --just got tired of it. At this point, though, football is just silly, with the annual Superbowl halftime show a reliably excruciating international display of American stupidity and bad taste. I also make a point of not watching football games now, but I had stopped watching long before I came to hate it. (I have not even read a single post in the NFL survivor pool thread, for example. :lol I never did really identify with basketball and actively dislike hockey; I have NEVER watched hockey at all, other than the Olympics, but they don't have Olympics hockey or basketball anymore, as they've become merely pro all-star competitions.

More HHMV.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> I stopped watching football before I stopped watching baseball --just got tired of it. At this point, though, football is just silly, with the annual Superbowl halftime show a reliably excruciating international display of American stupidity and bad taste. I also make a point of not watching football games now, but I had stopped watching long before I came to hate it. (I have not even read a single post in the NFL survivor pool thread, for example. :lol I never did really identify with basketball and actively dislike hockey; I have NEVER watched hockey at all, other than the Olympics, but they don't have Olympics hockey or basketball anymore, as they've become merely pro all-star competitions.
> 
> More HHMV.


But you watch golf? Ehem.. :boink: Just kidding, I agree with you. But for me the entertainment factor is good enough, at least when it comes to baseball and basketball, and of course association football, but here some emotion actually get involved as well.

New pipe to smoke! Just got it half an hour ago by UPS. Five Brothers for this one.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> But you watch golf? Ehem.. :boink:


What kind of pipe is it, Per? Very nice!

As for golf, it's an individual sport, so no strikes or contract holdouts. I like tennis, too, but I don't watch it much. They play for prize money, other than in the Ryder Cup and other team competitions (which have no prize money, so they're playing "for free"). They make plenty of money for sure, with all the endorsements, but that's showbiz for you. And the announcers only rarely scream.

Yet another bowl of HHMV. p


----------



## Marlow

It is a Moretti pipe, my first impression is that of a very good smoker.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> I stopped watching football before I stopped watching baseball --just got tired of it. At this point, though, football is just silly, with the annual Superbowl halftime show a reliably excruciating international display of American stupidity and bad taste. I also make a point of not watching football games now, but I had stopped watching long before I came to hate it. *(I have not even read a single post in the NFL survivor pool thread, for example. :lol* I never did really identify with basketball and actively dislike hockey; I have NEVER watched hockey at all, other than the Olympics, but they don't have Olympics hockey or basketball anymore, as they've become merely pro all-star competitions.
> 
> More HHMV.


_le gasp_ how dare you sir?! :biggrin:


----------



## MarkC

Jim, you're not the only fan that was lost to the '94 strike. It wasn't a decision, I just found I didn't really care anymore when they started again. I was hardcore, too. One of those dorks that would argue the relative merits of utility infielders and such. The bad part? I was a lifelong Braves fan; if I could have just held on a little longer...

(By the way, I gave up on football in 1980, and I'm _in_ the Survivor pool. )


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Jim, you're not the only fan that was lost to the '94 strike. It wasn't a decision, I just found I didn't really care anymore when they started again. I was hardcore, too. One of those dorks that would argue the relative merits of utility infielders and such. The bad part? I was a lifelong Braves fan; if I could have just held on a little longer...
> 
> (By the way, I gave up on football in 1980, and I'm _in_ the Survivor pool. )


A few friends and I had season tickets to the 1969 Senators games and watched them finish ahead of the Yankees! We had great seats along the third base line near home plate and watched Frank Howard hit 20 home runs April-May (a lot at the time, pre-steroids) -- and then they stopped pitching to him. :faint:

Today I will finish the jar of HHMV, starting now. p


----------



## MarkC

Oooooh, '69 was a BAD year. I've had to hear about the blasted "Miracle Mets" my whole life; all I remember is the Braves losing to the bums. I think the strangest part about being an ex-baseball fan is when you hit the point that you have no clue who even the biggest names are, but when people talk about a coaching staff, you recognize everyone...


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I think the strangest part about being an ex-baseball fan is when you hit the point that you have no clue who even the biggest names are, but when people talk about a coaching staff, you recognize everyone...


:biglaugh:

I don't even know what the teams are any more, never mind the players. :lol: Let's see...Washington Senators, Brooklyn Dodgers, Milwaukee Braves, New York Giants...:ask:

Keeping at the Stonehaven, in a Legend. I seem to be smoking nothing but cobs lately.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Drama Reserve in a sandblast Sav Bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Er999

MarkC said:


> Jim, you're not the only fan that was lost to the '94 strike. It wasn't a decision, I just found I didn't really care anymore when they started again. I was hardcore, too. One of those dorks that would argue the relative merits of utility infielders and such. The bad part? I was a lifelong Braves fan; if I could have just held on a little longer...
> 
> (*By the way, I gave up on football in 1980, and I'm in the Survivor pool. )*


Good for you sir! :thumb: I don't really care about football but when it involves the chance to win some tins, well...you can be sure that I'll be in!!!.......and still strikeless! :biggrin:


----------



## bluesman.54

PA in a huge bent Don Carlos Fatta Haus. It's the weekend so I am writing, writing, writing. It a a beautiful sunny day here in the upper 50's. Farmers are harvesting non stop. I can hear combines all around me. Life is Good.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of FVF in a MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I have today off from work.

I started the day with a small bowl of Drama Reserve in a Peterson Belgique while getting the dishes done. It smoked to the bottom with only one relight, so I only had to dry my hands once.

Then I got the cat box cleaned, the house swept and mopped, and the laundry started while smoking a bowl of HV in a Hilson Vintage Dublin. The Drama Reserve left the "low nicotine light" flickering, and the HV turned it off.

Now it's time for me to drive south to Taos and get the next couple of weeks shopping done.

My wife has been in Cali with her sick mother (she is doing MUCH better, thank God), and will be home with me tomorrow. I can't wait. I miss her so bad. I'll gladly give up smoking in the house to have her back home.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's 7th Avenue Blonde in a Dr G Grand Duke


----------



## Salty

Needed a quick nic hit this mornig. So, I cut a slice of some black xx and chopped it up. Stuffed it in my diplomat without drying it. Having to relight of course, but who cares. It is a great way to start the day! I love the way this stuff tastes. Have a great day everyone.


----------



## freestoke

Going with some PA and 5B in a Legend, the 5B to kick up the volume a touch.


----------



## ProbateGeek

In honor of steinr1, I'm making this a Louisiana Flake (and Hedges) day today. Where did he go? He's not posted in a couple weeks.


----------



## Nachman

ProbateGeek said:


> In honor of steinr1, I'm making this a Louisiana Flake (and Hedges) day today. Where did he go? He's not posted in a couple weeks.


I sent him a PM a few days ago, no response.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Meat Pie in a MM Cob


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I sent him a PM a few days ago, no response.


We here in the US sometimes forget that people in civilized countries actually have time for vacations. Hopefully, Robert is basking on the Riviera, free of the web. Kendal Flake this morning. Wish I had more of it! p


----------



## ProbateGeek

freestoke said:


> We here in the US sometimes forget that people in civilized countries actually have time for vacations. Hopefully, Robert is basking on the Riviera, free of the web.


That's probably it - in any event, I'll repeat yesterday's tribute with more Louisiana Flake in the meer (and more Hedges!).


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> We here in the US sometimes forget that *people in civilized countries* actually have time for vacations. Hopefully, Robert is basking on the Riviera, *free of the web.*


Jim- no one who is free of the web could possibly be civilized- 21st century heathens they are :biggrin:

Drew Estate's Harvest on the Hudson in a briar Yellow Bole Checker


----------



## Salty

Finishing up a giant bowl of Stonehaven I packed the day before yesterday. It is still smoking well. I had planned to finish it up last night, but I had so much vitamin N up my nose I couldn't see straight. Ahh, nice way to start the day. Good morning to you all.

Heartily yours,
Salty


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Jim- no one who is free of the web could possibly be civilized- 21st century heathens they are :biggrin:


Damn. I'm trying to wiggle out of this, but you seem to have caught me in a non sequitur, Tobias. :lol: Can I guess instead, that he's taking a break from the demands of civilization, going all primitive on the crude, rough beaches of wild, remote southern France?

Got my first bowl going with Kendal Flake. I do love GH&Co.'s line of flakes. p


----------



## ProbateGeek

The 1792 Flake smoked warm this morning, I don't know why. I'm beginning to think it's not the best morning smoke for me - but give me a few days and my mind will change, surely. 
Happy Thursday, friends!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Dan Sweet Vanilla Honeydew in my new Zurg Glass Sipper Cob ipe:


----------



## MarkC

Astley's No. 55. This stuff is frustrating. The other virginia I'm smoking at the moment is Dark Star, so the contrast is taken to the level of absurdity. The pipe I'm using for the Dark Star is on the large side, I'll admit. But I can load up one bowl of Dark Star and smoke all I want from the time I get home from work until I hit the sack. With the Astley's, I'm on my third bowl already.


----------



## Marlow

EMP in Peterson Harp 05, I don't know what it is with this tobacco.. I usually love english blends, but so far I have never really enjoyed a bowl of this stuff.


----------



## James In NC

My new Nording came in yesterday. Oh course I have come down with a nasty cold. Hopefully, all the Wild Turkey I'm drinking will have me thru this cold quickly so I can enjoy my new pipe.


----------



## freestoke

James In NC said:


> My new Nording came in yesterday. Oh course I have come down with a nasty cold. Hopefully, all the Wild Turkey I'm drinking will have me thru this cold quickly so I can enjoy my new pipe.


Bummer, James! You sound like a kid with a toothache on Halloween. :lol: At least you're not looking at SNOW! :shock: Wow...about three inches last night. Was not expecting that, I assure you. :tsk:

Some PA/5B. Helps a little at least. out:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Instead of a pipe, I opted for a cheap cigar during my morning commute up the mountain.

I have a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake waiting for after breakfast has been served to all the guests.


----------



## ProbateGeek

The old standby, Royal Yacht in the meer, performing splendidly as usual. 
Welcome, Friday.


----------



## freestoke

Damn, RY again. :spy: I have GOT to get an order in to replenish my stocks! Kendal Flake isn't all bad, though! :smile: With a bowl of PA/5B preceding it, the Vitamin N Low Warning Light has finally gone out. Another bleak November day, chilly and drear, with slushy morning snow. :frown: But at least it's still melting! :smile:


----------



## bluesman.54

Paper plate special this morning a bent Cussano. Beautiful sunny, crisp day here in Iowa. Life is Good!


----------



## freestoke

The eleventh hour of the the eleventh day of the eleventh month! Armistice Day! (I assume that's GMT, so it has actually happened already as I post. :spy

Watching Crossfire, the most advanced demonstration of pipe clenching technique to be found in the history of pipe pedagogy. Watching Robert Young, clenching left and right with equal facility, brings tears to my left eye and right eye by turns. p Monkey see, monkey do. If you want to learn how to clench, just watch Crossfire and see how it's done properly. :tu I'd rate it an even better pipe clenching instructional video than Godzilla, which is saying a lot! A veritable tour de force.










Clenching a Legend left with a Forever stem, burning the last of the Frog Morton Cellar that El wedo Mark sent me in the blind taste test. Very nice stuff! (Thanks, Mark! :tu)


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> Clenching a Legend left with a Forever stem, burning the last of the Frog Morton Cellar that El wedo Mark sent me in the blind taste test. Very nice stuff! (Thanks, Mark! :tu)


You are quite welcome. The Cellar is my favorite of the Frog Morton series.

Yesterday I popped a tin of Firedance flake that my wife gave me last Christmas. It has a very good strong blackberry flavor. There are other flavors in there, but I haven't sorted them all out yet. I finished last night's bowl this morning.

The partial bowl of Firedance wasn't enough. I wanted a nice soft VA, but killed my jar of HV and didn't want to open another one. I have several tins of Marble Kake, so I popped one this morning because so many folks here compared it to HV. The Marble Kake is a bit simpler, and milder than HV, but is very good in it's own right. I will be interested to see what the other 8oz tins are like in several years.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Grand Central in a Medico Double-Dri


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Marble Kake in a cob during my morning commute.

I found if I crumble the Kake into small bits, but not fully rubbed out, I get a lot more flavor.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

El wedo del milagro said:


> I had a bowl of Marble Kake in a cob during my morning commute.
> 
> I found if I crumble the Kake into small bits, but not fully rubbed out, I get a lot more flavor.


I'll have to try that.
I've tried MK but I wasn't all that impressed.
'Course, then again, I haven't been impressed with any straight VA as of yet... Seems they all need a little perique to liven them up a bit for me.
Straight VAs usually end up tasting like dry ashes to be about halfway down the bowl... regardless of the particular cob I'm using. 
I must be doing something wrong.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

VA's will taste ashy if smoked too fast and hot.

Slow down, and sip it, and the flavor and soft sweetness will come out.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

El wedo del milagro said:


> VA's will taste ashy if smoked too fast and hot.
> 
> Slow down, and sip it, and the flavor and soft sweetness will come out.


That's me; always impatient and in a hurry 
Thanks for the tip. I'll have to slow down and try that.


----------



## freestoke

I found a clip from Crossfire, and while it is by far the least impressive scene with Robert Young smoking (which would be every scene he's in, BTW), you can at least see a little of his profound piping skills. Young drops in at ~1:40.






Clenching the 4Dot full of Tilbury.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Central Park Stroll in a Charatan's Make

Nice clip Jim! I've always been a Cary Grant fan (well, more my mother always has been), and I remember his lawyer in Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House had some pretty good clenching skills. Melvyn Douglas I believe.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Nice clip Jim! I've always been a Cary Grant fan (well, more my mother always has been), and I remember his lawyer in Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House had some pretty good clenching skills. Melvyn Douglas I believe.


Great flick, and Melvyn Douglas had a lot of pipe game for sure. p While his clenching skills were certainly more than adequate, I remember his part for the pipe gestures. Young doesn't often point, gesture, or use his pipe much for any purpose other than smoking; the pipe stays stuck firmly in his mouth as he delivers his lines, scene after scene, whereas Douglas was more adept at the pipe gesture. He employed the "hold on" gesture (http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...-smokers-dont-forget-point-2.html#post3428984), and I seem to recall him doing a great job of expressing schadenfreude as Grant comes to grief time after time: arms crossed, weight on the heels, one hand free that holds the pipe at a slant, and a wry smile. Since I've only seen that flick about a dozen times, you can forgive me for not remembering -- didn't the architect smoke a pipe too? I seem to remember him pointing to specs on the blueprints. :ask:

The most accomplished lighter of pipes has to be Raymond Burr, who tore a match from a matchbook, clenched right, struck it and lit his billiard on the open deck of a ship at sea -- first try. Confidently. Without any struggle or hunching, he stands tall, shoulders back, the pipe in a simple, relaxed clench, and fires it up with one match cleverly cupped in his hands to guard the flame from the wind. What a player! Olympian grade, but then you need that sort of self-assurance to deal with Godzilla.

Feeling inadequate as I light my pipe indoors with a BIC. Kendal Flake.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> Great flick, and Melvyn Douglas had a lot of pipe game for sure. p While his clenching skills were certainly more than adequate, I remember his part for the pipe gestures.


You know, as I read this I can see him hunched over Grant's shoulder using the stem of his pipe to go over the blueprints. I tried to get my wife into Cary Grant films- but she just doesn't appreciate them like I do. We're both in our early thirties, so I attribute it to a fundamental difference in the film (and music- but that's another topic) we were raised around as kids- since we missed the era when they were part of popular culture.


----------



## Longer ash

Good morning pipers starting the day with a bowl of royal yacht


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> You know, as I read this I can see him hunched over Grant's shoulder using the stem of his pipe to go over the blueprints. I tried to get my wife into Cary Grant films- but she just doesn't appreciate them like I do. We're both in our early thirties, so I attribute it to a fundamental difference in the film (and music- but that's another topic) we were raised around as kids- since we missed the era when they were part of popular culture.


I was trying to remember if it was the architect that did that or Douglas, but they both might have pointed to the blueprints in different scenes. Clenching the 4Dot diplomat left, smoking extremely dry Kendal Flake that was out all night on the paper plate. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's 7th Avenue Blonde in a Dr. G Color Duke


----------



## freestoke

As I ponder Robert Young's piping power, I wonder about our own accomplished Robert, steinr1. He last posted on 18Oct, but his last login was 24Oct. That's 6 days without a post, then nothing. Sounds like somebody hacked him off or he was overcome with boredom and swore off wasting his time, which would be better than other possibilities for his disappearance. :spy: Unless he's in the south of France, trolling the pipe stores for old Ropps.

Clenching the Legend left, with a substrate of PA and very dry Kendal Flake filling the rest of the bowl. And lots of coffee! :cp


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> As I ponder Robert Young's piping power, I wonder about our own accomplished Robert, steinr1. He last posted on 18Oct, but his last login was 24Oct. That's 6 days without a post, then nothing. Sounds like somebody hacked him off or he was overcome with boredom and swore off wasting his time, which would be better than other possibilities for his disappearance. :spy: Unless he's in the south of France, trolling the pipe stores for old Ropps.


The last post he made was to a thread discussing health issues and tobacco which, while not as heated as many threads on other forums, became slightly acrimonious. I hope he wasn't put off. I sent him a PM a few days ago, but have had no response.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Marble Kake in a Falcon while driving up the mountain to work this morning.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Dan SVHD in my Zurg Glass Sipper


----------



## Nachman

Tobias Lutz said:


> Dan SVHD in my Zurg Glass Sipper


It took me a while, but I assume SVHD is Sweet Vanilla Honeydew. I still haven't deciphered "glass slipper".


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Nachman said:


> It took me a while, but I assume SVHD is Sweet Vanilla Honeydew. I still haven't deciphered "glass slipper".


Nick- it's the name of an experimental cob that another Puffer came up with and was kind enough to send me for testing. Here is a link to the thread.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a cheap, but decent (20 months of age) cigar during my morning commute up the mountain.

I already have a Hilson Vintage bulldog packed with FVF for once I have all the guests fed.


----------



## freestoke

I am concerned about steinr1's association with the Pink Pipe of Death: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...smokes-having-smoked-moves-3.html#post3827581. Dr. Plume is also missing. http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...smokes-having-smoked-moves-2.html#post3798691. :spy:

Another simple bowl of PA, doing my best to master Level 8 clenching, which involves casually avoiding doors and and other obstacles while carrying a load of laundry out to hang on the line. p [Note that the emoticon clenches right. Statistically speaking, based on recent data*, the emoticon is slightly more likely to be a lefty.]

*Disclaimer: *We do not take responsibility for the accuracy of data, only the arithmetic*.]


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> I am concerned about steinr1's association with the Pink Pipe of Death: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...smokes-having-smoked-moves-3.html#post3827581. Dr. Plume is also missing. http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...smokes-having-smoked-moves-2.html#post3798691. :spy:
> 
> Another simple bowl of PA, doing my best to master Level 8 clenching, which involves casually avoiding doors and and other obstacles while carrying a load of laundry out to hang on the line. p


I assume level ten is running a full combat course without biting through the stem.


----------



## Longer ash

smoking a bowl of three nuns 1 of 2 that's left in the tin I don't think I have burned thru a tin as fast as I did with the nuns......must get more....


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I assume level ten is running a full combat course without biting through the stem.


And Level 12, the top of the scale, involves gymnastics, competition pairs figure skating, or Graeco-Roman wrestling.


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> And Level 12, the top of the scale, involves gymnastics, competition pairs figure skating, or Graeco-Roman wrestling.


When you accomplish this -- you must post a video for us! It is hard to contain my excitement at the rate at which you are advancing...or jealousy.....


----------



## Er999

Nachman said:


> I assume level ten is running a full combat course without biting through the stem.


:lol:



freestoke said:


> And Level 12, the top of the scale, involves gymnastics, competition pairs figure skating, or Graeco-Roman wrestling.


ound:



bluesman.54 said:


> When you accomplish this -- you must post a video for us! It is hard to contain my excitement at the rate at which you are advancing...or jealousy.....


:rofl:

Funny stuff!


----------



## freestoke

I started wondering where the Pink Pipe of Death might be these days, and having just watched a trailer from Raiders of the Lost Ark, had this sudden vision of it sitting in a drawer somewhere, throbbing, slightly charring the outside of the desk, waiting for its next victim, like the Ark of the Tabernacle sitting in a secret government warehouse. :spy:

Starting right up with a right clench (the right side needs more work) of the 4Dot Diplomat, with a PA payload. And fresh ground coffee this morning. Looks like another golf day in store! :banana:


----------



## JimInks

Up early for me, but there's work to be done, and I can't avoid it, darn it! So, I'm smoking Old Vienna in a 1979 no name French briar smooth full bend egg.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Firedance Flake in a Hilson Vintage Dublin during my morning commute up the mountain.

Wonderful blackberry goodness!


----------



## bluesman.54

Began the day with HHODF in a Country Gentleman. Wonderful tobacco for a day that is overcast and misting here in Iowa. Even so, with great tobacco like this I can still say -- Life is Good!!


----------



## Salty

Trying yo finish a huge bowl of B Leg Bear. I need to start being more mindful of the tobacco strength/ size of the pipe ratio. :biglaugh: I love the Bear, but a little goes a long way.


----------



## JimInks

Awake or so my feet claim. Might as well smoke! Angler's Dream in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Dunhill London Mixture in the dedicated cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


----------



## freestoke

JimInks said:


> Awake or so my feet claim. Might as well smoke! Angler's Dream in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard.


Looking at tobakrevs, ADream looks pretty interesting, Jim. I've heard good things, but I'm always leery of "Black Cavendish" for some reason. Seems like every time I run into that, it's a ghastly aromatic of some description -- well, not every time, but often enough to make me suspicious. :spy: A couple of reviews make it sound a bit like the codger burleys, say Half&Half or Sir Walter Raleigh. How say you?

Starting off with a clench left, Forever-stemmed Legend, PA topped with Tilbury crumbs. And more coffee! :cp


----------



## JimInks

freestoke said:


> Looking at tobakrevs, ADream looks pretty interesting, Jim. I've heard good things, but I'm always leery of "Black Cavendish" for some reason. Seems like every time I run into that, it's a ghastly aromatic of some description -- well, not every time, but often enough to make me suspicious. :spy: A couple of reviews make it sound a bit like the codger burleys, say Half&Half or Sir Walter Raleigh. How say you?
> 
> Starting off with a clench left, Forever-stemmed Legend, PA topped with Tilbury crumbs. And more coffee! :cp


It's much like an OTC, but I cant say any of them taste like this one, and certainly not H&H or SWR, the latter of which I like. The black cavendish is unsweetened, and I really don't notice any flavor from it. There's a lightly sweet red Virginia, and the burley is toasted and toasty to the tongue. There's a very light honey and cinnamon flavor to it, too. It's bone dry in the tub, and I find the flavors come out much, much more when you hydrate it. I don't like this tobacco - or really any tobacco - that dry. Because it's packed so dry, you really get your money's worth of tobacco. Absolutely no goop or chemical taste at all! The smell out of the tub is marvelous! Burns perfectly and the price compares very favorably to OTCs. If you're into anything resembling this, I do think you'll like it.

Now smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## Nachman

A giant Savanelli rusticated pot sitter full of Squadron Leader with about six years age on it this morning.


----------



## freestoke

Might have to get some! Thanks for the thorough description, Jim!

The 4Dot, one of my best clenchers, with Danny Kaye Mix. Tastes like a Dunhill of some description, not that that is bad. With the rain coming in, my quest to relieve myself of so many jars of this and that, I decided to burn through this as the rain rolls in and the temperatures start falling. An English sky out there, a low grey ceiling that totally obscures the location of the sun, suggesting that a little Latakia is in order.


----------



## JimInks

CD Blend in a 1980s made in London no name smooth straight apple.


----------



## freestoke

Bari Dana on the right, another splendid, wide-stemmed clencher. I am starting to really develop of fancy for Tilbury! :tu


----------



## JimInks

Charlemagne in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Central Park Stroll in a bent Willard


----------



## freestoke

Windy today! PA in a Legend to get things rolling, but I can tell I'll need something heftier next.


----------



## Stonedog

Two bowls of RY in the Legend this morning.

For those of you that aren't participating yet, check out the Super Lottery over in the B/S/T trade forum. You have a 1 in 35 (or 2 in 35!) chance of winning 30+ tins of 'baccy.


----------



## JimInks

Been busy helping m'lady get her projects going, but I've been smoking all long. Just finished South Seas in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer. Next is Angler's Dream in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through smoking CD Blend in a smooth briar calabash shaped Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier JR Fait Main with a horn ferrule.


----------



## MarkC

Finishing up a bowl of Dark Star I've been working on for 24 hours. This has got to be the cheapskates favorite blend! Seriously, if you've been piping long enough to have flakes down, give this a shot-the flakes are so dense, a bowl lasts forever! It's the ultimate cellar stretcher.


----------



## DanR

MarkC said:


> Finishing up a bowl of Dark Star I've been working on for 24 hours. This has got to be the cheapskates favorite blend! Seriously, if you've been piping long enough to have flakes down, give this a shot-the flakes are so dense, a bowl lasts forever! It's the ultimate cellar stretcher.


24 hours might be a record. Nice job! Dark Star presents itself as small flakes of shoe leather, but it tastes damn good!


----------



## MarkC

Well, I wasn't smoking it for 24 hours solid, but I bet I got four hours of smoking out of that bowl!


----------



## JimInks

Woke up to feed the kittens and helped myself to a bowl of Rekamepip's Pressed October Blend in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE Toasted Black Cavendish in a MM cob


----------



## freestoke

Been smoking Kendal Flake all morning. GH&Co. flakes are just so reliably good. p There is no better ash around, is there?


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Watching the yard lady getting up the leaves as I smoke Man's Best Friend in a 2003 smooth matte finish Karl Erik rough top freehand.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE Seventh Avenue Blonde in yet another MM cob ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Kendal's #7 in a 2013 bent MM Missouri Pride Legend. Next is Angler's Dream in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## Stonedog

More LTF this morning, in an _unfiltered_ MM CG. That's three days in a row and I'm almost through the sample I "won".

The wife and I are heading over to Atlantic Beach, FL for a few days next week. Just a little get away, but I'm already scoping out the local cigar and pipe shops. I've identified two already.


----------



## JimInks

Thought I'd smoke one more tobacco in a cob this morning: Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## freestoke

Guess nobody on the forum (at least that were around the past couple of days) have the slightest interest in astronomy or rocket launches, but I'll ask anyhow: Anybody see the launch last night? Visible from Newfoundland to Florida and as far inland as Michigan, one would have thought my post to the night thread would have drawn at least a comment along the lines, "It was overcast where I was." Or even, "Damn, I missed it!" Definitely bright enough to see even in a streetlit suburb even this far west, as long as you weren't at a night football game or something. I guess people south of here have seen a lot of launches out of Canaveral, but it was a first for me. Or maybe I'm the only amateur (as in rank amateur) astronomer still hanging around the forum. :dunno: I think what made it really fun, was that I watched the live feed (I posted the link), and the area I was in was Launch +60 seconds to hove into view, so I watched it blast off, casually walked out into the back yard, and sure enough there it was, right on time! :tu Stayed in view for a minute or two before it vanished. Hope the 29 satellites on board made it into orbit! (A record number of satellites in a single launch, BTW.)

Gonna start off with Kendal Flake this morning and see if I can dump enough coffee into myself to wake up before noon.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Or maybe I'm the only amateur (as in rank amateur) astronomer still hanging around the forum. :dunno:


I like astronomy, but obviously I did not see the launch. :smile: Sounds cool though.


----------



## JimInks

I wanted to watch the launch, but I was busy working and missed it. I still remember the thrill of watch the Apollo missions, and the moon landings. 

Sutliff PS Navigator Blend in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## freestoke

JimInks said:


> I wanted to watch the launch, but I was busy working and missed it. I still remember the thrill of watch the Apollo missions, and the moon landings.


You'd have been "right there", since it took off from Wallops Island, VA. Would have been pretty bright there I would think, as long as there wasn't an overcast.


----------



## JimInks

McClelland #5100 Red Cake in a 1977 smooth Rubino (Lorenzo) Oom Paul.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE Toasted Back Cavendish in a Dr. Grabow Duke


----------



## JimInks

Starting off the day with Virginia Woods in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg (Charatan second).


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE Meatpie in a MM cob. It's finally Friday! :biggrin:


----------



## JimInks

I know I'm awake because I'm smoking. Just finished smoking South Seas in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer. Next is Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## freestoke

Kendal Flake redux, the last of it on the plate ready for the Bari Dana. And another jar returned to circulation. I feel an attack of TAD coming on, probably during the depths of winter, when I need cheering up. :smile:


----------



## JimInks

1940s Prince Albert spiced with rum in a 2002 medium bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## Nachman

JimInks said:


> 1940s Prince Albert spiced with rum in a 2002 medium bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


How do you infuse the tobacco with rum? Just sprinkle it with rum, jar it and shake it? Or is it more complicated?


----------



## JimInks

Nachman said:


> How do you infuse the tobacco with rum? Just sprinkle it with rum, jar it and shake it? Or is it more complicated?


I myself would not do it, especially if I had tobacco from 1940. The tobacco in question was a trade sample. I believe he had the tobacco in a big bowl, and used a Spritzer, shaking up the tobacco in the bowl to cover it fairly evenly as he sprayed it.


----------



## freestoke

JimInks said:


> I myself would not do it, especially if I had tobacco from 1940.


Like making sangria with a bottle of 1940 Chateau Umbladee merlot. :nono:

Starting differently this morning, with some Tilbury in the capacious Sasieni "Canadian" rusticated Canadian. (Yep, a model "Canadian" Canadian. :lol The pipe is exceptionally light, as are all my Sasieni's. I even pulled out the Dunhill Shell bulldog to compare. The bulldog is bit squatter and thicker-walled, but there is still more wood in the Canadian, with a shank as long as the whole bulldog and a much taller bowl. Despite this, the bulldog weighs 46g and the Sasieni 34g. The Dunhill billiard I had in college was considerably "denser" than my Four Dot prince, and had that "Dunhill stem". (You have to be a big man with a big jaw to clench a Dunhill! :lol I almost never smoke this Dunhill, just because it's too heavy, just like the one in college was.


----------



## JimInks

Sort of awake, though I just finished smoking South Seas in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer. Next is Rekamepip's Pressed October Blend in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rockcob poker. Maybe I'll wake up with my second bowl of tobacco.


----------



## freestoke

Sometimes I feel like I'm on everybody's ignore list. out: Smoking some PA in a Legend, doing my morning codger practice. :lol:


----------



## MarkC

Did you guys hear something? :lol: 
A bowl of HV before heading to bed.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> Sometimes I feel like I'm on everybody's ignore list. out: Smoking some PA in a Legend, doing my morning codger practice. :lol:


Don't be like that, sometimes we might have other things going on for us, sending stuff to other BOTLs, preparing for thanksgiving/Black Friday/Christmas, and (of course) smoking awesome blends!!!! (In my case I'm thinking about what the other participants of the NFL survivor pool have sent me, and can't wait to pick up more packages from the mail!!!) Just give (all of) us some time to get the obligatory "got other stuff to do" out of our system....


----------



## Nachman

Smoked University Flake for the first pipe of the day. Hi Freestoke.


----------



## Nachman

:boink::


freestoke said:


> Sometimes I feel like I'm on everybody's ignore list. out: :


Says the man with over four thousand RG points.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## freestoke

Speaking of Black Friday, Eduardo, I just discovered that it comes from when retail businesses went "into the black" on their accounts, due to the Friday-after-Thanksgiving rush to buy Xmas presents. 

I just refilled the Legend with some SWR, continuing on to the advanced set of codgeration exercises, staring malevolently out the window at the snow, while I smoke, grouse, and guzzle coffee.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Howdy, Jim!

I smoked a bowl of Carter Hall in a cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.

I've been gone four days. A very good friend of mine just ended up homeless in Eugene, OR. I drove from Questa, NM to Eugene, OR, and back again in four days! The shortest day was a thirteen hour drive. He has two jobs lined up in Albuquerque, but wants to live in a nice small community like Taos. I'm sure he will find a job around here quickly.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2003 black grain etched Karl Erik Ekstravagant horn with a smooth top.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> Howdy, Jim!
> 
> I smoked a bowl of Carter Hall in a cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.
> 
> I've been gone four days. A very good friend of mine just ended up homeless in Eugene, OR. I drove from Questa, NM to Eugene, OR, and back again in four days! The shortest day was a thirteen hour drive. He has two jobs lined up in Albuquerque, but wants to live in a nice small community like Taos. I'm sure he will find a job around here quickly.


Yo Mark! :yo: You drove a friend to New Mexico!? :shock: You definitely get the Puff Good Samaritan Award for the week! I'm reminded of the joke, "A good friend will help you move. A real good friend will help you move a body."

More PA in the Legend. p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> Yo Mark! :yo: You drove a friend to New Mexico!? :shock:


Yep. I drove Carter, his fourteen year old dog (who I remember being born, and who had puppies behind my couch thirteen years ago) and his cat and the majority of his musical instruments from Eugene, OR to Questa,NM.

I have few close friends, but I will do most anything for them and my family.

Getting back on topic: I just had a snuff of Toque Bourbon, am about to go outside for a smoke of Marble Kake in a cob.


----------



## bluesman.54

El wedo del milagro said:


> Yep. I drove Carter, his fourteen year old dog (who I remember being born, and who had puppies behind my couch thirteen years ago) and his cat and the majority of his musical instruments from Eugene, OR to Questa,NM.
> 
> I have few close friends, but I will do most anything for them and my family.
> 
> Getting back on topic: I just had a snuff of Toque Bourbon, am about to go outside for a smoke of Marble Kake in a cob.


Mark -- you may have few close friends -- but you are a true friend to those who make your list.

And HELLO JIM -- HELLO JIM -- HELLO JIM -- HELLO JIM -- HELLO JIM and I agree with Nick "says the man with over 4k RG bumps...."

Carolina Deluxe in a full bent Caminetto Business # 154 as I am writing...writing...writing......Life is Good! HELLO JIM


----------



## bluesman.54

Mark, Nick, AND JIM -- I tried to give all three of you RG bumps, but the system won't allow me to do so. It says I have to spread some more around. I guess the problem is that I don't just give it out freely -- but only when I think it is earned. Such are the days of our lives....


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> :boink::
> Says the man with over four thousand RG points.


I guess I'm just insecure, Nick. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Mark, Nick, AND JIM -- I tried to give all three of you RG bumps, but the system won't allow me to do so. It says I have to spread some more around. I guess the problem is that I don't just give it out freely -- but only when I think it is earned. Such are the days of our lives....


I try to pump up the pipe side, so the cigar side won't pick on us. eek: We're like the skinny guys on the beach, with the husky stogiepeople kicking sand in our faces, those old Charles Atlas ads on the back of comic books. :lol:

Perhaps it's the semantic infection that is eating away my mind, with that nonsensical "all the possibility lies" placing a surd on my thought processes. It would certainly be a terrible thing to arrive in the future and have only half a possibility there waiting for you -- or worse only .0138 of a probability.

Okay, I said I wouldn't belabor this point, but I can't stop myself. "Possibility" is integer: There is one (are many) possibility(-ies) or 0/No/Zero possibility.

Can anybody make that Johnny Walker commercial go away? Civilization itself could be at stake, as otherwise intelligent people have their frontal lobes scrambled. It's like Mars Attacks!, with the Martians' heads exploding when they hear Don Hoe.


----------



## Salty

@freestoke... I'm sorry. What. Did you say something?

Just kiddin. I find your posts insightful, and enlightening. I learn a lot from what you contribute.

I am headed out to run errands with a cob full of Exotique. I am taking along my good friend Tom Buck.


----------



## Chris0673

Not sure what I smoked this morning. The writing on the baggie was unreadable. But...it was GOOD! Had a great smokey flavor and no bite. Kind of reminded me of 3 Oaks Syrian. Wish I knew what it was.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE's Heirloom Cherry in a Gatlinburlier house pipe


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## trenschler

The new 3 Nuns in my old Savinelli Roma bent brandy


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> It's like Mars Attacks!, with the Martians' heads exploding when they hear Don Hoe.


Nope. Not Don Ho. Not the "Tiny Bubbles" guy.

It was Slim Whitman's music that killed the martians. I guess they didn't like his yodeling and falsetto as much as I.

I just had a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake in a cob.


----------



## freestoke

I've been at the Elmo's Reserve all week. Almost gone it is. :drama: Smoking the last few bowls of Danny Kaye Mix today. p


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing a bowl of Bacchanalia in a 1979 smooth slight bend H. Jones Ltd. Easy Loader 391 Dublin. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> Nope. Not Don Ho. Not the "Tiny Bubbles" guy.
> 
> It was Slim Whitman's music that killed the martians. I guess they didn't like his yodeling and falsetto as much as I.


Yeah, I was shooting from the hip on the singer -- even spelled his name wrong. But I'm sticking by the analogy!

More Danny Kaye Mix.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE's Harvest on the Hudson in a Gatlinburlier house pipe. Only a three day week this week :biggrin: I'm dropping the turkey in its brine when I come home this evening. :hungry:


----------



## freestoke

I think my main problem with a brined turkey is that it's too moist, just like most people seem to like it :lol: (But that's more likely due to the way it was cooked when I've had it.) I'm "old school" on the turkey. Brined or not, I want it roasted dark brown, so that the white meat sometimes crumbles when you carve it off for sandwiches. Aluminum foil "to keep the breast from drying out" means "to keep breast from getting completely done" to me. Completely covering the pan in aluminum foil just creates stewed turkey, almost by definition, rather than roast turkey, and the two definitely differ in taste. Roast turkey produces a dark brown gravy, whereas steamed produces a lighter gravy with an almost completely different taste profile. "My kind" of turkey is found primarily in the South, but here up north the object of cooking is to waste as little time as possible on the operation, a kitchen philosophy responsible for producing such ghastly gastronomic monstrosities as the crisp green bean and rubbery boiled shrimp.

The last of the Danny Kaye Mix is burning in the Darth Rader. More coffee! :cp


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> I think my main problem with a brined turkey is that it's too moist, just like most people seem to like it :lol: (But that's more likely due to the way it was cooked when I've had it.) I'm "old school" on the turkey. Brined or not, I want it roasted dark brown, so that the white meat sometimes crumbles when you carve it off for sandwiches.


AMEN!!! I had that "moist turkey" once at a friends house. She was so proud of that turkey. I felt like I was eating raw liver and had to suppress my gag reflex for each of the bites I managed to choke down. Disgusting stuff.

But anyway, I was sitting here enjoying a bowl of Peacehaven, courtesy of Tenschler (Tony) with an old movie playing when I noticed a pipe rack in a scene. What kills me is that it's the dominant item in the scene, and I've never seen it before! And this isn't a movie I've only seen ten times or something, it's _The Maltese Falcon!_ I can't believe it. It's the scene in Spade's darkened apartment when he receives the call about Archer's death, if you're as blind as I am and want to look for it.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing Charlemagne in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Saint James Woods in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rockcob poker.


----------



## Marlow

ODF in my new Ardor Marte Fantasy.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> I think my main problem with a brined turkey is that it's too moist, just like most people seem to like it :lol: (But that's more likely due to the way it was cooked when I've had it.) I'm "old school" on the turkey. Brined or not, I want it roasted dark brown, so that the white meat sometimes crumbles when you carve it off for sandwiches. Aluminum foil "to keep the breast from drying out" means "to keep breast from getting completely done" to me. Completely covering the pan in aluminum foil just creates stewed turkey, almost by definition, rather than roast turkey, and the two definitely differ in taste. Roast turkey produces a dark brown gravy, whereas steamed produces a lighter gravy with an almost completely different taste profile. "My kind" of turkey is found primarily in the South, but here up north the object of cooking is to waste as little time as possible on the operation, a kitchen philosophy responsible for producing such ghastly gastronomic monstrosities as the crisp green bean and rubbery boiled shrimp.


+1 on all your turkey points!!
Furthermore (and IMO anyway) moisture in the meat should come mostly from melted grease, not water. The skin should be crisp, salty and delicious - certainly not removed and discarded as is the custom of the healthkooks. Leave my cholesterol alone! One of the reasons I love Thanksgiving and Christmas cooking is that almost every recipe starts with '... take 2 sticks of butter...'

And, although I detest rubbery shrimp, I do like my green beans just a little crisp 

No baccy this morning. Thinking of firing up a little P.S. Cherry Bonbon if I get the chance but it may not happen.

On a different note, where the hell has @steinr1 been lately?


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> I think my main problem with a brined turkey is that it's too moist, just like most people seem to like it :lol: (But that's more likely due to the way it was cooked when I've had it.)


I don't like mine dry, but I don't care for it to be spongy moist either :wink: My brine is a bourbon and maple syrup concoction that I let the bird sit in for a couple days. I'll then stuff the inside with a cheesecloth sack full of granny smith apple halves that are wrapped in bacon, peppercorns, and sage leaves. It'll go on the smoker for a couple hours Thursday morning with cherry chips and then into the oven for the final stage after I paint it with a glaze made of maple syrup, whole grain mustard, and orange blossom balsamic vinegar. The glaze makes for a nice crispy finsh.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> But anyway, I was sitting here enjoying a bowl of Peacehaven, courtesy of Tenschler (Tony) with an old movie playing *when I noticed a pipe rack in a scene.*..in Spade's darkened apartment when he receives the call about Archer's death, if you're as blind as I am and want to look for it.


Really!? That was on just the other day, but I'm sure it will resurface this winter, so I'll definitely be looking for that. I don't even remember Bogie smoking a pipe in that flick. :ask: Thought it was always cigarettes, but maybe that's the "vision" that I have for his roles.

PA in the 4Dot. MISERABLE weather! :frown: The laundry drain is already frozen. :tsk: It gets colder in the garage when it gets this cold without enough snow to insulate the garage door with.


----------



## MarkC

Yeah, he's only shown smoking cigarettes, but he's got a rack in his apartment. Plus, there's an additional pipe sitting in the ashtray in front of the rack. Sam Spade was as lazy as I am...


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> I don't like mine dry, but I don't care for it to be spongy moist either :wink: My brine is a bourbon and maple syrup concoction that I let the bird sit in for a couple days. I'll then stuff the inside with a cheesecloth sack full of granny smith apple halves that are wrapped in bacon, peppercorns, and sage leaves. It'll go on the smoker for a couple hours Thursday morning with cherry chips and then into the oven for the final stage after I paint it with a glaze made of maple syrup, whole grain mustard, and orange blossom balsamic vinegar. The glaze makes for a nice crispy finsh.


Well, there's dry cooked and dry underdone. The dry underdone is pretty ghastly, primarily brought on by cooking it at too high a temp, aka "hurrying". :smile: Dry underdone doesn't fall apart, but more resembles jerky. Whatever, that sounds like quite the operation, Tobias! Sounds like it would be terrific! :tu


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe. Next is Medium Virginia Flake in a 2002 black pebble finish straight Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## bluesman.54

Posting it a tad late, but this is an extremely busy week for me. As it was a morning of writing for me it was PA in a Savinelli Hercules, followed by PA in a large Don Carlos. I have actually grown quite fond of PA and aside from testing my pipes, it is my go-to tobacco for writing. I am concentrating more on what I am writing than what I am smoking -- but I must smoke while I write -- and PA is the perfect fir for that. Thanks to freestoke!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE's Heirloom Cherry in a MM Cob. With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I've got my Christmas tins sitting out to crack open this weekend (I certainly don't want to pull a Target and get my Holiday blends out right after Halloween :biggrin


----------



## freestoke

The Legends and Prides are getting a LOT of work lately, with the amortized cost of the Forever stem probably approaching a penny a bowl. :spy: Wait a minute...that's probably an exaggeration. Call it 2500 cents for the stem, closing in on three years, so call it 1000 days, so 2.5c per day. I average at least 2.5 a day with the Forever stem, though...so I'll stick with my first estimate. p


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking St. George's Blend in a straight 1979 MM Legend. Next is C&D White Burley in a straight 2012 Rekamepip made Sugar Barrel pipe.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> The Legends and Prides are getting a LOT of work lately, with the amortized cost of the Forever stem probably approaching a penny a bowl. :spy: Wait a minute...that's probably an exaggeration. Call it 2500 cents for the stem, closing in on three years, so call it 1000 days, so 2.5c per day. I average at least 2.5 a day with the Forever stem, though...so I'll stick with my first estimate. p


Where do you purchase your Forever stems from Jim? I wasn't sold on them until Zurg sent me a pipe fitted with one. Now I want to get them for my other 5 cobs.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Where do you purchase your Forever stems from Jim? I wasn't sold on them until Zurg sent me a pipe fitted with one. Now I want to get them for my other 5 cobs.


I went the regular route, at Filter Style, but I understand you can get an acrylic cob stem cheaper someplace. The one for a "filtered" cob is probably what you're after, since it fits Diplomats, Legends, Prides, and the Country Gentleman, plus a few others. Plus, I only have the one stem, that I move from bowl to bowl, as I move through my Diplomats, Legends, Prides, and Country Gentlemen. :smile: I don't take it out on the golf course, though. :nono:


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking C&D White Burley in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256. Next is Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Russ' Cinnamon Roll in my Zurg Glass Sipper. Heading for the mountains all day today. I got some info on a 11 mile gorge loop that I've been looking forward to hiking for weeks now.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Tobias Lutz said:


> Where do you purchase your Forever stems from Jim? I wasn't sold on them until Zurg sent me a pipe fitted with one. Now I want to get them for my other 5 cobs.


nice, aren't they?

the one I sent you is from Walter Briar Works. Dave is a great guy and he's got dozens of styles and colors to choose from. I picked the shorty nose warmer because I'm partial to pocket pipes but you're hardly limited to short stems over there.

it's a beautiful morning in the deer blind. I've got 3 cobs going that I'm alternating between; F.M. Cellar, H&H Larry's blend and H&H Aj's va-per. Cold tho... the lid froze on my coffee thermos. Had to warm it up to get it loose.


----------



## Marlow

Emperor Zurg said:


> nice, aren't they?
> 
> the one I sent you is from Walter Briar Works. Dave is a great guy and he's got dozens of styles and colors to choose from. I picked the shorty nose warmer because I'm partial to pocket pipes but you're hardly limited to short stems over there.
> 
> it's a beautiful morning in the deer blind. I've got 3 cobs going that I'm alternating between; F.M. Cellar, H&H Larry's blend and H&H Aj's va-per. Cold tho... the lid froze on my coffee thermos. Had to warm it up to get it loose.


I also have a nosewarmer stem from Walker Briar Works and I am very happy with it.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing South Seas in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## bluesman.54

1792 in an old, huge, straight Caminrtto Business pipe. Man I love this tobacco! Beautiful, crisp sunny day here in Iowa. Life is Good!


----------



## JimInks

Roma Vita in a 1981 smooth full bend Mauro Series Two 315 p-lip that copies the Peterson system.


----------



## JimInks

Almost done smoking French Quarter in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## Desertlifter

Working dayshift this morning on basically our first winter driving day of the year. Sit down to a cup of coffee and paperwork only to have the day start with Medstar in the air for head trauma. 

Good thing for a nice bowl of Stimulus Package in my Bjarne saucer while driving in to work.


----------



## freestoke

Another dose of Tilbury, but I'm in one of those Vitamin N-resistant states. Ordinarily I wait until after lunch to do anything rash, but I might have to scare up some Happy Bogie. :spy:


----------



## madbricky

A bowl of my 221 Anejo ribbon in a vintage straight apple basket pipe. Its coming around great!


----------



## freestoke

Too lazy to cut coins, I've settled on some SWR/5B that seems to be working okay. The Low Nicotine Warning Light is back down into the yellow, so maybe a pinch of Elmer's Reserve will push me into the green. :drama:


----------



## Nachman

Sixty degrees outside, so I sat on the deck and smoked some Squadron Leader.


----------



## madbricky

Elmers reserve?


freestoke said:


> Too lazy to cut coins, I've settled on some SWR/5B that seems to be working okay. The Low Nicotine Warning Light is back down into the yellow, so maybe a pinch of Elmer's Reserve will push me into the green. :drama:


----------



## freestoke

madbricky said:


> Elmers reserve?


 :faint: I canNOT get this right for the life of me. ELMO'S Reserve!! sheesh. tsk


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A Leonessa packed with H&H Eggnog as I return to work :???:


----------



## freestoke

Dry air from the cold snap last week, Thanksgiving Day travel exposing me to the masses, or running into a sickie while picking up some milk at the quick stop, whatever the reason, I have bronchitis. :rant: About to take a test run with the 4Dot and some PA.


----------



## Stonedog

Tobias Lutz said:


> A Leonessa packed with H&H Eggnog as I return to work :???:


Would that be a rusticated bent dublin Leonessa?

C&D Gentleman Caller in the basket pipe this morning.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Stonedog said:


> Would that be a rusticated bent dublin Leonessa?


Why yes, yes it would be. It smokes quite well but I'm still getting it acclimated to being a dedicated aro pipe. I might be wrong but it tasted at first as if it had seen some pretty stout Virginias?


----------



## Stonedog

Tobias Lutz said:


> Why yes, yes it would be. It smokes quite well but I'm still getting it acclimated to being a dedicated aro pipe. I might be wrong but it tasted at first as if it had seen some pretty stout Virginias?


It started life on a steady diet of Carter Hall and PA but then had about half a tin of RY through it before it found its new home.


----------



## freestoke

Scotch Flake Aromatic, which is not an aromatic. :nono: I don't think pipe tobacco gets much better than SFA, I really don't. p Not only is it not really an aromatic, any more than Royal Yacht is (which some consider an aromatic, benighted souls that they be), it doesn't even seem to be a variety of GH&Co. Scotch Flake, rather a darker, stouter weed. Smoking one of my primo pipes, the marvelous FourDot pot, perfectly suited to SFA. :smile:


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing mid-1920s Half and Half in a tan etched medium bend 2001 Rinaldo Sahara 2 Acorn round at the shank, pointy at the opposite top. Next is Hamborger Veermaster in a 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Scotch Flake Aromatic, which is not an aromatic. :nono: I don't think pipe tobacco gets much better than SFA, I really don't. p Not only is it not really an aromatic, any more than Royal Yacht is (which some consider an aromatic, benighted souls that they be), it doesn't even seem to be a variety of GH&Co. Scotch Flake, rather a darker, stouter weed. Smoking one of my primo pipes, the marvelous FourDot pot, perfectly suited to SFA. :smile:


Another GH Flake added to my list. :smile:

Tried Brown Flake Unscented yesterday and really liked it.


----------



## freestoke

SWR in the Country Gentleman, which has needed some smoking. My cob smoking has been a the Pride/Legend rut of late, so I've put the Diplomat and CG in easy reach.

Hey, Per, you may be interested in my review: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/297207-gh-co-scotch-flake-aromatic.html

I'm not so sure there's any Lakeland taste, now that I've smoked it for a couple of years. It could have been a slight ghosting from sitting on the shelf next to the Ennerdale or something, that's since completely vanished. Or maybe even "local ghosting", since I was smoking a lot of GH&Co. flakes at the time that really are flowery Lakelands.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing Rekamepip's Pressed October Blend in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Alexander Bridge in a light brown 1979 rusticated medium bend Italian Sir Jeffrey Dublin sitter with a flared top and yellow stem.


----------



## MarkC

Enjoying a bowl of HOTW before heading off to the hospital where they'll drain blood and inject noxious chemicals. I feel like I'm living in an old Hammer film... :lol:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

MarkC said:


> Enjoying a bowl of HOTW before heading off to the hospital where they'll drain blood and inject noxious chemicals. I feel like I'm living in an old Hammer film... :lol:


That doesn't sound like any fun at all. Are you on a chemo program or something?


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Enjoying a bowl of HOTW before heading off to the hospital where they'll drain blood and inject noxious chemicals. I feel like I'm living in an old Hammer film... :lol:


Good luck, Mark! Hope it goes easy on you this time.


----------



## MarkC

Emperor Zurg said:


> That doesn't sound like any fun at all. Are you on a chemo program or something?


Yeah. Bone cancer. And to answer the question that always gets asked, no, it's not smoking related.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

MarkC said:


> Yeah. Bone cancer. And to answer the question that always gets asked, no, it's not smoking related.


Dang. No wonder you're so grumpy!

Seriously, though I wouldn't wish that on anybody. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers.
I've seen good people battle cancer and it sucks to watch.

How's your prognosis? Do they think they're getting a handle on it?


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Hey, Per, you may be interested in my review: http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/pipe-related-reviews/297207-gh-co-scotch-flake-aromatic.html


Very nice review! I will definitely get some! ipe:



MarkC said:


> Enjoying a bowl of HOTW before heading off to the hospital where they'll drain blood and inject noxious chemicals. I feel like I'm living in an old Hammer film... :lol:


Hope it goes well, and I hope you get better.


----------



## MarkC

Emperor Zurg said:


> Dang. No wonder you're so grumpy!
> 
> Seriously, though I wouldn't wish that on anybody. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers.
> I've seen good people battle cancer and it sucks to watch.
> 
> How's your prognosis? Do they think they're getting a handle on it?


It's going well. Basically, it's kind of a holding pattern right now; I get chemo every three weeks, and it's keeping the thing at bay for now. The doctor says it usually works for five or six years, and then comes the fun part that involves scary operations and such. Really, it's more of an inconvenience than anything else right now.


----------



## MarkC

I'm trying something new. About a year and a half ago, bigdaddychester sent a tin of Erinmore Flake my way in the pipe lotto. It sat around for a while, at first 'settling' and then later just a victim of my aromatic phobia (I smoke them, but only certain types. Vanilla is cool, perfumed cat urine not so much; that kind of thing.) Earlier this year, I opened the tin with every intention of trying it, but ended up sending out an ounce and a half in the newbie trade. The point is, these few lonely flakes, about a quarter of an ounce, have been sitting in the bottom of this mason jar for months on end, and this may not have been the best introduction to this tobacco.

That said, it was a pleasant surprise. If the aromatic qualities have faded, it certainly didn't hurt the underlying tobacco. Very nice Virginia flavor, though the burley irritates me slightly. I get a bit of citrus, but no more than Laurel Heights. Maybe a bit stronger than Orlik Golden Sliced. Oddly, the tin aroma reminds me of MacBaren Navy Flake, though it tastes nothing like it. Interesting stuff. Can anyone tell me what the aromatic flavors were before they went away?


----------



## MarkC

I'm trying something new. About a year and a half ago, bigdaddychester sent a tin of Erinmore Flake my way in the pipe lotto. It sat around for a while, at first 'settling' and then later just a victim of my aromatic phobia (I smoke them, but only certain types. Vanilla is cool, perfumed cat urine not so much; that kind of thing.) Earlier this year, I opened the tin with every intention of trying it, but ended up sending out an ounce and a half in the newbie trade. The point is, these few lonely flakes, about a quarter of an ounce, have been sitting in the bottom of this mason jar for months on end, and this may not have been the best introduction to this tobacco.

That said, it was a pleasant surprise. If the aromatic qualities have faded, it certainly didn't hurt the underlying tobacco. Very nice Virginia flavor, though the burley irritates me slightly. I get a bit of citrus, but no more than Laurel Heights. Maybe a bit stronger than Orlik Golden Sliced. Oddly, the tin aroma reminds me of MacBaren Navy Flake, though it tastes nothing like it. Interesting stuff. Can anyone tell me what the aromatic flavors were before they went away?


----------



## Emperor Zurg

MarkC said:


> Interesting stuff. Can anyone tell me what the aromatic flavors were before they went away?


I tried a freshly cracked tin and I thought I was licking the floor of a flower shop. Wasn't my thing. I'll hang on to it for the off chance I'm in the mood for 'something different' but so far I've only tried it once.

I've got a bowl packed up of McClelland Syrian Super Balkan that I intend to try later on today or tomorrow. From the tin description, it's a lat bomb with perique added. Sounds interesting. Have you ever tried it?


----------



## Nachman

MarkC said:


> I'm trying something new. About a year and a half ago, bigdaddychester sent a tin of Erinmore Flake my way in the pipe lotto. It sat around for a while, at first 'settling' and then later just a victim of my aromatic phobia (I smoke them, but only certain types. Vanilla is cool, perfumed cat urine not so much; that kind of thing.) Earlier this year, I opened the tin with every intention of trying it, but ended up sending out an ounce and a half in the newbie trade. The point is, these few lonely flakes, about a quarter of an ounce, have been sitting in the bottom of this mason jar for months on end, and this may not have been the best introduction to this tobacco.
> 
> That said, it was a pleasant surprise. If the aromatic qualities have faded, it certainly didn't hurt the underlying tobacco. Very nice Virginia flavor, though the burley irritates me slightly. I get a bit of citrus, but no more than Laurel Heights. Maybe a bit stronger than Orlik Golden Sliced. Oddly, the tin aroma reminds me of MacBaren Navy Flake, though it tastes nothing like it. Interesting stuff. Can anyone tell me what the aromatic flavors were before they went away?


Almond, fruit, vanilla and assorted flowers.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> That said, it was a pleasant surprise. If the aromatic qualities have faded, it certainly didn't hurt the underlying tobacco. Very nice Virginia flavor, though the burley irritates me slightly. I get a bit of citrus, but no more than Laurel Heights. Maybe a bit stronger than Orlik Golden Sliced. Oddly, the tin aroma reminds me of MacBaren Navy Flake, though it tastes nothing like it. Interesting stuff. Can anyone tell me what the aromatic flavors were before they went away?


I think the flavoring is a trade secret. I suspect plum, but who knows? The little pineapple on the can has nothing to do with it, so I've been told, and it's NOT pineapple topping. :nono: I MUCH prefer Erinmore Flake to OGS, since it's marginally stronger, nicotinewise, and is more flavorful to me. As for aromatic, it still stinks up the room rather than having a crowd friendly aroma, so I don't put it in the aromatic class, personally, although the fresh tobacco certainly has a candy-like smell to it, or as Mister Moo says, "Juicy Fruit". And I've still got 3 or 4 of the little cans from the old production left! :banana: Too bad they switched can styles. :tsk:

I'm having a bowl of SWR this morning in the Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian. Finally had to call the doctor this morning to get some antibiotics. The bronchitis hit full force last night and I was actually contemplating a run to the hospital, but managing to survive the night with a hit off the albuterol every 5-10 minutes. I'm lucky, I guess, since I don't have a bad reaction to albuterol. Some people have a blood pressure spike when they use it and can only do a couple of puffs or can't use it period. A friend of mine is a nurse, and once about 15 years ago she was in the emergency room when I went in with an asthma attack. They gave me something like 3 mist packs, each equivalent to something like a dozen hits off a rescue inhaler. I asked how much they generally do to end a bronchial spasm and she said, "Dose to effect, which is as much as necessary to get the job done." Since my daily dose off these inhalers is only eight hits, it left me thinking -- maybe I could self medicate in the future and avoid a trip to the hospital, especially since I don't have the adverse reactions to albuterol that some do. The next time I had an attack, I just kept hitting the inhaler until the attack quieted down, 10 or 15 hits over an hour, and survived. I haven't been to the hospital for an asthma attack in years! :tu Not only that, but since I deal with the attacks pretty quickly after they start now, they never become as severe as they used to be. Before, I was afraid of overdosing and would stop trying to save myself after 4 or 5 hits, and by the time I would actually get into the emergency room, I was in full bore suffocation mode.


----------



## JimInks

Sure hope things get better for Freestroke and MarkC. Take care, guys.

Now smoking Angler's Dream in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard.


----------



## freestoke

I seem to have been under a mistaken assumption on the relative dosage between the nebulizer and the inhaler. The difference is mainly the delivery efficiency, but if I used a spacer (a thingy that hooks on the front of an inhaler, it would be more like a nebulizer, and the nebulizers in the hospital were more like two hits off the inhaler. Still, I think my dose efficiency goes WAY down when I have bronchitis like this, since most of it gets coughed right back up and I can't take a deep breath to begin with. I should be using the spacer though. Just went and got it. :mrgreen:

Found a jar of ancient SG Navy Flake in the drawer, so I'm setting out to burn this up the next few days. Better than I remember it, actually, but maybe that's because of the sugar frosting that's developed on it. p


----------



## Nachman

Nachman said:


> Almond, fruit, vanilla and assorted flowers.


OOPS! I was thinking of Ennerdale. My computer is acting up and my mind is more on that than on the subject at hand.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> OOPS! I was thinking of Ennerdale. My computer is acting up and my mind is more on that than on the subject at hand.


Hell, I used to mix them up a lot and I didn't even HAVE an excuse! :lol:

More SG Navy Flake. I'm really enjoying it as a change of pace, and the lower nicotine level probably is appropriate for my current state. p


----------



## MarkC

Emperor Zurg said:


> I tried a freshly cracked tin and I thought I was licking the floor of a flower shop. Wasn't my thing. I'll hang on to it for the off chance I'm in the mood for 'something different' but so far I've only tried it once.
> 
> I've got a bowl packed up of McClelland Syrian Super Balkan that I intend to try later on today or tomorrow. From the tin description, it's a lat bomb with perique added. Sounds interesting. Have you ever tried it?


Ah. I did get a little hint of floral, but it was so light I just assumed it was ghosting from some Gawith, Hoggarth blend.

Never tried the Syrian thing; I'm not that much on lat bombs. I prefer more medium blends like Caravan. Penzance, for example, tastes like smoking dirt to me.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> The bronchitis hit full force last night and I was actually contemplating a run to the hospital


Hope you get better soon.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Hope you get better soon.


Sooner than I expected, for sure! :tu Got the antibiotics yesterday afternoon and by midnight I could tell it was basically gone. Amazing stuff. :shock: Four more pills in four days and I'm done. :banana:

Looks halfway decent for a Dec day, but the weekend will suck with lake effect. Sunless, but you can't have everything. Breaking out some Louisiana Flake. I've been perique free all summer! :dunno: Summer was a heavy nicotine period and most of the strong blends I like don't contain perique, like Happy Bogie and 1792, so it's been a long time since I've had any Reiner or LF or the like.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Sooner than I expected, for sure! :tu Got the antibiotics yesterday afternoon and by midnight I could tell it was basically gone. Amazing stuff. :shock: Four more pills in four days and I'm done. :banana:
> 
> Looks halfway decent for a Dec day, but the weekend will suck with lake effect. Sunless, but you can't have everything. Breaking out some Louisiana Flake. I've been perique free all summer! :dunno: Summer was a heavy nicotine period and most of the strong blends I like don't contain perique, like Happy Bogie and 1792, so it's been a long time since I've had any Reiner or LF or the like.


Glad to hear it! :smile:

Here it is storm time again, so no smoking for me. Getting a bit antsy, but at least I have my beloved snus, got a extra strong out of the fridge, and snuff.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Glad to hear it! :smile:
> 
> Here it is storm time again, so no smoking for me. Getting a bit antsy, but at least I have my beloved snus, got a extra strong out of the fridge, and snuff.


Bummer, Per! Right now, I feel guilty to be smoking some well-dried SG Navy Flake, comfy on the couch and pounding down the coffee.:cp


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Bummer, Per! Right now, I feel guilty to be smoking some well-dried SG Navy Flake, comfy on the couch and pounding down the coffee.:cp


You enjoy yourself buddy, don't mind me :mrgreen:

I got a box of the lovely Don Pepin Garcia Original, the blue label recently, I'll celebrate the wind calming down with one of those when that time comes. I think that is the trick, to try and look forward to when you can smoke again. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Snow. :frown: Lake effect. :frown: :spy: Insidious. Only an inch today, they say, but there's already two out there. :frown: I'm trying to stay positive, hoping that this giant cold system, that the irresponsible, inconsiderate bozos in Canadia have dropped on us, will be part of a cycle, the low point of a large temperature swing to a 70* Christmas. :smile: First pipe of the day: SWR and KK in a Legend. p


----------



## MarkC

Right now it's closer to -70 than 70 here. With snow. I'm miserable. And why isn't there a 'degree' sign on the keyboard? That's just lame. Oh well; I'll load a bowl of HOTW and try to get over it.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Right now it's closer to -70 than 70 here. With snow. I'm miserable. And why isn't there a 'degree' sign on the keyboard? That's just lame. Oh well; I'll load a bowl of HOTW and try to get over it.


Back in the days of yore, before windows systems, I would strap the function keys to keyboard operations (some of them fairly involved), that came up a lot, something like miniature batch files. That's what they were originally for and still how they work, actually -- I think -- they just happen to be preset to "standard functions" now. I'd guess you can assign the degree symbol to one of them, but I've completely lost thread on computers these days. I feel like an old automobile mechanic looking at a car engine, trying to find the magneto and wondering where the engine crank fits. There should still be a utility that lets you assign any ASCII value to any key, without having to change the entire set. I vaguely remember somebody doing that as a practical joke at work...:bolt:

I'm going to have a nice warm bowl of Scotch Flake Aromatic. Just like hot chocolate. :cp


----------



## Commander Quan

MarkC said:


> Right now it's closer to -70 than 70 here. With snow. I'm miserable. And why isn't there a 'degree' sign on the keyboard? That's just lame. Oh well; I'll load a bowl of HOTW and try to get over it.


alt 248 = °


----------



## MarkC

Coincidentally, 1 in 248 represents the chances of me remembering that next time I need it!


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Snow. :frown: Lake effect. :frown: :spy: Insidious. Only an inch today, they say, but there's already two out there. :frown: I'm trying to stay positive, hoping that this giant cold system, that the irresponsible, inconsiderate bozos in Canadia have dropped on us, will be part of a cycle, the low point of a large temperature swing to a 70* Christmas. :smile: First pipe of the day: SWR and KK in a Legend. p


The snow started here too the day before yesterday.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

We are having a great snow year here in Red River, NM.

This was the first year in twenty years that we had every ski run open on opening day (about two weeks ago).

I didn't get to have a smoke on the way to work (my wife was in the truck with me), but I'm done cooking breakfast for the guests, and am eyeballing a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake in a rusticated Falcon that I have sitting ready.


----------



## freestoke

Commander Quan said:


> alt 248 = °


What a team player! Currently -2°. :tu


----------



## Nachman

Also alt 0163 is asci for £ which come in handy on American keyboards, or you can just type quid. In OKC it is a balmy 13° F.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Also alt 0163 is asci for £ which come in handy on American keyboards, or you can just type quid. In OKC it is a balmy 13° F.


Let's see...ñ
I don't have to cut and paste to say "jalapeño" anymore! :banana:


----------



## JimInks

Lots of wind and rain. Hope is doesn't turn to ice like they think it will. 

Just finished Rekamepip's Pressed October Blend in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank. Next is Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## Desertlifter

Shortcut to Mushrooms in my new Savinelli Bulldog.

And since we are all playing the codger and discussing the weather, it is ZERO degrees here this morning. My parents - who live on Maui - keep sending me pictures of their thermometer outside. Cruelty, though art my progenitors.


----------



## JimInks

Charlemagne in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## freestoke

I had some of that STM once, in one of the BTTs. I remembering liking it a lot and being surprised that I did. "Just for Him" seems so hipster or something that I didn't expect to like it at all, that I'd need a manicure and have to smoke taking the "adventurer pose", one foot on a boulder, elbow on my upraised knee, pipe clenched in my teeth, looking off into a wild vista, wearing the latest men's fashion line and an Indiana Jones hat. Luckily, I didn't know what it was and probably smoked it down wearing old house shoes and a bathrobe.

0°F (thanks, Derrick!) is pretty cold for Washington, isn't it, except up in the mountains? Think I'll open the proceedings with a 4Dot of Scotch Flake Aromatic.


----------



## freestoke

Nobody smoking this morning? :spy: (Where's Dale, anyhow? Why isn't he ever here taking care of his thread!? :tsk

Haven't had a 4Dot/PA for the first smoke in a long time. p Pretty good, but I think I need to move on to the KK for the next bowl, to deal with the annoying Low Vitamin N Alert klaxons.


----------



## Nachman

I opened a can of English Chocolate hoping my wife would appreciate the room note. WWIII. I should have just smoked what I like. I'll be glad when the snow and ice go away and I can spend more quality pipe time outdoors.


----------



## Marlow

First bowl in many days, after having a cigar yesterday, a Don Pepin Garcia Original Blue Label Invictos. Greast cigar. Now back to the pipe, a german dual purpouse RYO/pipe tobacco called Crossroads Original Taste in a MM Diplomat. Nothing to jump and shout about in excitement, but just what I needed, a no nonsense bowl of tobacco, that just tastes like tobacco.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Angler's Dream in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## JimInks

PS Cube Cut in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Nothing to jump and shout about in excitement, but just what I needed, *a no nonsense bowl of tobacco, that just tastes like tobacco*.


I'm having Kendal Kentucky in the Country Gentleman. The KK flavoring, according to tobaccoreviews, is "None". p I'm ready to start a reactionary revolution, to return us to the British Tobacco Purity Laws. Next thing we know, they'll be doing genetic modification to make tobacco taste like blueberries, right off the plant.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> I'm having Kendal Kentucky in the Country Gentleman. The KK flavoring, according to tobaccoreviews, is "None". p I'm ready to start a reactionary revolution, to return us to the British Tobacco Purity Laws. Next thing we know, they'll be doing genetic modification to make tobacco taste like blueberries, right off the plant.


Lol, I'm with you! :c


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Lol, I'm with you! :c


That's two! The Sot-weed Insurrection has begun in earnest! We''l be like Cary Nation, storming into drug stores, supermarkets, B&M pipe stores across the nation, confiscating M79, cans of Captain Black, Altadis aromatic samplers packs, and bags of PG-laden vanilla and maple flavored ribbons of death willy-nilly.

Another bowl of KK to steel my resolve. Onward soldiers of the pipe!









Watching Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Really is a lot of pipe smoking, isn't there. Just noticed that when Bill and Jim get locked into the closet, they are both smoking pipes while awaiting rescue. p


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> That's two! The Sot-weed Insurrection has begun in earnest! We''l be like Cary Nation, storming into drug stores, supermarkets, B&M pipe stores across the nation, confiscating M79, cans of Captain Black, Altadis aromatic samplers packs, and bags of PG-laden vanilla and maple flavored ribbons of death willy-nilly.
> 
> Another bowl of KK to steel my resolve. Onward soldiers of the pipe!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Watching Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Really is a lot of pipe smoking, isn't there. Just noticed that when Bill and Jim get locked into the closet, they are both smoking pipes while awaiting rescue. p


And throw clogs into the machinery! I'll have a KK in a MM CG right now.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

MarkC said:


> Never tried the Syrian thing; I'm not that much on lat bombs. I prefer more medium blends like Caravan. Penzance, for example, tastes like smoking dirt to me.


Well, I tried the Syrian Super Balkan. I think you'd like it.
The name was misleading; I expected a 'really, really, balkany balkan' but that's not what it is
Tin note is a bit fruity and faintly smoky.
The taste: quite sweet, not much in the lat department, faintly fruity like the tin note.
I'll try it a few more times and maybe add a pseudo review to my random ramblings thread.
'Sweet' is definitely the dominant characteristic if you ask me.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> That's two! The Sot-weed Insurrection has begun in earnest! We''l be like Cary Nation, storming into drug stores, supermarkets, B&M pipe stores across the nation, confiscating M79, cans of Captain Black, Altadis aromatic samplers packs, and bags of PG-laden vanilla and maple flavored ribbons of death willy-nilly.
> 
> Another bowl of KK to steel my resolve. Onward soldiers of the pipe!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Watching Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Really is a lot of pipe smoking, isn't there. Just noticed that when Bill and Jim get locked into the closet, they are both smoking pipes while awaiting rescue. p


Damnit, another zealot on a mission!

Leave my pseudonatural flavorings alone! You'll screw up McClelland Deep Hollow (which is also reviewed as non-flavored but obviously has some rather delicious flavorings added)


----------



## LandonColby

DSturg369 said:


> As time has flown by and the years start to add up, I find myself less the "night-owl" I once was. Now days, I like being up before the sun rises and watching her climb from behind the horizon and into the morning sky, refreshed from a restful slumber. Accompanying me nearly every morning is a hot cup of coffee and a bowl full of a good smoke. I know I'm not the only one that continues to grow more thankful to be allowed to continue to witness such a wonderful occurrence. This is a gift that is in limited supply.
> 
> If you're on this list, please chime in and give a shout out to your fellow Pipers here at Puff.
> 
> This morning, it's Prince Albert in a MM Country Gentleman and a mug of 8 o'clock.
> 
> Have a GREAT morning everyone!


I know sincere writing when I see it, and find it refreshing to see someone trying to share a profound sense of appreciation for life's little wonders with others. 
Have a great day my friend.


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> Damnit, another zealot on a mission!
> 
> Leave my pseudonatural flavorings alone! You'll screw up McClelland Deep Hollow (which is also reviewed as non-flavored but obviously has some rather delicious flavorings added)


See!? See how you are!? You can have flavorings out the gazoo and room note in abundance! Ennerdale is perfectly acceptable! ainkiller: I suspect that Deep Hollow would meet the new Purity Laws, too! :tu Even if you don't entirely agree with the movement, think how much fun it will be ransacking the tobacco section at Walgreen's! :banana: (But leave all the codger burley!







)


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> See!? See how you are!? You can have flavorings out the gazoo and room note in abundance! Ennerdale is perfectly acceptable! ainkiller: I suspect that Deep Hollow would meet the new Purity Laws, too! :tu Even if you don't entirely agree with the movement, think how much fun it will be ransacking the tobacco section at Walgreen's! :banana: (But leave all the codger burley!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


Ennerdale? I don't even like Erinmore! Too many flowers for me 
Let's go ransack Pipes&Cigars. MUCH better selection methinks :rockon: :rockon:
And I think we'd have a better chance or scoring some Deep Hollow


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> Ennerdale? I don't even like Erinmore! Too many flowers for me
> Let's go ransack Pipes&Cigars. MUCH better selection methinks :rockon: :rockon:
> And I think we'd have a better chance or scoring some Deep Hollow


Don't mess with any of the approved blends like Royal Yacht, okay? :nono: The plans for P&C involve a raid on the HH blending facility, removing vanilla flavored Black Cavendish and emptying the maple and cherry flavoring topping containers. :fencing: A quick raid with tight targetting, followed by a demand to remove everything on our list of condemned products, should send the message that the day of the flimsy aromatic is nearing an end.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing PS Cube Cut in a small 1970s smooth three quarter bend XXX Danish Sovereign 324 sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## JimInks

Roma Vita in a 1981 smooth full bend Mauro Series Two 315 p-lip that copies the Peterson system.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## freestoke

We been spared during the recent lake effect snow episode, only piling up maybe 8 inches over the past few days here and not much at all a few miles east. A bit north and west, though, they had something like 5'. :shock: The next big storm, Electra, will pass mostly south of us I think, so that won't amount to much either, but the really good news is that they're saying that next Friday will hit 41°! Maybe it's a start of a warmup that will bring us a Green Christmas! At a minimum, I hope it's enough to screw up the snowmobiling. Think I'll smoke a bowl of Royal Yacht and contemplate better weather on the way. p


----------



## Marlow

Tried GH Rum Flake in a MM Diplomat, I really liked it.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Tried GH Rum Flake in a MM Diplomat, I really liked it.


Never tried that one, but it sounds like it would be similar to the Sweet Rum Twist, maybe with a little less jolt. I'm just sucking down more Royal Yacht with a Paper Plate Potpourri preburner.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Never tried that one, but it sounds like it would be similar to the Sweet Rum Twist, maybe with a little less jolt. I'm just sucking down more Royal Yacht with a Paper Plate Potpourri preburner.


From what I can tell, it is not very strong in nicotine, but tasty.


----------



## JimInks

Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just finished a bowl of Sterlingshire in a cob that I started during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


----------



## TanZ2005

Morning all, Today just got back from chilling in the woods with my son and our RC's. I smoked my last 2 bowls of SG Squadron Leader. One bowl on the drive there, Started to enjoy a My Father #2 When my son tells me that his Ashton Robusto was to hard to smoke. So after only a few puffs we ended up trading. He is my son so who cares LOL. Anyway I don't know what was wrong it was just soooooo Hard to smoke. After a couple of hours in the Cold snow running our Traxxas Summits and 4 battery swaps to keep them going we called it a day. Started up the Truck without thought packed the last Bowl of the Squadron Leader. After my son loaded the truck with the gear and cleaning off all the snow from them he packed some imperial nougat for the trip home. All and all we had a great day. It is just to cold. This weekend going to tear down the Summits for a yearly deep clean. Just wish my Tobacco would have already shown up. The smokers Pride rum not going to be a Good clean up smoke burns to hot. One of my Freehand Dr. Grabow even starting to try and burn out. So smoking it in 2 other little bigger bowl pipes my Vintage Arlington that I bought from a Brother off here, and other pipe is a Sketcher Doodler. Enjoy your Smoke for the weekend.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just packed a bowl of London Mixture in the dedicated cob.

This smoke is well deserved, if I may say so myself...

It's been a rough morning. I work the front desk at a nice hotel in a tiny northern New Mexico ski town. I also cook breakfast for all our guests each morning I work.

Breakfast went smoothly today, and all our guests today are a pleasure. It's the phone today. It hasn't stopped ringing. I know the Holidays get folks stressed, but if you call about rooms for the Holidays today, and all the rooms have been sold out for a few months, don't abuse the guy/gal that is trying to help you. It's not their fault ya have piss-poor planning. 

The owner or the manager set prices and policies, not desk clerks. Don't beat them up about prices or minimum stays.

Most of our guests come visit us from Texas or Oklahoma, and they are salt of the Earth. Good folks. But yall would not believe how some of these Texans and Oakies have been treating me today. Why verbally abuse someone speaking politely to you, someone calling you "Sir" and apologizing for being sold out? And, if you've abused us in years past, why are ya trying again today? Hotels have "do not rent to" lists, and if yer on it, cussing me out and saying nasty thing about my mother while I speak to you politely will not get ya off the list.


----------



## Er999

El wedo del milagro said:


> I just packed a bowl of London Mixture in the dedicated cob.
> 
> This smoke is well deserved, if I may say so myself...
> 
> It's been a rough morning. I work the front desk at a nice hotel in a tiny northern New Mexico ski town. I also cook breakfast for all our guests each morning I work.
> 
> Breakfast went smoothly today, and all our guests today are a pleasure. It's the phone today. It hasn't stopped ringing. I know the Holidays get folks stressed, but if you call about rooms for the Holidays today, and all the rooms have been sold out for a few months, don't abuse the guy/gal that is trying to help you. It's not their fault ya have piss-poor planning.
> 
> The owner or the manager set prices and policies, not desk clerks. Don't beat them up about prices or minimum stays.
> 
> Most of our guests come visit us from Texas or Oklahoma, and they are salt of the Earth. Good folks. But yall would not believe how some of these Texans and Oakies have been treating me today. Why verbally abuse someone speaking politely to you, someone calling you "Sir" and apologizing for being sold out? And, if you've abused us in years past, why are ya trying again today? *Hotels have "do not rent to" lists, and if yer on it, cussing me out and saying nasty thing about my mother while I speak to you politely will not get ya off the list*.


Nice to know that since I will always want to be on the good side of any hotel establishments. :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

Surely, if one of the puff members calls for a reservation, they get any room in the place, including one (or more) already occupied, right Mark? :spy: WHATTAYA MEAN, "NO"!! :rant:

Got the Royal Yacht in the Legend to wake up, with a another cup du cafe. :cp Gotta share an ad that's popping up the past few days in the margins: *Mediate, Relax & Dream Instantly & Effortlessly *. Apparently it does nothing for orthography, but does make it easier to settle arguments you're having with yourself.

'


----------



## freestoke

:director: Cue the West Coast. Let's hear it out there! Smoke 'em! (And don't look at the camera...)

Having a musketball of Louisiana Flake in the TwoDot Canadian, an opportunity to employ the competition tamper to the full. p I'm in a GREAT mood this morning, since the projected 7" of LES only showed up at dawn to be a couple of inches! :banana: No snowblowing! :banana: And the sun is even peeking out from time to time. :smile:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Sterlingshire (VA) in a Dr. G during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking C&D White Burley in a straight 2012 Rekamepip made Sugar Barrel pipe. Next is Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2003 black sandblasted medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant blowfish.


----------



## Marlow

Just tried a bowl of Louisiana Perique Flake in MM CG, another very nice GH flake.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Just tried a bowl of Louisiana Perique Flake in MM CG, another very nice GH flake.


:spy: Just "Louisiana Flake" maybe? What is it with you? You always seem to be smoking the same thing I am. :ask:

So, yeah, I'm smoking some Louisiana Flake. Have been pretty much all day, except for a couple bowls of Dart Mix. One of the harder flakes to get burning, a little "thin" early on, but it definitely improves dramatically as the ember establishes itself. Like most flakes, it responds well to a deft tamp now and again. p


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> :spy: Just "Louisiana Flake" maybe? What is it with you? You always seem to be smoking the same thing I am. :ask:
> 
> So, yeah, I'm smoking some Louisiana Flake. Have been pretty much all day, except for a couple bowls of Dart Mix. One of the harder flakes to get burning, a little "thin" early on, but it definitely improves dramatically as the ember establishes itself. Like most flakes, it responds well to a deft tamp now and again. p


I'm just on a trying GH flakes binge :smile:

It is called Louisiana Perique Flake on both smokingpipes and 4noggins, I have wondered about that too, since it is only called Louisiana Flake on tobaccoreviews.


----------



## bluesman.54

Marlow said:


> I'm just on a trying GH flakes binge :smile:
> 
> It is called Louisiana Perique Flake on both smokingpipes and 4noggins, I have wondered about that too, since it is only called Louisiana Flake on tobaccoreviews.


Though I don't think its a GH flake, I like to add some Perique to Luxury Twist Flake. Personally I really enjoy the kick that perique provides.


----------



## Marlow

bluesman.54 said:


> Though I don't think its a GH flake, I like to add some Perique to Luxury Twist Flake. Personally I really enjoy the kick that perique provides.


Have never tried it.

About to have a bowl of my Christmas tobacco, Revor Plug, by GH, in a MM Diplomat. I love this tobacco.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> I'm just on a trying GH flakes binge :smile:
> 
> *It is called Louisiana Perique Flake on both smokingpipes and 4noggins,* I have wondered about that too, since it is only called Louisiana Flake on tobaccoreviews.


So it is! :dunno: Tobaccoreviews has no Louisiiana Perique Flake listed and that's Smokingpipes' website, newly designed, so apparently they're carrying a product that they don't have reviews for. (And it said Louisiana Flake, period, on the 500g box I bought a couple of years ago, too.) Can't find either one listed as a Gawith, Hoggarth &Co. product on their website, either. :ask: I guess I'm enjoying the last of the old line -- right now. p (Incidentally, Smokingpipes is the one who sent me Scotch Flake Aromatic by a happy accident and took the line that they don't carry it at all. :lol


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> So it is! :dunno: Tobaccoreviews has no Louisiiana Perique Flake listed and that's Smokingpipes' website, newly designed, so apparently they're carrying a product that they don't have reviews for. (And it said Louisiana Flake, period, on the 500g box I bought a couple of years ago, too.) Can't find either one listed as a Gawith, Hoggarth &Co. product on their website, either. :ask: I guess I'm enjoying the last of the old line -- right now. p (Incidentally, Smokingpipes is the one who sent me Scotch Flake Aromatic by a happy accident and took the line that they don't carry it at all. :lol


I just noticed that the one listed as 'Louisiana Flake' on tobaccoreviews have the same description and photos as the one listed as 'Louisiana Perique Flake'. I am guessing it is the same tobacco, but I don't know.

Scotch Flake is on my to buy list for when I'm buying from the UK next. Not the aromatic though.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing MacBaren Cube Gold in a 2003 IMP horn Meer. Next will be MacBaren Cube Bronze in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rockcob poker.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> I just noticed that the one listed as 'Louisiana Flake' on tobaccoreviews have the same description and photos as the one listed as 'Louisiana Perique Flake'. I am guessing it is the same tobacco, but I don't know.
> 
> Scotch Flake is on my to buy list for when I'm buying from the UK next. Not the aromatic though.


I'm certain it's the same stuff, but Louisiana Perique seems almost redundant. If they had a Louisiana BBQ or jambalaya version, I could see making the distinction, but they don't. Just reamed out some char from the Country Gentleman and drilled the draught hole back wide open, now doing a test run with a big bowl of Prince Albert. Definitely an improvement, and I can use the competition tamper again! I suppose even a cob needs a little maintenance from time to time, say every 2-300 bowls. p


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> I'm certain it's the same stuff, but Louisiana Perique seems almost redundant. If they had a Louisiana BBQ or jambalaya version, I could see making the distinction, but they don't. Just reamed out some char from the Country Gentleman and drilled the draught hole back wide open, now doing a test run with a big bowl of Prince Albert. Definitely an improvement, and I can use the competition tamper again! I suppose even a cob needs a little maintenance from time to time, say every 2-300 bowls. p


I'll call it Louisiana Flake from now on. :wink:


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> I'll call it Louisiana Flake from now on. :wink:


Me too, Per. In addition to destroying the tobacco stocks that do not meet the New Tobacco Purity Laws, we will also take black markers and rub out "Perique" on all the Louisiana Flake and have Anonymous hack into their sites to change the online labeling.

Having PA in the Country Gentleman, grousing about the LES. One stinking little band of snow, maybe 10 miles wide, streaming off the lake -- right over my driveway! :rant:


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Me too, Per. In addition to destroying the tobacco stocks that do not meet the New Tobacco Purity Laws, we will also take black markers and rub out "Perique" on all the Louisiana Flake and have Anonymous hack into their sites to change the online labeling.


Good idea! :lol:


----------



## Stonedog

Old Gowrie in the new Wessex this morning.

I'm getting a bit of gurgle in it, hopefully just because it isn't fully broken in yet. 

I don't know the history of Wessex pipes (First English, then French made?), but this one is Italian and is, I think, made by the same people that make the Bjarne Viking series. In fact, with a different finish this would be identical to the Copenhagen line.


----------



## freestoke

From my igloo, I think I have seen the shadows of the truth on the ice walls, that the "Perique" has been added to name "Louisiana Flake" only for US consumption. They know we need help, since the tin description might exceed our reading level and many of us couldn't find Louisiana on a map (never mind that perique is produced in Louisiana). What next, St. James Perique Flake!? :nono:

Sir Walter Raleigh is interesting tobacco. Is it a quasi-rubbed out flake of some kind? Hard clumps, like a broken up plug. I generally break it up a little, but maybe I should take it as is, pack it tighter. Think I'll try that next time, since it is not at all amenable to musketballing.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> Sir Walter Raleigh is interesting tobacco. Is it a quasi-rubbed out flake of some kind? Hard clumps, like a broken up plug. I generally break it up a little, but maybe I should take it as is, pack it tighter. Think I'll try that next time, since it is not at all amenable to musketballing.


What's this musketball technique you're so fond of?
I may try it but I doubt it will work since I find I prefer my tobacco quite dry - almost crumbly.

DE 7th Avenue Blonde in my amazing Glass Sipper


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> What's this musketball technique you're so fond of?
> I may try it but I doubt it will work since I find I prefer my tobacco quite dry - almost crumbly.


As it says, the easiest flakes to musketball are the fine-thread ones, like PS Lux series or MacB Navy Flake. *http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/293111-musketballing.html*. A little practice makes the other flakes doable as well, and I now musketball Royal Yacht, too, in my larger pipes, especially the Canadians. Seems the very thing for taller-bowled pipes.

More SWR for me, crammed into the Country Gentleman, almost like a fold and stuff that fell apart.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> As it says, the easiest flakes to musketball are the fine-thread ones, like PS Lux series or MacB Navy Flake. *http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/293111-musketballing.html*. A little practice makes the other flakes doable as well, and I now musketball Royal Yacht, too, in my larger pipes, especially the Canadians. Seems the very thing for taller-bowled pipes.


Ah, so it's a flake thing. I don't do too many flakes since I'm always in a rush somehow or another... but I could swear you were talking about making a PA musketball parfait of some sort a while back... I didn't think PA was available as a flake.

So, I imagine you roll the tobac between your hands as in rubbing it out but then leave it in the ball that forms?


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> So, I imagine you roll the tobac between your hands as in rubbing it out but then leave it in the ball that forms?


Prezackly. Wad it up and leave an air pocket. You can wad it pretty tight with flake, less so with ribbon, but it's a pretty mindless operation, all in all. :lol: I might musketball some PA with a Sweet Rum Twist or Happy Bogie binder, and I've found that, entangled in a ball of Kendal Kentucky it allows for a solid ball that still allows good airflow.

Gonna pack a cob with Royal Yacht and set sail! See ya later! :wave:


----------



## freestoke

Red Cake in the C. Gent and some fresh ground Kona coffee. Don't think I'll buy this coffee bean again. Yeah, it's supposed to be great stuff, but it seems a bit on the bitter side. I much prefer the Blue Mountain, Ethiopian or Colombian. "White Christmas threatened across much of the nation." Sometimes there is a bright spot in the news. :smile:


----------



## JimInks

Rekamepip's Pressed October Blend in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> Prezackly. Wad it up and leave an air pocket.


Hey, I gave it a try!

I wadded up a palm-full of DE Grand Central into about a .75 caliber musket ball. Then I loaded said ball into the muzzle of my MM Freehand and, using my tamper as the ramrod, pushed the ball down to about 1/4" shy of the breech plug. Then I loaded up a charge of additional Grand Central atop the plug and pressed it down lightly. The entire powder charge and ball burned up quite nicely with minimal moisture trouble or relights.

This works great!   ipe:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I just had a bowl of Sterlingshire in a Dr. G out on the deck at work.


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> Hey, I gave it a try!
> 
> I wadded up a palm-full of DE Grand Central into about a .75 caliber musket ball. Then I loaded said ball into the muzzle of my MM Freehand and, using my tamper as the ramrod, pushed the ball down to about 1/4" shy of the breech plug. Then I loaded up a charge of additional Grand Central atop the plug and pressed it down lightly. The entire powder charge and ball burned up quite nicely with minimal moisture trouble or relights.
> 
> This works great!   ipe:


Just reading the Grand Central review (only two!) and it sounds like a good mixer for ropes and twists, sort of like branch and bourbon, or vodka and tonic. p

I have the Royal Yacht aweigh in the Country Gent. :director: Ahoy, Laddybucks!


----------



## JimInks

Old Vienna in a 1979 no name French briar smooth full bend egg.


----------



## freestoke

The cobs have been dominant this fall, but I cleaned and reamed the 4Dot the other day and have it back in action to good effect. p Louisiana Flake, fully rubbed. Smoking like a dream. :tu


----------



## freestoke

:director: Now hear this! Now hear this! REVEILLE! 

Just finished a bowl of SWR, but I need more vitamin N this morning, so I went for the KK this time. Think I figured out the Kona disaster -- overground it. I tried making a single cup using a reusable filter and hot water, whereupon I discovered an overabundance of particulate matter. I'm gonna toss the rest of what I ground and try a much coarser grind to see how THAT brews up.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## freestoke

A STORM DEVELOPING OVER THE MIDWEST WILL PUSH WARMER AIR INTO
THE REGION THIS WEEKEND CAUSING SNOW COVER TO MELT. IN ADDITION...
RAIN WILL FALL FROM THE SYSTEM THROUGH THE WEEKEND...POSSIBLY
HEAVY AT TIMES TONIGHT INTO EARLY SUNDAY.

Green Christmas on the way! Snowmobilers are gnashing their teeth and wring their hands! Shadenfreude out the gazoo! :evil:

Went for the Louisiana Flake instead, the Country Gentleman on duty.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## Stonedog

H&H's Sierra Nevada in the Edward's Bulldog this morning. Although I'm on two weeks of holiday/vacation I came in to the office to wrap up a couple of things... Not fun, but it gives the family a chance to do their Christmas shopping in peace. 

This is my second bowl of Sierra Nevada and I have to say it's a nice change from the heavier full Virginia and Va/Per/Bur blends I've been smoking.


----------



## freestoke

That Sierra Nevada doesn't look all bad, Jon! Sounds like a Dunhill-like blend, speaking of which, I smoking the Royal Yacht of that line.


----------



## DanR

Good Morning, Gents! Enjoying some nice weather here in South Texas, with a cup of green tea and a bowl of Former straight Grain Flake - thanks to Freestoke. This is a very nice tobacco!


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> Good Morning, Gents! Enjoying some nice weather here in South Texas, with a cup of green tea and a bowl of Former straight Grain Flake - thanks to Freestoke. This is a very nice tobacco!


Finding something that was not already resting in your formidable cellar was tough, Dan, so I'm glad it turned out to be something decent. (BTW, did you ever get around to that Holmes book? It really was pretty good. Speaking of which, anybody seen Sather recently? :spy

Filled the Country Gent and didn't like the draw, so I dumped it before I lit it and then realized I had to pull out the scrapies. That done, I refilled it and it's smoking GREAT! A tight draw is one of those killer problems with a pipe, and the open draw is one of the cob's great assets.


----------



## freestoke

Lonely here at puff these days. I've been at the Royal Yacht again and the jar is getting lighter. She might be facing dry dock in a few days unless I get a little more variety into the rotation. p Coffee tastes extra good this morning. :cp


----------



## MarkC

Well, I'll give you a space between posts, Jim. I mean, technically, it's still morning here for another five minutes...
Astley's No. 55 in a Stanwell sandblasted billiard. Since I had to dig it out last night to see what the year stamped on it was (for the wooden tamper thread), I figured I might as well smoke it a bit before returning it to the rack.


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> Lonely here at puff these days. I've been at the Royal Yacht again and the jar is getting lighter. She might be facing dry dock in a few days unless I get a little more variety into the rotation. p Coffee tastes extra good this morning. :cp


Royal Yacht is one of THOSE blends. Like ODF, ABF, and DSF. Mandatory in one's cellar lest one lose pipe-cred.

Except for those of us who just plain like the stuff. Speaking of which, time for more ABF...


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Royal Yacht is one of THOSE blends. Like ODF, ABF, and DSF. Mandatory in one's cellar lest one lose pipe-cred.
> 
> Except for those of us who just plain like the stuff. Speaking of which, time for more ABF...


:spy: I find it humiliating in the extreme that I can't come up with DSF.  I mean -- the implimcanations are overwhelminating. It could be that I've never even smoked it!  Trying to summon what little pipe-cred and pipe-dignity remains to my shattered pipe-self, I'm firing up the 4Dot with some simple SWR.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> :spy: I find it humiliating in the extreme that I can't come up with DSF.  I mean -- the implimcanations are overwhelminating. It could be that I've never even smoked it!  Trying to summon what little pipe-cred and pipe-dignity remains to my shattered pipe-self, I'm firing up the 4Dot with some unimpressive SWR.


Sometimes this happens, but I can not for the life of me get my brain to work out what DSF stands for. So, what does it stand for?


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> :spy: I find it humiliating in the extreme that I can't come up with DSF.  I mean -- the implimcanations are overwhelminating. It could be that I've never even smoked it!  Trying to summon what little pipe-cred and pipe-dignity remains to my shattered pipe-self, I'm firing up the 4Dot with some simple SWR.


Hah - I stumped the Freestoke! :lol: Of course it doesn't count when one simply spews abbreviations - in this case, that for Peter Heinrichs Dark Strong Flake.

And as to plain ole' SWR - 'tis the best of all codger blends, so say I. Enjoy, sir!


----------



## Stonedog

Desertlifter said:


> Hah - I stumped the Freestoke! :lol: Of course it doesn't count when one simply spews abbreviations - in this case, that for Peter Heinrichs Dark Strong Flake.
> 
> And as to plain ole' SWR - 'tis the best of all codger blends, so say I. Enjoy, sir!


I would like to respectfully contest the assertion that a lack if DSF in one's cellar diminishes one's pipe cred. If the mighty Freestoke can't decipher the acronym then I say it belongs in another class of tobacco entirely. What is that class? I certainly don't know as I had guessed DSF was Dark Star Flake... . I'm off to tobaccoreviews to read up on this mysterious DSF.

Merry Christmas everyone!


----------



## freestoke

Stonedog said:


> I would like to respectfully contest the assertion that a lack if DSF in one's cellar diminishes one's pipe cred.


Which summons up visions of Hitler, as presented by our own inestimably funny indigosmoke. :biglaugh:






Setting out with the Royal Yacht and the 4Dot again this morning, despite the stinking snow.


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> Which summons up visions of Hitler, as presented by our own inestimably funny indigosmoke. :biglaugh:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Setting out with the Royal Yacht and the 4Dot again this morning, despite the stinking snow.


Hah! Working the early shift at the patrol today, so I punished myself with a bowl of Meat Pie in my new Savinelli. A trying experience for sure.


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoyed a bowl of Bull's Eye in an old Caminetto Business pipe on my way to work this morning. A great way to enjoy the commute and begin the day!


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Cube Bronze in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rockcob poker.


----------



## Desertlifter

AAfter the Latakia fest that was yesterday, it is much more a VA kind of morning. 2013 Christmas Cheer in my Stanwell silver band should do nicely.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking Old Vienna in a 1979 no name French briar smooth full bend egg.


----------



## freestoke

Just before noon, the Royal Yacht called for the Country Gentleman to take the helm. p Smooth sailing.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Marble Kake in a Hilson Vintage bent Bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoyed a bowl of Ennerdale in a Hardcastle Select Zulu this morning. A fine start to the day it was!


----------



## freestoke

We haven't seen Terry in a month now, and with so many others missing I'd almost call the pipe side defunct at this point. I'm on my third newbie trade in a row where my side disappears within a week and the newbie list itself has been virtually empty for months. I think we need a post with all the avitars of the MIA pipers, like they do with the movie stars that have passed away during the previous year. 

Pushing off with a bowl of RY, to get an early Vitamin N boost. Gonna be 40 today and tomorrow, with rain! :banana: Not quite long enough warm or enough rain to get rid of the obscene amount of snow that fell the past few days though. (They predicted a few inches, we got a foot. :rant


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> We haven't seen Terry in a month now, and with so many others missing I'd almost call the pipe side defunct at this point. I'm on my third newbie trade in a row where my side disappears within a week and the newbie list itself has been virtually empty for months. I think we need a post with all the avitars of the MIA pipers, like they do with the movie stars that have passed away during the previous year.
> 
> Pushing off with a bowl of RY, to get an early Vitamin N boost. Gonna be 40 today and tomorrow, with rain! :banana: Not quite long enough warm or enough rain to get rid of the obscene amount of snow that fell the past few days though. (They predicted a few inches, we got a foot. :rant


I also lament the disappearance of so many good people. I hope they are all alright. Wonder what happened?

Beginning the morning with a bowl HHODF in a slightly bent, smooth Caminetto Business Excellence Extra.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> I also lament the disappearance of so many good people. I hope they are all alright. Wonder what happened?
> Beginning the morning with a bowl HHODF in a slightly bent, smooth Caminetto Business Excellence Extra.


There was a purge of some sort that started a year ago or more, where members were "no longer part of the community" (or some such creepy, collectivist phrase), appearing dressed in the pink of the shunned. More left in solidity with the banned members, forming a splinter site. Now the mass exodus began in earnest, with puff.com members going there (or somewhere) because everybody was at the other party. Recently, the activity level has been so low as to be almost terminal. Even indigosmoke's Hitler tobacco order didn't get a rise from anybody, even though I'm fairly sure lots of people here now have not seen it before. A few may have actually died, who knows? (If I die, I'll try to report back that I won't be posting anymore. I've heard you have to use a Ouija board instead of a keyboard from the other side. :smile

Gonna have a bowl of Royal Yacht right now. p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake in a Falcon during my morning commute up the mountain to work..


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> There was a purge of some sort that started a year ago or more, where members were "no longer part of the community" (or some such creepy, collectivist phrase), appearing dressed in the pink of the shunned. More left in solidity with the banned members, forming a splinter site. Now the mass exodus began in earnest, with puff.com members going there (or somewhere) because everybody was at the other party. Recently, the activity level has been so low as to be almost terminal. Even indigosmoke's Hitler tobacco order didn't get a rise from anybody, even though I'm fairly sure lots of people here now have not seen it before. A few may have actually died, who knows? (If I die, I'll try to report back that I won't be posting anymore. I've heard you have to use a Ouija board instead of a keyboard from the other side. :smile
> 
> Gonna have a bowl of Royal Yacht right now. p


Why was this purge done? Where people not following rules, being civil, etc? This sounds deplorable. What is the site the others have gone to -- or does merely naming it get one banned from puff? Is that why/where many who have posted here in the last six months no longer do so? It sounds as if there has been a creation of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Bull's Eye in a Don Carlos Fatta a Mano.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Why was this purge done? Where people not following rules, being civil, etc? This sounds deplorable. What is the site the others have gone to -- or does merely naming it get one banned from puff? Is that why/where many who have posted here in the last six months no longer do so? It sounds as if there has been a creation of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
> 
> Bull's Eye in a Don Carlos Fatta a Mano.


I think there was a furor over contraband cigars in the beginning, but I don't really know because I wasn't part of that world at all. More recently, I suspect boredom. With so few posters, it's like trying to get critical mass at a pub. Nobody likes drinking alone at the bar.

Just realized I have less than two full bowls of Royal Yacht remaining. :shock: Having what is probably the antepenultimate bowl. (The worst part about spell checkers is the "boy who called wolf" syndrome -- how can a spell checker not know how to spell an everyday word like "antepenultimate"? :dunno: "Misspelled! Misspelled!" So you check the online dictionary and find you got it right, which means you've wasted all that time for nothing. :rant


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> There was a purge of some sort that started a year ago or more, where members were "no longer part of the community" (or some such creepy, collectivist phrase), appearing dressed in the pink of the shunned. More left in solidity with the banned members, forming a splinter site. Now the mass exodus began in earnest, with puff.com members going there (or somewhere) because everybody was at the other party. Recently, the activity level has been so low as to be almost terminal. Even indigosmoke's Hitler tobacco order didn't get a rise from anybody, even though I'm fairly sure lots of people here now have not seen it before. A few may have actually died, who knows? (If I die, I'll try to report back that I won't be posting anymore. I've heard you have to use a Ouija board instead of a keyboard from the other side. :smile
> 
> Gonna have a bowl of Royal Yacht right now. p


I'll have to remember to pack a Quiji board so that I can also report back.

Looks like I need to pop a tin of RY soon, myself, and smoke it with the Gent! (Lest I lose pipe-cred with Brian.) p


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> I'll have to remember to pack a Quiji board so that I can also report back.
> 
> Looks like I need to pop a tin of RY soon, myself, and smoke it with the Gent! (Lest I lose pipe-cred with Brian.) p


You have far too much pipe-cred to be effected by the hoi polloi, Mari! :lol: Sort of like not having to worry about traffic fines when you own a fleet of limousines with private chauffeurs. (Man, two stinking French words in a row! :rant Although, maybe Brian is more like a corporate raider

I'm saving my last scraps for a big load of RY later this evening, say in the Savinelli 120 Anni. :nod: Right now, some basic Red Cake in Country Gentleman. p Excellent!


----------



## bluesman.54

TTecheTTe said:


> I'll have to remember to pack a Quiji board so that I can also report back.
> 
> Looks like I need to pop a tin of RY soon, myself, and smoke it with the Gent! (Lest I lose pipe-cred with Brian.) p


Yes, please do remember to pack properly. I'll try and do the same. How great to hear from you Mari. I hope all is well with you.

Continuing on with Bull's Eye in the Don Carlos. The bowl on this thing is huge. I can usually write a whole paper with one bowl -- which saves reloading time -- just as going to a dictionary to find you have correctly spelled a word wastes time. Are ya with me?


----------



## TTecheTTe

:r. Y'all are too much! 

I'm also enjoying LBF, and I have to look up everything in the dictionary! 

Such high praise for a noob like me, Jim! Grandpapa was lifelong (til '90's) pipe and cigar smoker, so perhaps it is in the genes. As a frugal German, I fear he is rolling in his grave at the status of my pipe and cigar cellar. Then again, he might enjoy it!


----------



## Nachman

bluesman.54 said:


> Why was this purge done? Where people not following rules, being civil, etc? This sounds deplorable. What is the site the others have gone to -- or does merely naming it get one banned from puff? Is that why/where many who have posted here in the last six months no longer do so? It sounds as if there has been a creation of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
> 
> Bull's Eye in a Don Carlos Fatta a Mano.


I read some other pipe boards, and I have noticed that some who migrated from this one have been banned from the boards to which they migrated. In fact, one has been banned from them all, one at a time. I think that shows where the problem laid.


----------



## bluesman.54

Nachman said:


> I read some other pipe boards, and I have noticed that some who migrated from this one have been banned from the boards to which they migrated. In fact, one has been banned from them all, one at a time. I think that shows where the problem laid.


"I see," said the blind man. Thank you.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I read some other pipe boards, and I have noticed that some who migrated from this one have been banned from the boards to which they migrated. In fact, one has been banned from them all, one at a time. I think that shows where the problem laid.


I was banned from the other boards and migrated here. :lol: Actually, I almost left back when a gang from the cigar side smacked me down with a collective -111 RG. :deadhorse:

I miss all the Lymies who used to post. out: I think I'm more British than American, probably because 11-13 is such a formative age, years I spent in England.

sheesh. I'm bumming mySELF out! :lol:


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> I was banned from the other boards and migrated here. :lol: Actually, I almost left back when a gang from the cigar side smacked me down with a collective -111 RG. :deadhorse:
> 
> I miss all the Lymies who used to post. out: I think I'm more British than American, probably because 11-13 is such a formative age, years I spent in England.
> 
> sheesh. I'm bumming mySELF out! :lol:


There were....issues. Some BOTLs I consider friends were involved, and the exodus - not the first one from this board - occurred. Even mention of the other site resulted in some members receiving sanction, so there was a secondary exodus. Stuff happens. People get along, then they don't.

I've not seen Terry in the other place recently either - hopefully due solely to the holidays, as I enjoy his repartee. One thing that I would note is that the issues at hand seemed more to the cigar side than over here, and many of us are active on both boards because you guys are such a solid bunch.

And for the record, I would consider corporate raider a compliment! :bounce:


----------



## JimInks

Well, after reading yesterday's comments, I begin to understand why I'm not seeing that many people smoking here. It's a shame that those things happened.

Just finishing Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1970s three quarter bend half smooth, half rusticated Savinelli Autograph 4 with a lucite stem and ferrule. Next is Rum and Maple in a 1981 Mauro Armellini Corteccia 05 Oom Paul.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> I almost left back when a gang from the cigar side smacked me down with a collective -111 RG.


LOL!

I have visions of cigar smoking ruffians wearing porkpie hats pantsing you, Jim. Oh, the Humanity!

I tried to give you RG, but I've done it too recently.


----------



## freestoke

A cold and codgerish day, with PA and SWR in abundance, cobs and cobs of it, holding down the nicotine levels until after my teeth cleaning this morning. :mrgreen: Just in case the vitamin N might make me jumpy, ya know?  Plus, I'm out of RY and the KK is in the other room.

And thanks for broadening my horizons!! :shock: I didn't know what a pork pie hat was. :dunno:


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> A codgerish day


Ahh, a day in your honor! :mrgreen: Too bad you couldn't hit the links and celebrate, but at least you had "cobs" of fun. 

Having a similar day (sans dentist, but I did brush my teeth) and cobs of fun myself with 965.

Speaking of absences and Brits, I haven't seen Robert around (or is it because I've been AWOL?).


----------



## bluesman.54

TTecheTTe said:


> Ahh, a day in your honor! :mrgreen: Too bad you couldn't hit the links and celebrate, but at least you had "cobs" of fun.
> 
> Having a similar day (sans dentist, but I did brush my teeth) and cobs of fun myself with 965.
> 
> Speaking of absences and Brits, I haven't seen Robert around (or is it because I've been AWOL?).


Robert hasn't posted in quite awhile. For that mater, neither has Terry.

Glad to here you're having cobs of fun!

This morning I enjoyed some Navy Flake in an MM Gentleman myself. Seems like it was a cob kind of day! Life is Good!


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> Ahh, a day in your honor! :mrgreen: Too bad you couldn't hit the links and celebrate, but at least you had "cobs" of fun.
> 
> Having a similar day (sans dentist, but I did brush my teeth) and cobs of fun myself with 965.
> 
> Speaking of absences and Brits, I haven't seen Robert around (or is it because I've been AWOL?).


Yeah, Robert checked out in November. Practically every person involved with the "Pink Pipe of Death" is now missing, the last recipient making his last post with the line (I kid you not) "Well guys just wanted to let everyone know I'm not dead yet but close. I've had a stomach bug of some sort that has kept me in bed or somewhere else since Saturday morning," then absconding with the pipe. :spy: An entertaining thread, nonetheless, with lots of pictures. *http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...-horrid-pipes-smokes-having-smoked-moves.html*

Working on more SWR in the Legend Forever*.

*I propose that the word "stem" be elided in the context of smoking a cob using the Forever stem, e.g., MM CG Forever, Pride Forever, and Egg Forever. (Marines are encouraged to substitute "Semper" and use Latin word order, viz., Semper General, Semper Patriot, etc.)


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> An entertaining thread, nonetheless, with lots of pictures.


I saw _The Ring_. I'm not going to read that thread.

1:30 AM is morning, I guess, so it's Union Square in my Radice dublin.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> *I saw The Ring*. I'm not going to read that thread.
> 
> 1:30 AM is morning, I guess, so it's Union Square in my Radice dublin.


But you didn't die from seeing the movie about the deadly tape. :nono: The Pink Pipe of Death is the "tape", the thread is just the movie. :smile: Besides, you're IN the movie/thread! :biglaugh:

Happy New Year! arty: My New Year's resolution is to vastly reduce the number of containers of jars of tobacco that are not entirely to my taste. This is synonymous with smoking more this year and enjoying it less.


----------



## TTecheTTe

You know it's cold when you wear a cap on top of your helmet. "Life is good" when the Winter Classic is played in a snowstorm!


----------



## indigosmoke

Wow, I just popped in to wish my fellow Puffers a Happy New Year 2014 and I'm sorry to read about the apparent lack of activity on the pipe side of Puff. I've had some major life events happen in the past several months and they put a crimp in my time for pipe smoking, Puff and all related pleasures. I had hoped to spend a great deal of time with my old friends on Puff this upcoming year. Let's hope things turn around and pick up here. Anyway, I'm enjoying a bowl of Capstan (the first bowl I've had in many months). Best wishes in the New Year to all of you!


----------



## MarkC

Are we lacking in activity? I didn't even notice. Hope you have a great year, John, while I settle down to have another bowl of Union Square!


----------



## indigosmoke

freestoke said:


> We haven't seen Terry in a month now, and with so many others missing I'd almost call the pipe side defunct at this point. I'm on my third newbie trade in a row where my side disappears within a week and the newbie list itself has been virtually empty for months. I think we need a post with all the avitars of the MIA pipers, like they do with the movie stars that have passed away during the previous year.
> 
> Pushing off with a bowl of RY, to get an early Vitamin N boost. Gonna be 40 today and tomorrow, with rain! :banana: Not quite long enough warm or enough rain to get rid of the obscene amount of snow that fell the past few days though. (They predicted a few inches, we got a foot. :rant





MarkC said:


> Are we lacking in activity? I didn't even notice. Hope you have a great year, John, while I settle down to have another bowl of Union Square!


Hi Mark! Hope all is well with you. I based my statement about recent activity and the above post by Jim. Given Jim's legendary sense of humor, I may have misinterpreted him. I certainly hope so, as I'd hate to see the pipe side of Puff suffer a decline. Here's hoping for a great new year for Puff and my fellow Puffers!


----------



## JimInks

MarkC said:


> Are we lacking in activity? I didn't even notice. Hope you have a great year, John, while I settle down to have another bowl of Union Square!


I think there is a lack of activity. I'm usually sleeping during the morning, and keep forgetting to post here after midnight. The result is that I see too much of me in the Afternoon and Evening threads, and not enough of other smokers. It makes me feel a bit self-conscious. Aren't there more night smokers?


----------



## TanZ2005

1am on this Second day of the New year, I am enjoying a Arlington Pipe filled with some Black House. MarkC I am going to have to check out some of that Union Square, I keep seeing it and my last order almost got some but but went with another tin of House Of Lords. Hope everyone has had a good start of the New Year. 

Enjoy your Pipe everyone. 
James


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## freestoke

indigosmoke said:


> Hi Mark! Hope all is well with you. I based my statement about recent activity and the above post by Jim. Given Jim's legendary sense of humor, I may have misinterpreted him. I certainly hope so, as I'd hate to see the pipe side of Puff suffer a decline. Here's hoping for a great new year for Puff and my fellow Puffers!


Mornin', John! :yo: Months without a pipe!? :shock: My sympathies! Good to see you back!

Alas, my activity measures are manifold, from the home page to the newbie trade list to the more narrow measure of the daily Morning, Afternoon, and evening smoke threads.

Think I'll fire up a 4Dot of Louisiana Flake.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I have a few minutes of morning left...

Time for a bowl of Bagpipers Dream in a Hilson Vintage Bulldog out on the deck at work.


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> Mornin', John! :yo: Months without a pipe!? :shock: My sympathies! Good to see you back!
> 
> Alas, my activity measures are manifold, from the home page to the newbie trade list to the more narrow measure of the daily Morning, Afternoon, and evening smoke threads.
> 
> Think I'll fire up a 4Dot of Louisiana Flake.


Okay -- I'm late posting, but this morning during my commute I enjoyed a bowl of HHODF in a slightly bent Canimetto Business. As to the lack of activity, I have just been busier than usual, but with the holidays behind us, hopefully I'll be able to post more until my next busy season.

Further I communicated with Terry aka ProbateGeek and he assures me he is well, he is just unusually busy. He asked me to wish everyone on the board a Happy New Year -- so -- Happy New Year from Terry. Further he assured me he will be back posting again when he gets through his current projects. And while I am at it -- Happy New Year to everyone from me too.

May 2014 be the revival of the Pipe Side of Puff!


----------



## TTecheTTe

JimInks said:


> I think there is a lack of activity. I'm usually sleeping during the morning, and keep forgetting to post here after midnight. The result is that I see too much of me in the Afternoon and Evening threads, and not enough of other smokers. It makes me feel a bit self-conscious. Aren't there more night smokers?


I love seeing too much of you.!  i'm a night smoker, and will try to be better at posting.

Detention for tardiness, Michael. Jim may still wag his finger...


----------



## JimInks

TTecheTTe said:


> I love seeing too much of you.!  i'm a night smoker, and will try to be better at posting.
> 
> Detention for tardiness, Michael. Jim may still wag his finger...


Glad to see you'll post more there. I feel like a thread hog sometimes when I only see me posting. I want to know what others smoke, too, or a lot of the fun's not there.


----------



## bluesman.54

TTecheTTe said:


> I love seeing too much of you.!  i'm a night smoker, and will try to be better at posting.
> 
> Detention for tardiness, Michael. Jim may still wag his finger...


Oh no -- not that -- anything but the waving of Jim's finger.........Ahhhhhhhhhh


----------



## indigosmoke

Michael, thanks for the update and for the info on Terry. Jim, I'll find my way over to the night time thread as well, after all, Nightcap is one of my favorite blends!


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Halberg Red in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Anejo 221 blended by our very own @madbricky , in a Dr. Grabow Duke. I'm coming to discover that we have some rather skillful blenders in our midst on Puff ipe:


----------



## freestoke

indigosmoke said:


> Michael, thanks for the update and for the info on Terry. Jim, I'll find my way over to the night time thread as well, after all, Nightcap is one of my favorite blends!


Now if we can scare up the thread's owner, we'll be set! :smile:

I'm opening with a strongish mix of PA and Sweet Rum Twist this morning, girding my loins for the driveway chores and taking two of the cats into the vet this morning. We escaped the storm, more or less, with most of it riding just south, but still, the three foot snowbanks are a miserable change from the bare ground of a mere 10 days ago. :frown: The wind chill is -24°F. Keep the St. Bernard warmed up just in case.


----------



## JimInks

Bacchanalia in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Count Pulaski in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## bluesman.54

indigosmoke said:


> Michael, thanks for the update and for the info on Terry. Jim, I'll find my way over to the night time thread as well, after all, Nightcap is one of my favorite blends!


John, You're welcome. Good to see you posting.

This morning as I work it's Red Cake in a straight, smooth Caminetto Excellence Extra. It is 5 degrees here in Iowa so I am thankful for my heated man cave from which I can both work and smoke. I haven't had Red Cake in awhile and had forgotten how much I enjoy it. Life is good!


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> John,
> This morning as I work it's Red Cake in a straight, smooth Caminetto Excellence Extra. It is 5 degrees here in Iowa so I am thankful for my heated man cave from which I can both work and smoke. I haven't had Red Cake in awhile and had forgotten how much I enjoy it. Life is good!


Been smoking some Red Cake the past couple of weeks myself. Really is a nice smoke. As for your stinking 5°, it's only -3° here -- and I have another driveway to do! The next one will be worse, since the wind has come up a little. Plus, I have to fix the auger bolt on the other snowblower before I can even start. :faint: The cat convoy to the vet went very smoothly, however! Two cats in the same carrier, production line style. :tu This will not be possible with the remaining two cats next Friday. :nono:

Smoking some PA and SRT in the Forever Legend, glad that I can actually still do this stuff! :banana:


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> Been smoking some Red Cake the past couple of weeks myself. Really is a nice smoke. As for your stinking 5°, it's only -3° here -- and I have another driveway to do! The next one will be worse, since the wind has come up a little. Plus, I have to fix the auger bolt on the other snowblower before I can even start. :faint: The cat convoy to the vet went very smoothly, however! Two cats in the same carrier, production line style. :tu This will not be possible with the remaining two cats next Friday. :nono:
> 
> Smoking some PA and SRT in the Forever Legend, glad that I can actually still do this stuff! :banana:


I shoveled yesterday and am glad I did. The is a brutal wind here today. But I still have to do the sidewalks next door. Thinking of a bracer of some Templeton Rye and then heading out to accomplish the task before me. Stay warm Jim!

Just finished a bowl of Tilbury in a no name meer. It was wonderful. Life s Good!


----------



## JimInks

Germain's Brown Flake in a 2002 medium bend smooth Rinaldo EGEA 03 Silver line spigot 10.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished with this bowl of Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a 1980 black rusticated rough top Jobey E27 Stromboli extra egg-shaped poker.


----------



## JimInks

Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Morning, Jim! Looks like you need company! p Squadron Leader in a Forever Pony Express with black coffee.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> The is a brutal wind here today. But I still have to do the sidewalks next door.


So, do you help them move a body from time to time too? :lol: Real neighborly of you, Michael! (I give a hand myself, when the next door neighbors are sick or their snowblower dies. :smile The same family has lived in the house in the house across the street since I moved here in 1984. There are two strapping sons who starred on the hockey teams and the father is also a jock. The grandfather (the original inhabitant) moved out to a new house about 10 years ago and his daughter and her husband moved in with her kids. Both mailboxes are on the same side of the street, naturally, my side to be exact, and never once in all the years I've lived here have they lifted a finger to clear the mailboxes. Not once have those bastages driven their snowblower across the street to take the two short swipes required to let the postman get to them. The grandfather has been known to push snow across the street into my yard with his snowplow-equipped Jeep after a heavy storm, stripping the grass away, but not lately; the last time he did it I said, "Don't do that," using my Bug voice ala Men in Black. He must have seen the movie, because he hasn't done it since.

Going with a Forever Pride of PA and more coffee!


----------



## JimInks

Burley London Blend in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

I'm having a Puff kinda morning. About to fire up my Glass Sipper Cob (custom made by @Emperor Zurg ) with a big bowl of Honor Guard Aromatic (blended by @madbricky ). I'm hoping it will get into the 40s so I can get a bike ride in today after I run errands.


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> So, do you help them move a body from time to time too? :lol: Real neighborly of you, Michael! (I give a hand myself, when the next door neighbors are sick or their snowblower dies. :smile The same family has lived in the house in the house across the street since I moved here in 1984. There are two strapping sons who starred on the hockey teams and the father is also a jock. The grandfather (the original inhabitant) moved out to a new house about 10 years ago and his daughter and her husband moved in with her kids. Both mailboxes are on the same side of the street, naturally, my side to be exact, and never once in all the years I've lived here have they lifted a finger to clear the mailboxes. Not once have those bastages driven their snowblower across the street to take the two short swipes required to let the postman get to them. The grandfather has been known to push snow across the street into my yard with his snowplow-equipped Jeep after a heavy storm, stripping the grass away, but not lately; the last time he did it I said, "Don't do that," using my Bug voice ala Men in Black. He must have seen the movie, because he hasn't done it since.
> 
> Going with a Forever Pride of PA and more coffee!


:r

More SL, more coffee. Best of luck on your match, @Gigmaster!


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> :r
> 
> More SL, more coffee. Best of luck on your match, @Gigmaster !


Damn, Mari, I missed both of your posts earlier! I don't know if he'll do it or not yet, but he'll probably crush me. eep:

It's always morning somewhere, so I'm virtually going there to smoke a Forever Legend and some PA. p


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> So, do you help them move a body from time to time too? :lol: Real neighborly of you, Michael! (I give a hand myself, when the next door neighbors are sick or their snowblower dies. :smile


No moving of bodies so far -- but I do clear their walks for them. I have a snow blower and they don't. During the summer I often mow their lawn as I have a rider because I have two acres and their yard isn't that big, so while I am mowing I just do theirs while I am at it. Good for you helping your neighbors when they need it. It is good to help one's neighbor when they are in need. You never know when the shoe could be on the other foot.

Late post -- enjoyed 1792 this morning in a sooth, straight Willmer. I still love that tobacco. Life is good!


----------



## JimInks

Germain's Brown Flake in a mid-1970s black rusticated straight Savinelli Estella 915 KS.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished Angler's Dream in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob. Next is Burley London Blend in a medium bend 1983 Ascorti New Dear KS.


----------



## JimInks

Alexander Bridge in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Nightowl time! LBF in Forever CG! $28 and this was the last pipe I purchased.


----------



## freestoke

Wow, does iPAD suck. Talk about hostile user interfaces and a deadly embrace! With my PC laptop, I connected to my* Apple* (note!) Airport Express simply by turning the computer on. With my Samsung Smart TV, I connected to the internet/Netflix/etc., simply by turning it on and telling it to connect. An Apple iPAD seems incapable of talking to it, even though it's a totally open net, no passwords or encryption. What I suspect is happening is that Apple has purposely disabled connections to its old line of routers, in hopes of frustrating iPAD purchasers into buying more new equipment to get over the hurdle. :dunno: The deadly embrace comes when it wants an app to proceed, but there's no internet connection! :rant: It will connect to the Netgear at Audrey's, but not to the Apple Airport Express here! :rant: Figures you'd need a special app to connect to their own product line. The tipoff is that it knows there is an Apple Express out there, but it refuses to deal with it. This was designed for people with iPhones and other smartphones, apparently,so if you aren't forking out a few hundred a month to stay in permanent contact with your facebook friends, you're not worthy of using an iPAD. It also needs an app to connect to facebook, but you have to provide a credit card number to download it, so Audrey can't even use it for that at her house! Talk about facebook selling out to the company store! It's extortion! Despicable. :tsk: Glad I don't do that one.

I gotta have some Sweet Rum Twist to calm down. InFURiating! :rant:

PS: If you don't have an iPhone-like telephone connection, you can't set the time on it! Basically, if they can't track you with GPS, they don't trust you to have an iPAD.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Wow, does iPAD suck. Talk about hostile user interfaces and a deadly embrace! With my PC laptop, I connected to my* Apple* (note!) Airport Express simply by turning the computer on. With my Samsung Smart TV, I connected to the internet/Netflix/etc., simply by turning it on and telling it to connect. An Apple iPAD seems incapable of talking to it, even though it's a totally open net, no passwords or encryption. What I suspect is happening is that Apple has purposely disabled connections to its old line of routers, in hopes of frustrating iPAD purchasers into buying more new equipment to get over the hurdle. :dunno: The deadly embrace comes when it wants an app to proceed, but there's no internet connection! :rant: It will connect to the Netgear at Audrey's, but not to the Apple Airport Express here! :rant: Figures you'd need a special app to connect to their own product line. The tipoff is that it knows there is an Apple Express out there, but it refuses to deal with it. This was designed for people with iPhones and other smartphones, apparently,so if you aren't forking out a few hundred a month to stay in permanent contact with your facebook friends, you're not worthy of using an iPAD. It also needs an app to connect to facebook, but you have to provide a credit card number to download it, so Audrey can't even use it for that at her house! Talk about facebook selling out to the company store! It's extortion! Despicable. :tsk: Glad I don't do that one.
> 
> I gotta have some Sweet Rum Twist to calm down. InFURiating! :rant:
> 
> PS: If you don't have an iPhone-like telephone connection, you can't set the time on it! Basically, if they can't track you with GPS, they don't trust you to have an iPAD.


The ipad is for me the greatest sign of the end of time, it encapsulates many of all the things i hate.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> The ipad is for me the greatest sign of the end of time, it encapsulates many of all the things i hate.


I figured out what they've done. :frown: They'd made it so that the iPAD cannot connect to an unprotected network! :rant: It HAS to be password protected, presumably so that you can't use their equipment to pirate an unprotected wireless connection. But if I password the wireless router, the TV can't find ANY network at all! And the protocol is the same either way on the Airport Express. It would be one thing if it failed some other way, but to no longer even detect that there is a signal from the router at all seems really bizarre. I may actually have to spring for a new wireless router to get everything to work :faint: Ridiculous.

Some SWR in the Forever Gentleman.


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> I figured out what they've done. :frown: They'd made it so that the iPAD cannot connect to an unprotected network! :rant: It HAS to be password protected, presumably so that you can't use their equipment to pirate an unprotected wireless connection. But if I password the wireless router, the TV can't find ANY network at all! And the protocol is the same either way on the Airport Express. It would be one thing if it failed some other way, but to no longer even detect that there is a signal from the router at all seems really bizarre. I may actually have to spring for a new wireless router to get everything to work :faint: Ridiculous.
> 
> Some SWR in the Forever Gentleman.


That's what you get for getting an ipad oke: :tongue1:


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2000 thin stem sandblasted black silver band spigot Ardor Urano S. Holmes #68 /100 D.R. briar calabash with a smooth flared top.


----------



## Desertlifter

You're up late, Jim! Prepping for my return to the working world tomorrow. Bell's Three Nuns circa 1990 in my Savinelli bent Diplomat. If I have to work, might as well have some great tobacco.


----------



## JimInks

A few moments away from smoking Fox and Hound in a 1990 smooth medium bend Nording freehand sitter with a wider top than bottom that also has a ridge and a narrower bowl resembling an upside down spout, with an amber colored lucite stem with cream swirls. Man, but that's a long description.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Marlow said:


> That's what you get for getting an ipad oke: :tongue1:


I've been saying they are a piece of garbage. I have three worthless Apple products now, and was a dihard Apple user 1983-1991. I regret going back. ATT Uverse agravates the pain, and I am a stockholder and former employee.

I'm a savage beast and need to find BLB, but it's going to another bowl of Balkan Supreme in the Forever CG - some things are good!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE Heirloom Cherry in a MM Cob. First full week back of work since the 20th. Last Thursday and Friday really didn’t get me back in the swing yet :frusty:


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> DE Heirloom Cherry in a MM Cob. First full week back of work since the 20th. Last Thursday and Friday really didn't get me back in the swing yet :frusty:


The best Xmas vacation I had at work came in 1978-9. I was working for Rockwell Int'l in Richardson, TX, and they sent everybody home several days before Xmas and we didn't go back until I think the 8th of January.

The rationale was that so many people took the time off, called in sick or whatever, that it wasn't worth it to keep the facilities open and the heat on.

I must say, a cherry blend before 0700 hours is absolutely terrifying, Tobias. :shock: I'm having a simple PA/4Dot breakfast myself, with extra coffee, celebrating A) the Great Lakes are supposedly frozen now for the most part, so not a lot of lake effect from here on out, B) the driveway is free of ice after it rained all night, and C) It doesn't look like I'll need to redistribute any snow for a week or so! :banana:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> I must say, a cherry blend before 0700 hours is absolutely terrifying, Tobias. :shock:


And I smoked it with a mug of Eggnog Chai at that :biggrin:


----------



## Blue Raccoon

*DE Heirloom Cherry in a MM Cob* great combo


----------



## JimInks

Just finished VaPer Three Nuns in a 1970s slight bend poker-like Caminetto business 134 with a gold colored stem. Next is Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Almost done with Burley London Blend in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 1982 smooth straight Sasieni Ivory 105 Apple.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE Toasted Black Cavendish in a Gatlinburlier house pipe. My wife has the day off because apparently it's too cold to have school. I realize kids are sensitive, but it's only 10* out. I grew up between a couple ski resorts and I would have gone to school today. I never thought I would sound crotchety in my thirties :???:


----------



## freestoke

Blue Raccoon said:


> *DE Heirloom Cherry in a MM Cob* great combo


My god, Mick, it was only 8:30! Cherry smokers back to back yesterday!  I'm starting simple this morning, with PA in the 4Dot, wondering if the wind will stop before spring. At least there's no more snow! :smile:


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a little early: Three Friars in a smooth briar calabash shaped Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier JR Fait Main with a horn ferrule.


----------



## Desertlifter

The other crazy pipers yester-morn inspired me.

Tomorrow I wake up with a bowl of Sutliff Spinnaker.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Old Dark Fired in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

Burley London Blend in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Last of my DE Harvest on the Hudson in a rustic Leonessa. It's hump day ipe:


----------



## freestoke

PA in the Forever Legend and the coffee seems especially good this morning. Looks like the "January thaw" is the on the way, with temps in the 40s starting Saturday. :banana:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> Looks like the "January thaw" is the on the way, with temps in the 40s starting Saturday. :banana:


I hear that! I'm already trying to decide where I want to go hiking this weekend. I really don't dislike winter (atleast not the average temps we have in VA) but the extreme days are a pain in the butt. That and my sinuses go to war with my gas furnace all season. I sleep with a humidifier, wake up feeling good and by mid day I'm dried out and miserable again!


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> I hear that! I'm already trying to decide where I want to go hiking this weekend. I really don't dislike winter (atleast not the average temps we have in VA) but the extreme days are a pain in the butt. That and my sinuses go to war with my gas furnace all season. I sleep with a humidifier, wake up feeling good and by mid day I'm dried out and miserable again!


I didn't grok winter living until I was 38; even though Boise, Idaho got a little cold, there was zero snow (or even ice, since it didn't rain, either). There'd be some snow once in a while when we visited Richmond, but I only recall seeing snow twice in Hilton Village before I left when I was 11 (melted the next day). Winter wasn't terrible on the northeast coast of England, a little colder than July, but like the rest of the year, wet and sunless. In Naples I don't recall anything colder than about 50, although we "visited" winter, going skiing in Munich every year around xmas. Winter in Savannah is non-existent. San Francisco, San Antonio, Biloxi, and the DC area didn't have winter. Rome has winter. It's been a little colder this year than the past few, but this cold snap that's messing up areas of the country isn't a big deal around here, pretty much a normal winter. It really hasn't been that cold here, since you can expect a little snap of 20 below with below zero highs every winter, and we haven't seen that. What could have been big snows have tracked just south and east of here and the heavy lake effect just north, so Rome hasn't suffered much like the rest of the country apparently has, and wouldn't in any case because they have the equipment to handle it around here, and people know what to do. It might be arctic air dropping down from the west side of the polar vortex, but that arctic air is warmer than it used to be, I think.

The sun is shining, so I have the Forever Country Gentleman burning a cheery (not cherry! :nono fill of Louisiana Flake to chase away the cold. p


----------



## JimInks

Burley London Blend in a 1980 three quarter bend briar Butz-Choquin 55 skull bowl pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 1980s made in London no name smooth straight apple.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## freestoke

Sir Walter Raleigh, a local hero where I grew up in Virginia, has a pretty decent codger tobacco named after him. More like a flake than ribbon, and needs a bit of rubbing out sometimes. I see that I'm on my last jar of the tub, this the antepenultimate bowl from that jar, which means SWR joins orders on the docket. I think the time has come to build lists.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a black 1997 Brebbia Jubilee 925 silver banded grain sandblast briar calabash.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing MacBaren Halberg Green in a straight 1979 MM Legend. Next is Burley London Blend in a medium bend 1983 Ascorti New Dear KS.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing a bowl of Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin. Next is MacBaren Halberg Green in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

H&H Eggnog in a Dr. Grabow Duke. Still trying to burn my way through the seasonal selections ipe:


----------



## Marlow

Got another pipe in the mail today, can't wait to try it, the weather is too bad though.. 

My first Dunhill:


----------



## freestoke

First class, Per, you should be allowed to smoke a pipe that nice inside! 

Having a simple bowl of PA in the Forever Country Gentleman this morning, enjoying the warm-up. Just reading that this last little cold bump was only the 55th coldest since 1910, just that there hasn't been one this bad since 1997, so a lot of people have never experienced it within their memory, hence the media frenzy about it. Basically, there's been colder weather practically every other year over the past century, just not for a while. I certainly remember MANY colder years here in Rome, and right now we're heading into what would pass for a mild and early spring.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> Just reading that this last little cold bump was only the 55th coldest since 1910, just that there hasn't been one this bad since 1997, so a lot of people have never experienced it within their memory, hence the media frenzy about it.


I've observed that the more inundated people are with useless dribble (most tv, intenet, social media, etc.), the shorter their memory becomes. It works out well because the cycle perpetuates itself to the media's benefit. Dumbed down and desensitized, and the advertisers are beating down the door. Well&#8230; enough cynicism for one morning. It will be 60+ here tomorrow and though raining, I plan on sitting myself down on the porch and enjoying a cigar :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> It works out well because the cycle perpetuates itself to the media's benefit. Dumbed down and desensitized, and the advertisers are beating down the door.


The importance of a news story is now measured in market share. The answer to any headline that asks a question to attract readers (comments, speculation, likes and dislikes) is almost certainly "no". Speculation and what can be called conspiracy theories now pass for real reporting, news that one can dream up while sitting at a desk googling.

"Will KK topped with scraps from JKP[sic] disprove the Second Law of Thermodynamics!?" Can't beat it for codger cob smoking.


----------



## Marlow

Five Brothers in my new beautiful Dunhill, Irish Blend tea on the side.

Won't hurt to show this beauty again :smile:










As for first impression, it smoked great, next time I will have PA in it.


----------



## JimInks

Fox and Hound in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021.


----------



## MarkC

Tobias Lutz said:


> I've observed that the more inundated people are with useless dribble (most tv, intenet, social media, etc.), the shorter their memory becomes. It works out well because the cycle perpetuates itself to the media's benefit. Dumbed down and desensitized, and the advertisers are beating down the door. Well&#8230; enough cynicism for one morning. It will be 60+ here tomorrow and though raining, I plan on sitting myself down on the porch and enjoying a cigar :biggrin:


Memory is like anything else, the less you use it, the less you'll have. We took a major hit in the memory department when books became widespread; I have no doubt that the introduction of the computer will have a similar impact.


----------



## MarkC

Marlow said:


> Won't hurt to show this beauty again :smile:


No, that was fairly painless. 
A very nice pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Great looking Dunhill, Marlow!

Now smoking Kentucky Planter in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Black Lung in a 1990 Peterson Irish Second Oom Paul natural.


----------



## JimInks

Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Memory is like anything else, the less you use it, the less you'll have. We took a major hit in the memory department when books became widespread; I have no doubt that the introduction of the computer will have a similar impact.


They've definitely affected people's ability to do arithmetic in their heads. When I played league darts, back in the 70s and early 80s, there was a clear dichotomy between the older and younger players in their ability to keep score in 501 (or any x01) games, with a delineation (about 25 at the time) that coincided with the widespread use of handheld calculators. There was even a bigger difference in younger players' knowing what double they were on while they were at the line.

Mostly Louisiana Flake this morning, and the jar may go empty by tomorrow morning. RAIN! :banana:


----------



## JimInks

Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Davidoff Green Mixture in my Zurg Glass Sipper


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Hamborger Veermaster in a Hilson Vintage Dublin during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Kentucky Planter in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Halberg Green in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Rekamepip's Winter Blend in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Dunhill Green in a Leonessa. I'm a big fan of Dunhill cigars, with 3 being among my top dozen, but their pipe tobacco (at least this blend) is pretty mediocre. It isn't bad, but fortunately it is priced reasonably because I would not be willing to pay the premium for it that I am willing to pay for some of their cigars.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Dunhill Green in a Leonessa. I'm a big fan of Dunhill cigars...


Dunhill makes cigars!? :ask: Who knew? :dunno: I knew they made cigaret

Speaking of Dunhill, I just reordered some cans of Royal Yacht and a couple of Elizabethan Mixture. Pretty sure I tried that in college, but I may not have developed my perique palette yet and have no specific memory of it beyond the tin art (which alone would have led to me to buy at least one can of it). The reviews indicate a reasonable vitamin N content. I made a quick decision to smoke Ennerdale on the golf course this summer, so 5 cans of that went on the order to reach free shipping -- and a bit beyond! :smile:

Got the Forever CG burning PA.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> Dunhill makes cigars!? :ask: Who knew? :dunno: I knew they made cigaret


Nice catch Jim, that's what happens when I post before my coffee. I meant *Davidoff Green Mixture*. ipe:


----------



## Marlow

They do actually make cigars, I don't know who makes them for them and so on though. I have tried one, and it was good. It was called Dunhill Signed Range Corona.


----------



## Stonedog

Tobias Lutz said:


> Dunhill Green in a Leonessa. I'm a big fan of Dunhill cigars, with 3 being among my top dozen, but their pipe tobacco (at least this blend) is pretty mediocre. It isn't bad, but fortunately it is priced reasonably because I would not be willing to pay the premium for it that I am willing to pay for some of their cigars.


I found Royal Yacht to be quite nice in that Leonessa. Take it nice and slow and the subtle flavors shine through.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a brown 1980 long stem three quarter bend Caminetto 205 Business egg.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Fox and Hound in a 1982 smooth slight bend straight grain Ben Wade Martinique freehand sitter with a wide top.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

More of the same (Davidoff) in a Dr. Grabow Duke. I'm not sure when the last time was that I smoked straight through a tin without mixing in other blends. I'm quickly reminded of my inherent nature- a variety whore.


----------



## freestoke

I'm glad I hadn't written a lot, since my browser just ate my last response and left my cookies dangling. Was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, that I had never smoked through an entire pouch/can/tin/etc of tobacco uninterrupted by other blends. I never even mixed things together until a few years ago, but now I mix stuff probably half the time, especially with codger OTCs. I just smoked some PA straight up in the Forever CG, but I'm headed for the last of the Louisiana Flake.


----------



## Stonedog

H&H Sierra Nevada in the Wessex this morning. I was hoping for a little more from this blend. So far it's just light virginia with the merest hint of oriental.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Rum and Maple in a 1981 Mauro Armellini Corteccia 05 Oom Paul. Next is VaPer Three Nuns in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> I'm glad I hadn't written a lot, since my browser just ate my last response and* left my cookies dangling*. Was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, that I had never smoked through an entire pouch/can/tin/etc of tobacco uninterrupted by other blends. I never even mixed things together until a few years ago, but now I mix stuff probably half the time, especially with codger OTCs. I just smoked some PA straight up in the Forever CG, but I'm headed for the last of the Louisiana Flake.


You might want to close your zipper :biggrin:

It makes you wonder about all the old guys like my grandfather who smoked tin (or can :wink after tin of the same blend for decades. Perhaps this really is the Golden Age for pipe smokers.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> You might want to close your zipper :biggrin:
> 
> It makes you wonder about all the old guys like my grandfather who smoked tin (or can :wink after tin of the same blend for decades. Perhaps this really is the Golden Age for pipe smokers.


Really. My father would buy a 1lb can of something from the BX and smoke it until was gone, Edgeworth, Prince Albert, Carter Hall, and so forth. I think one of those cans might have cost about $3. :lol: I remember I could get a carton of Winston cigarettes for $1.25 at the BX when I was in college and Camels for a buck.

Good morning all you West Coasters! I'm smoking some more PA and making sure my cookies are intact.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> I remember I could get a carton of Winston cigarettes for $1.25 at the BX when I was in college and Camels for a buck.


I'm only in my thirties so I don't remember prices like that but I do remember when 3 and 5 packs of cigarettes being thrown off floats like candy during the town parade when I was a kid. That's probably the most obscene example of change in tobacco policy that I can recall.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49. Next is Tilbury in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, that I had never smoked through an entire pouch/can/tin/etc of tobacco uninterrupted by other blends.


I guess I'm the oddball. I tend to smoke the same thing bowl after bowl until the tin is gone. Occasionally I mix things up, but if I have a favorite open, like HOTW or HV, it's pretty much that and only that until I hit the bottom of the tin. I look at the cellars at tobaccocellar.com and I'm embarrassed by my lonely four open tins...


----------



## JimInks

Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I guess I'm the oddball. I tend to smoke the same thing bowl after bowl until the tin is gone. Occasionally I mix things up, but if I have a favorite open, like HOTW or HV, it's pretty much that and only that until I hit the bottom of the tin. I look at the cellars at tobaccocellar.com and* I'm embarrassed by my lonely four open tins..*.


:biglaugh: It's Archie and Meathead on All in the Family. Archie hates it that Meathead eats all his peas, then all his potatoes, then his meat, and that this makes his diet "unbalanced". He proves his point by pointing out that the pizza is the perfect balanced diet, with all the stuff right there in every bite.

I haven't been flitting around the containers as much lately, because I've been trying to empty containers to consolidate my holdings to those tobaccos that I prefer. The primary reason I have all these partial containers in the "cellar" is that I quit smoking them when I found things I liked better. I actually move open containers back into the cellar, so "open" and "cellared" are hazy concepts in my accounting. I just discovered an ancient jar of Glengarry Flake -- not bad, but I prefer other GH&Co. flakes, so I'll try to polish that off, starting right now. p


----------



## DanR

freestoke said:


> :biglaugh: It's Archie and Meathead on All in the Family. Archie hates it that Meathead eats all his peas, then all his potatoes, then his meat, and that this makes his diet "unbalanced". He proves his point by pointing out that the pizza is the perfect balanced diet, with all the stuff right there in every bite.
> 
> I haven't been flitting around the containers as much lately, because I've been trying to empty containers to consolidate my holdings to those tobaccos that I prefer. The primary reason I have all these partial containers in the "cellar" is that I quit smoking them when I found things I liked better. I actually move open containers back into the cellar, so "open" and "cellared" are hazy concepts in my accounting. I just discovered an ancient jar of Glengarry Flake -- not bad, but I prefer other GH&Co. flakes, so I'll try to polish that off, starting right now. p


I try, really hard sometimes, to smoke the same tin til it's gone, but alas I just can't help myself. I always run to the stash and open something new after a short while. I think the main reason that I play in the newbie trade so much is so I can empty my open containers faster...


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

Key Largo in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a little early: Royal Yacht in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## MarkC

DanR said:


> I try, really hard sometimes, to smoke the same tin til it's gone, but alas I just can't help myself.


Well, it's not something I'd strive for. I just get fanatical about my favorites and can't help myself. We're all out of control, just in different ways...


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Rum and Maple in a 1981 Mauro Armellini Corteccia 05 Oom Paul.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

JimInks said:


> *Kentucky Planter* in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


My favorite SPS blend! One of the few tobaccos I would consider buying by the pound.

Keeping on with the Davidoff Green Mixture in a Dr. Grabow Duke.


----------



## DanR

MarkC said:


> Well, it's not something I'd strive for. I just get fanatical about my favorites and can't help myself. We're all out of control, just in different ways...


You're right, I guess I hadn't thought about it like that. I viewed it as "more refined". However, I do think it's silly for me to have SO many open tins at one time.


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> I try, really hard sometimes, to smoke the same tin til it's gone, but alas I just can't help myself. I always run to the stash and open something new after a short while. I think the main reason that I play in the newbie trade so much is so I can empty my open containers faster...


:lol: My last few newbie trades have really put me off. :frown: One would think a helping of top line tobaccos, including half of them being HTFs, would mean something even if the newbie didn't like them. (Of course, they probably didn't know that you couldn't find HTF or Stonehaven at time.) I can't bring myself to send things I don't like, except as a bonus pack, but maybe that's my big mistake. :lol:

Hopefully still not too HTF, PA in the 4Dot. p


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A Gatlinburlier house pipe loaded down with Green Mixture. I just realized that it's Friday and I haven't even made plans for the weekend yet! This is terribly unusual since I typically begin looking forward to it on Tuesday :biggrin: Looks like it is going to be too chilly to enjoy a ride, so perhaps some trail running is in order? I think I'll kick it off be stopping be Krispy Kreme and buying a couple dozen donuts for my staff. MMMMMM.... donuts :hungry:


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> A Gatlinburlier house pipe loaded down with Green Mixture. I just realized that it's Friday and I haven't even made plans for the weekend yet! This is terribly unusual since I typically begin looking forward to it on Tuesday :biggrin: Looks like it is going to be too chilly to enjoy a ride, so perhaps some trail running is in order? I think I'll kick it off be stopping be Krispy Kreme and buying a couple dozen donuts for my staff. MMMMMM.... donuts :hungry:


Doughnuts! About the only thing I really don't eat anymore, because of my baker's asthma -- although I do cheat with pizza once in a while. :smile: Used to eat 'em six at a time with a quart of milk at work. There's a bakery in Rome, Ferlos's (I'll give 'em a plug), that makes the best doughnuts in town now, far better than Dunkin Donuts, and when it was my turn to bring in the pastries everybody would say so. Probably second place around here goes to Price Chopper, a grocery store chain that cooks its own. Plus, I have a 20 year vendetta going against DD: One day I stopped in there for six of them on the way to work, at a time when the BEST doughnuts were at Rome Bakery, because I was running late. The guy (obviously the manager) carefully reached all the way back to the back of the tray to grab my six and I thought to myself, "Great! He's giving me the fresh ones!" Got to work and found that they were approximately 6 weeks old and could be used for sanding the oil stains off the garage floor. He actually had to go out of his way to give me lousy doughnuts and I wondered why. I took the six doughnuts with me when I went to lunch (early :frown and took them back to the shop, walked and was glad to see the guy still there. I walked over, took out all six doughnuts on at a time and put them on the counter, and said, "You gave me these stale doughnuts on purpose this morning and they're like pottery. You will never see me in here again and I will steer as much business away from you as possible at work." Then I turned to the other customers and said, "Rome Bakery has much better doughnuts," and walked out.

Having some KK in a CG with coffee. p


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> Doughnuts! About the only thing I really don't eat anymore, because of my baker's asthma -- although I do cheat with pizza once in a while. :smile: Used to eat 'em six at a time with a quart of milk at work. There's a bakery in Rome, Ferlos's (I'll give 'em a plug), that makes the best doughnuts in town now, far better than Dunkin Donuts, and when it was my turn to bring in the pastries everybody would say so. Probably second place around here goes to Price Chopper, a grocery store chain that cooks its own. Plus, I have a 20 year vendetta going against DD: One day I stopped in there for six of them on the way to work, at a time when the BEST doughnuts were at Rome Bakery, because I was running late. The guy (obviously the manager) carefully reached all the way back to the back of the tray to grab my six and I thought to myself, "Great! He's giving me the fresh ones!" Got to work and found that they were approximately 6 weeks old and could be used for sanding the oil stains off the garage floor. He actually had to go out of his way to give me lousy doughnuts and I wondered why. I took the six doughnuts with me when I went to lunch (early :frown and took them back to the shop, walked and was glad to see the guy still there. I walked over, took out all six doughnuts on at a time and put them on the counter, and said, "You gave me these stale doughnuts on purpose this morning and they're like pottery. You will never see me in here again and I will steer as much business away from you as possible at work." Then I turned to the other customers and said, "Rome Bakery has much better doughnuts," and walked out.
> 
> Having some KK in a CG with coffee. p


...wow...


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Doughnuts! About the only thing I really don't eat anymore, because of my baker's asthma -- although I do cheat with pizza once in a while. :smile: Used to eat 'em six at a time with a quart of milk at work. There's a bakery in Rome, Ferlos's (I'll give 'em a plug), that makes the best doughnuts in town now, far better than Dunkin Donuts, and when it was my turn to bring in the pastries everybody would say so. Probably second place around here goes to Price Chopper, a grocery store chain that cooks its own. Plus, I have a 20 year vendetta going against DD: One day I stopped in there for six of them on the way to work, at a time when the BEST doughnuts were at Rome Bakery, because I was running late. The guy (obviously the manager) carefully reached all the way back to the back of the tray to grab my six and I thought to myself, "Great! He's giving me the fresh ones!" Got to work and found that they were approximately 6 weeks old and could be used for sanding the oil stains off the garage floor. He actually had to go out of his way to give me lousy doughnuts and I wondered why. I took the six doughnuts with me when I went to lunch (early :frown and took them back to the shop, walked and was glad to see the guy still there. I walked over, took out all six doughnuts on at a time and put them on the counter, and said, "You gave me these stale doughnuts on purpose this morning and they're like pottery. You will never see me in here again and I will steer as much business away from you as possible at work." Then I turned to the other customers and said, "Rome Bakery has much better doughnuts," and walked out.
> 
> Having some KK in a CG with coffee. p


I would have bumped you but I can't, it seems I like you too much. :smile:


----------



## freestoke

Thanks for the thought, Per! :yo: Right now I'm testing the Forever CG with straight PA. The early instrument readings indicate that it needs a thorough cleaning. I don't keep my MM's as clean as the briars, because it just wouldn't be right, ya know? It'd be like having a clean football jersey, but I guess you even need to wash athletic clothing once in while. ainkiller: I'll tidy it up before I smoke it again...or maybe I'll put that off and pull out a new one. p


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> Thanks for the thought, Per! :yo: Right now I'm testing the Forever CG with straight PA. The early instrument readings indicate that it needs a thorough cleaning. I don't keep my MM's as clean as the briars, because it just wouldn't be right, ya know? It'd be like having a clean football jersey, but I guess you even need to wash athletic clothing once in while. ainkiller: I'll tidy it up before I smoke it again...or maybe I'll put that off and pull out a new one. p


:r

965 in my nasty Forever CG... p


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking MacBaren Cube Bronze in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rockcob poker. Next will be Royal Yacht in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## JimInks

I'm half way through this bowl of Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Pine Hills in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

@freestoke -

The only good doughnut story I have is from running the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh, NC. You run close to 2.5 miles from the NC State University bell-tower to the Krispy Kreme and proceed to eat a dozen donuts as quickly as you can before running back to the start. Now, I can race an 8k (4.97 miles) in under 28 minutes, but when you add the donuts I finished in 59. It was particularly amusing because we had a couple staying with us that weekend and he had just been through basic training, so he was bragging about his fitness and athletic prowess. He never even got the donuts down before taking the walk of shame back to the finish line :biggrin: I didn't let him here the end of it until they left the following week.

More monotony in a Larroca Novo


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> @freestoke -
> It was particularly amusing because we had a couple staying with us that weekend and he had just been through basic training, so he was bragging about his fitness and athletic prowess. He never even got the donuts down before taking the walk of shame back to the finish line :biggrin: I didn't let him here the end of it until they left the following week.


I love Schadenfreude, don't you. :tu

My best "athletic prowess" story was my first year at college, where my first dorm roommate was a "track star" miler. There was a fitness test on the indoor wooden track of a mile run, early in the required PE course. I smoked, which he hated. I came in drunk from the parties and woke him up, which he hated. I disapproved of his horrid Long Island threads, purple peg-leg plaids and pointy Italian shoes, so he thought I was poorly dressed. (Expensive Big City threads, but tasteless, and not in keeping with the UVa tradition of rep ties, tweeds and button down collars.) I beat him by five seconds -- wearing gum-sole Desert Boots for the run. He hated that too. Needless to say, he didn't get that scholarship he was after. :biglaugh: During my twenties, I could basically keep running as long as I could stay awake, now I can't run to the end of the driveway and back without needing a hit off the inhaler. :lol:

Right now, it's a hit off the Forever Legend loaded with straight PA.


----------



## JimInks

Wish I had some doughnuts!! I'll settle for MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## JimInks

McClelland's #24 in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg (Charatan second).


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## JimInks

About half a bowl of Royal Yacht in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe. That finishes the tin.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

My tenth straight bowl of Davidoff Green Mixture in a Leonessa 1/4 bent. I need to work on some art for my daughter's nursery after church today. When my son was her age I made a 3'x2' collage and put it in a museum poster frame for on his wall. I feel compelled to do a similar one for her (especially since I have an identical frame on hand), but I'm still trying to work out the subject matter. I'm thinking of a 50s theme with a background of images from back issues of Reminisce magazine and using a bunch of greeting card fronts from that decade that I have from boxes of correspondence I inherited when my grandmother passed away.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## freestoke

My cleaned Forever CG (not TOO clean though) is on a test run with PA. So far, very good. :tu


----------



## JimInks

Light Heart Virginia in a big 2002 straight paneled black sandblasted Ardor Urano Dublin signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

My morning Davidoff in a Dr. Grabow Duke. I'd rather have an extra hour of sleep after both kids waking up during the night. My two year-old was upset because he couldn't find the Matchbox airplane he took to bed :frusty: I should be grateful though, he's never gone through the "terrible" toddler stage and in general he is an extremely easy going kid. The weather is supposed to be nice today so I think I'll hit the trails for a run on the way home from work.


----------



## freestoke

Elizabethan in a Forever Legend x-out. Was not expecting to have to snowblow for a while, but I was too optimistic. :frown: Another 6 inches of lake effect last night to add to the real snow the past couple of days has put me over the edge I think. Very fluffy stuff, probably no more than an inch of water per foot and still lightly falling. It's going to be unpleasant later on with falling temps and wind, but it's been a mildish winter so far. I still can't get over everybody going bonkers over a little cold weather a couple of weeks ago. :ask: There have been FIFTY FIVE colder and longer lasting arctic blasts since 1910, but it's the first one since 1997, so I suppose we have a younger generation writing the news with no memory of them. Polar vortices aren't what they used to be. :nono:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> Polar vortices aren't what they used to be. :nono:


Just as it's no longer uphill both ways to most schools :biggrin:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

In the process of musketballing up a load of DE 7th Ave Blonde (also including some leftover shreds of FM Cellar) in my newest Glass Sipper Cob. The QC on this particular cob is so bad the draught hole comes in practically tangent to the bowl. Maybe I'll coin that the 'Zurg Tangental Draw System' and call it a bonus feature...

The GS makes for a good musketball pipe because there's no guessing where the bottom of the ball ended up - you just look thru the bottom to see. That and the fact that the musketball usually comes to a rest on top of the stem extension and sits nicely there for the majority of the smoke. This baccy is cut fairly long too so it makes for some good and proper waddage.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Emperor Zurg said:


> In the process of *musketballing* up a load of DE 7th Ave Blonde...The GS makes for a good *musketball* pipe


Alright...enlighten me. What is this "musketballing" you speak of?


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2013 MM straight Legend. Next is Pine Hills in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Alright...enlighten me. What is this "musketballing" you speak of?


http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/293111-musketballing.html

Cranking up some KK in the Forever Legend x-out after an easy snowblow of the driveway. I really enjoy The Artful Detective (renamed Murdoch Mysteries now). Generally the science angle is at least remotely plausible, but they really went off the deep end with the tunnel digger episode last night, where the villain has a screw-driven machine that he can ride in below the ground, complete with passenger compartment. Nobody seems curious about the power supply for this apparatus, which, with a sufficiently powerful combustion engine to burrow through the Earth like Bugs Bunny, would probably get about four inches per gallon. And regardless of where the power comes from, isn't there a heat build up problem? This thing is burrowing around town, tearing up streets and businesses willy-nilly, and Murdoch doesn't wonder about how it's powered? Sheesh, they could barely build anything big enough to push a modified horse carriage then. :lol:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Tobias Lutz said:


> Alright...enlighten me. What is this "musketballing" you speak of?


I asked that same question of @freestoke about a month ago as he is the musket-ball expert.
You'd be better off checking with the sot-weed bohemian himself.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/293111-musketballing.html
> 
> Cranking up some KK in the Forever Legend x-out after an easy snowblow of the driveway. I really enjoy The Artful Detective (renamed Murdoch Mysteries now). Generally the science angle is at least remotely plausible, but they really went off the deep end with the tunnel digger episode last night, where the villain has a screw-driven machine that he can ride in below the ground, complete with passenger compartment. Nobody seems curious about the power supply for this apparatus, which, with a sufficiently powerful combustion engine to burrow through the Earth like Bugs Bunny, would probably get about four inches per gallon. And regardless of where the power comes from, isn't there a heat build up problem? This thing is burrowing around town, tearing up streets and businesses willy-nilly, and Murdoch doesn't wonder about how it's powered? Sheesh, they could barely build anything big enough to push a modified horse carriage then. :lol:


Must be powered by a combination of perpetual motion and magnets.
They had their secrets back then...


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> Must be powered by a combination of perpetual motion and magnets.
> They had their secrets back then...


:lol: One of the best-kept ones is how they managed to find foxy lady doctors to work as coroners. :spy:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> :lol: One of the best-kept ones is how they managed to find foxy lady doctors to work as coroners. :spy:


Haha! I've never been able to find foxy ladies willing to do any work at all.  

Speaking of ladies, the musketball of 7th Ave Blonde was delicious btw...


----------



## JimInks

Fox and Hound in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Schippers in a mid-70s slight bend black sandblasted English Rustic 120 billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## BrSpiritus

Funny Jim, I'm starting the day off the same as you, some Classic Burley Kake in a 1940's Kaywoodie billiard that a DGT from last night.


----------



## freestoke

Forever Legend, Elizabethan Mixture to get things rolling, a second helping underway actually. I know I had something to complain about this morning...:ask: Oh well, looks like y'all are going to have to go rantless for now.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Key Largo in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Sipping on Davidoff in a Leonessa. Cold here, but was managed only a dusting of snow in spite of all the dire predictions.


----------



## freestoke

It's far too early to be up, Tobias, specially here in Rome, where it's a crisp -18F. :smile: I'm betting this is the coldest we'll see this year, but nothing unusual at all. Winters have been very mild the past few years, and even with this little cold spell, temperatures are getting above zero during the day. I remember winters here where the temp was below zero during the day and 20-30 below at night for a week or two straight. I've read that the Great Lakes are pretty much frozen at this point, so the lake effect won't be coming into play that much from here on out, ruling out those annoying 3' snowfalls due to nothing but a northwest wind. 

Elizabethan mixture in the Forever Legend. Can't say I like this as much as Royal Yacht, but it certainly isn't terrible. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> It's far too early to be up, Tobias, specially here in Rome, where it's a crisp -18F. :smile:


It's never too early to be up as long as you have tobacco and coffee. Remove those from the equation and the middle of the afternoon is too early  We aren't that cold- it was ~11* when I went outside at 0500, with little to no wind.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2003 black grain etched Karl Erik Ekstravagant horn with a smooth top.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing MacBaren Halberg Yellow in a straight 2012 MM Pony Express cob. Next is Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

Rum and Maple in a 1981 Mauro Armellini Corteccia 05 Oom Paul.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Finally getting to the bottom of my Davidoff tin with a Graco Ocean. I just noticed this morning that they still paint their tins rather than applying a sticker. I think I'm going to have to hold on to these.


----------



## freestoke

I'm going to finish this Elizabethan Mixture before I open a Royal Yacht. I have a musketball burning in the Forever Legend that I've been chain smoking since yesterday afternoon :lol. Not bad, just not quite enough umbladee. p Got a fresh grind of 8 O'clock beans in the cup; not horrible, but I thought I'd give it go. :cp Chlly at -��9ºF, with real winter for at least another week.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Pine Hills in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot. I was given this tin to review, and am beginning to get into it. It's like a good, smooth OTC burley.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Sail Yellow in a 1982 smooth straight Sasieni Ivory 105 Apple. Next is Rekamepip's Winter Blend in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was Kentucky Planter in a Peterson SH Milverton. Now, it's MacBaren Cube Gold in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Davidoff in a Dr. Grabow bent Collector. I picked up half a dozen new Dr. Gs the other day and this is the first one to be fired up. I have a couple pipes that were moderately expensive, and admittedly, there are nuances to smoking them that exceed those of a Dr. G in quality and experience. However, the difference is not enough for me to spend the difference in buying them when Grabows translate to more pipes and more money for tobacco. Obviously it is to each his own, but I enjoy these pipes and one day I would really like to visit the factory in Sparta since it is only a few hours from my house.


----------



## freestoke

Very cool, Tobias! You know, I've never smoked a Dr. Grabow!  I went to their site expecting to find the "break-in machine" pictured, but alas. Here's an old one.










That JK[sic]P mixed with Elizabethan is rather good. Think I'll crank up a musketball of that in a cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> You know, I've never smoked a Dr. Grabow!


Wow! I figured as many year's as you have ben smoking, and your affinity for PA, that you would have a couple. Have you ever smoked any of the "drugstore" pipes (Dr. Gs, Medicos, Kaywoodies,etc.)?


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Wow! I figured as many year's as you have ben smoking, and your affinity for PA, that you would have a couple. Have you ever smoked any of the "drugstore" pipes (Dr. Gs, Medicos, Kaywoodies,etc.)?


I had a Yello-Bole once, which smoked pretty well, but I had pretty nice pipes right from the start. Remember, you could get a Sasieni FourDot for $25 and a Dunhill for $40. Bear in mind, that my experience with drugstore tobacco was also minimal until I "discovered" PA, SWR and Carter Hall a few years back, along with corncob pipes! I was about 50/50 Balkan Sobranie and Dunhill blends, with a smattering of a few other things now and again, and something like PA would have seemed like a waste of time. :lol:

I've got some JK[sic]P and 5100 about 50/50 right now, so I'm okay with the effete sector of the pipe-smoking community at the moment -- barely. :lol: I'll be doing some slumming in a while, with my new buddy Prince Albert. (A prince? Really? He seems so down-to-Earth. :spy


----------



## JimInks

Key Largo in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Davidoff in a Dr. Grabow Redwood. My wife and I are heading out to lunch shortly. It's the first time we have been out without the kids since November :shock: We were going to go hiking, but it's 20* and windy here and my wife isn't big on outdoor activities in the dead of winter. I consider winter hiking/camping to be a blast but I've been told I'm odd. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

It's been mostly Elizabethan Mix, with a of PA thrown in. Forever Gentleman and Legends. Really glad the Great Lakes are cold! We'll get maybe 4-5 inches the next couple of days, instead of 2 feet. :smile:


----------



## JimInks

I'm too lazy to go outside, so I'm staying warm inside with a bowl of Roma Vita in a 1979 signed Rossi Oom Paul 1886 natural.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of PA in a cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

HH Vintage Syrian in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## MarkC

I'm having a bowl of Opening Night in a "sort of new" pipe. I'm smoking it in my Baronet EX prince, which until now was used only for ABF. It was the only pipe I have that was dedicated to one blend only, but it seemed a bit silly to have the number of pipes I have and then have one dedicated to a blend that I like, but don't smoke that often.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

My 21st and final bowl of Davidoff in a Zurg Glass Sipper. I've decided I will smoke a different tobacco every time I pick up a pipe in this coming week to make up for the monotony of smoking straight through this tin. ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Half way through smoking Tilbury in a smooth three quarter bend 1970s Charatan Belvedere 4211DC.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1979 brown grain etched Lane Era Charatan's Make medium bend double comfort stem calabash shape 483DC.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished this bowl of Sail Yellow in a 1980s made in London no name smooth straight apple. Next is Pine Hills in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

P&C Match Edgeworth Ready Rub in a new Dr. Grabow Cardinal. It's actually warm enough this morning that I went outside to warm up the car and turn around and went back in. It's got to be mid to upper thirties out there. Hot spell :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

Strange weather this morning. Temps were rising all night, then all of a sudden it jumped to 39º and 40 mph winds hit with heavy snow and fell back under freezing in about 20 minutes. Back into the freezer until Friday or Saturday. Elizabethan this morning, pondering a bulk order from Smoking Pipes.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

PA in a Dr G while driving up the mountain to work.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1981 Century full bend natural egg.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Three Friars in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Just smoked Tilbury in a Jobey freehand, and now it's Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

C&D Epiphany in a MM Cob. The cold is back- down to almost single digits and snow this afternoon. It was 66* yesterday, dammit :frusty:


----------



## mikebjrtx

1792 Flake in a cob. gotta stop doing this on an empty stomach. feel like I need a nap now.


----------



## freestoke

Gotta rid myself of this last half ounce or so of 1Q. Mixed some in with the PPP then stoked it with a few coins of SRT, now smoking it from the 4Dot. This is not at all bad. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> Gotta rid myself of this last half ounce or so of 1Q. Mixed some in with the PPP then stoked it with a few coins of SRT, now smoking it from the 4Dot. This is not at all bad. p


You know, I was thinking this morning about what I could mix with that Epiphany because it really isn't to my tastes, yet I can't stand wasting tobacco. It's funny how we become blenders of sorts with our various tobaccos, for different reasons. For the longest time I enjoyed smoking parfaits and tasting the transition between blends (which I still do sometimes). Lately I'm more likely to dump it on a plate and stir it up before loading it in the bowl ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing Alexander Bridge in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Black Lung in a 1975 smooth slight bend Tinderbox Aalborg freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2003 medium bent straight grain Two dot 2 P. Ardor Venere Extra Bucaneve with a silver ferrule signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Pine Hills in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Cube Gold in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## freestoke

1Q with a few coins of SRT in the Forever Legend, with copious amounts of coffee to fight the cold. A crispy -17ºF last night, but relief begins tomorrow. Golf season is on the horizon! :banana:


----------



## MarkC

Getting ready for another bowl of Ferndown Yellow & Brown.


----------



## Chris0673

Had a bowl of "Poe's Mix" in my MM Country Gentleman while playing in the snow with my Jeep.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking mid-1920s Half and Half in a tan etched medium bend 2001 Rinaldo Sahara 2 Acorn round at the shank, pointy at the opposite top. Next is Virginia Spice in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 1980s made in London no name smooth straight apple.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE's Heirloom Cherry in a MM cob. Recommending the blend to someone yesterday reminded me that I had a couple bowls left in my tin ipe:


----------



## MarkC

I'm having another bowl of Yellow & Brown before turning in. The way I feel right now, I'm going to wake up tomorrow (or, as you normals call it, this afternoon) stuffed up with no sense of taste, so I figure I'd better enjoy one more bowl tonight.


----------



## freestoke

Hope you manage to beat it by the time you wake up, Mark. I'm having an Elizabethan Mixture-based something or another, involving 1Q and SRT. I've noticed that this LizMix has rather a lot of stem; I don't recall ever seeing stem material in Dunhill tobaccos when I smoked them in days of yore, but I just pulled three ½" sturdy needles out of a single bowl's worth. :tsk: One normally has to buy a big bag at Walgreen's to find this level of quality control.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of F&T Vintage flake in a Hilson Vintage bulldog on my way to work.

I forgot to bring snuff with me today, so I'm looking forward to getting the kitchen and lobby clean so I can go outside on the deck over the river and have a bowl of London Mixture in the dedicated cob.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Hope you manage to beat it by the time you wake up, Mark.


Well, it's not nearly as bad as I expected. Slight stuffiness, but as colds go, this one's in A ball, about to be released. In fact, I think I'll load another bowl of Y&B.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Angler's Dream in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2003 Stanwell Golden Danish 56 Rusticated Canadian.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

My own aromatic blend "no.1" in a large, bent LaRocca Novo.


----------



## Benton629

Escudo Navy De Luxe







In my Peterson 999


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of PA in my new Nording freehand while driving up the mountain to work this morning.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Well, it's not nearly as bad as I expected. Slight stuffiness, but as colds go, this one's in A ball, about to be released. In fact, I think I'll load another bowl of Y&B.


Sometimes you can more or less get over them without too much damage. I read that there are something like 200 types of colds to be had, some bad others not so bad, much like influenza.

The PPP consisted of scraps of PA, Elizabethan Mixture, and a little 1Q, and I matched the pile with a few coins of SRT and stuffed it into the 4Dot. Another winner! p


----------



## mikebjrtx

Some 2006 Fillmore, I think it came from DanR. I've got to start labeling where stuff comes from. I had a wonderful smoke and can't remember who to thank.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Fifteen minutes of morning left here!

I'm heading outside for a bowl of London Mixture in the dedicated cob.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2002 smooth Rinaldo Silver Line 3 EGER 05 paneled horn.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a little early: Fox and Hound in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1970s black sandblasted Savinelli Autograph 05 Horn.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JimInks

Pine Hills in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Drama Reserve in my new Dr. Grabow Patriot. It's one of the pipes they make and sell only through mail-order to those on their contact list. I had to mail a check and a paper order form to the factory in order to get it. It was like a time warp compared to internet purchasing :biggrin: The ironic thing is that I mailed the order the same Monday as I placed an online order with a tobacconist in Chicago and the pipe arrived that Thursday, whereas the tobacco didn't get here until yesterday :???: It helps being only a few hours from their headquarters, but that is still terribly quick service.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Year 1941 George Washington Cut Plug in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank. Next is Fox and Hound in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

Voodoo Queen in a 1978 slight bend CAO Turk's Head Meer.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Sweet Vanilla Honeydew in a Maple/Walnut Vauen. Looks like it might actually be warm enough today that I can take a bike out the park after church and walk around whilst enjoying a longer cigar. I've been smoking Petite Coronas in the car way too much lately. That's right- I mentioned cigars in the Piper Morning thread :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

Had a bowl of this LL-7 that Christopher sent me, but I needed some nicotine so I'm on to KK with a hint of LL-7 from the scraps on the plate. LL-7 does have a dynamite room note! :tu 

Thanks, Christopher! :yo:


----------



## Desertlifter

I was all set to burn some FMC this morning, but Capstan Blue was calling my name. In the sav dip it went.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Anni Kake in a Hilson Vintage bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain to the ski valley.


----------



## JimInks

Old Dark Fired in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

L.J. Heart Virginia in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256.


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was Three Friars in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob, followed by Kentucky Planter in a 1988 smooth full bend Peterson System Standard XL 315. In a few minutes, it'll be MacBaren Halberg Green in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

DE Grand Central in a Gatlinburlier quarter bent house-pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a very much appreciated 1979 brown, slight bend grain etched flat front Stanwell Rego 969-48 (09).


----------



## JimInks

Alexander Bridge in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## freestoke

The scene from *North by Northwest*, where Cary Grant protests his drunk driving ticket after spending the night in the drunk tank, has always stood me in good stead when discussing drunk driving. His mother tells him, "Pay the two dollars!" I just discovered that the fine was not literally two dollars. :spy: It must be live-and-learn day! :smile: The phrase, Just pay the two dollars, was in widespread use during the 40s and 50s (where was I? :dunno, and simply meant some insignificant sum, even an amount less than two dollars. (Probably still does for a lot of people.) While it's still true that drunk driving was not a big deal in the 50s, the fine was probably more like $25. Next time it's on, I'll record it and see what the fine really was.

An early bowl of Elizabethan Mixture. Almost gone.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Halberg Green in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1979 brown grain etched Lane Era Charatan's Make medium bend double comfort stem calabash shape 483DC.


----------



## JimInks

1980s Union Leader in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Pine Hills in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drew Estate's Central Park Stroll in a new Yello-Bole Imperial. Rainy weather for the next couple days, but at least we're avoiding more snow.


----------



## freestoke

A stronger start today with some KK. Been sucking on that Elizabethan Mixture lately and it doesn't quite cut the mustard. Looks like some sincere snow will fall after midnight, so I'm planning on doing not much today to rest up for the war against winter tomorrow. Pretty easy winter so far, so I can't complain. That nice polar vortex froze the Great Lakes a little early, so we haven't had the usual 2ft lake effect snows we get in a warmer winter, and the storm systems have generally moved south and east of here. Other parts of the country might have been cold, but it's been pretty normal around here. Cold is -25ºF with below zero days, but there were only a couple of days like that, not a couple of weeks.


----------



## MarkC

No snow in my area in the upcoming week. On the other hand, it isn't supposed to get over 25F either. Fair trade in my opinion.
Smoking a bowl of HV in a Stanwell Legend No. 63.


----------



## freestoke

Finishing up the PPP in readiness for opening a can of RY. I've missed the RY, I really have, one of the few tobaccos I smoke regularly that I never mix with anything except as scraps in the PPP. I'm beginning to think the trusty Legend is my favorite cob model, sorta like an old late 40s car, say a stick shift without power brakes or power steering. The first car I took out alone on the road (age 14) was one of those. Uncle Sodie took me into the saloon and bought a beer, told his buddies at the bar, "This here's my nephew, Jim." I said hi then asked if he'd mind if I went down the street to check out the hardware store. He handed me the keys and told me to go ahead and pick him up in an hour or two. :shock: No license of course. Uncle Sodie was like that. If I hadn't split to drive the car, he'd have probably bought me a beer or three. :beerchug: THEN given me the keys. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Carter Hall in a Falcon whilst driving up the mountain to work this morning.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> Uncle Sodie was like that. If I hadn't split to drive the car, he'd have probably bought me a beer or three. :beerchug: THEN given me the keys. :lol:


Yes, impatience costs us quite a bit when we're young...


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1979 pebble relief Verona Corallo 3080 natural Oom Paul.


----------



## JimInks

I'm part way through this bowl of Kentucky Planter in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2003 black grain etched Karl Erik Ekstravagant horn with a smooth top.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Cube Silver in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

McClelland Chocolate Cream in a bent Dr. Grabow Collector's Choice


----------



## freestoke

Snow seems to be skirting the area somewhat, so it doesn't appear that much will come of it here in Rome. Still will have some snowblowing ahead, but no big deal. On my third bowl of PA laced with SRT, musketballed into only the briars so far, the Canadian TwoDot, the 4Dot Diplomat, and the Darth Rader. p The Low Nictoine Warning Light has gone out. :smile:


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Fox and Hound in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1979 brown grain etched Lane Era Charatan's Make medium bend double comfort stem calabash shape 483DC.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Halberg Yellow in a straight 2012 MM Pony Express cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

McClelland Chocolate Cream in a straight Gatlinburlier house pipe.


----------



## Benton629

Dunhill My Mixture 965







In a Danmore Handmade 3091


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Ahh, a rare morning smoke as I make some deliveries this morning.

Seattle Pipe Club's 'Plum Pudding' in a glass-bottom cob.
Good Stuff!


----------



## freestoke

At least the Olympics will be on NBC, so we don't have to listen to the execrable, unsufferable Jim Nance. 
*
"Congratulations on your fortieth Olympics gold medal, [Competitor]! I understand you did it for your mother back home, who has [disease or injury]. How has she been following the action, from her hospital room or is she home now?"

"[Answer]. But this has been a great Olympics for the team! We're all psyched for the <next event>!"

"I'll bet, [Competitor]! When you were in the hospital with reconstructive surgery on that [limb], did you ever think you would get back to the Olympics again? That had to be a lot of pain and hard work. Of course, nothing like your mother is going through, with her [disease or injury] and all those treatments, but tell us a little about what you went through. Be as graphic as possible for our audience, so I won't have to keep digging for answers that will make them cringe, okay?"

...ad nauseum.
*

I don't care a fig about the summer Olympics, but I really like the winter Olympics. I guess this year we get nothing but fluff background stories with the occasional American star on display, and lots of hockey. And skiing, with the ex-Olympian Lyndsey Vonn announcing. Glad we have the Canadian coverage! :tu

Smoking some PA in the 4Dot. p


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> I don't care a fig about the summer Olympics, but I really like the winter Olympics. I guess this year we get nothing but fluff background stories with the occasional American star on display, and lots of hockey. And skiing, with the ex-Olympian Lyndsey Vonn announcing. Glad we have the Canadian coverage! :tu


I used to love watching the winter Olympics, but I don't miss it at all. Once it became the "up close and personal" mini-series rather than a telecast of a sporting event, I gave up.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I used to love watching the winter Olympics, but I don't miss it at all. Once it became the "up close and personal" mini-series rather than a telecast of a sporting event, I gave up.


In a way, the Canadian coverage is even worse, but the commercials and announcers are less annoying. It's all Canada all the time, true, but that's probably the same in Russia, Japan, or China, as well as the US. Actually, the US networks seem to cover other nations' competitors more than Canada does, they just have no taste, and everything turns into soap opera, like you say.


----------



## JimInks

Full Virginia Flake in a slight bend 1968 group 4S Dunhill Shell 475 cherrywood.


----------



## JimInks

Dockworker in a 1979 smooth slight bend H. Jones Ltd. Easy Loader 391 Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 1982 smooth straight Sasieni Ivory 105 Apple.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

The last of me McClelland Chocolate Creme in a Dr. Grabow smooth Riviera. I've got a 6 hour day at the office ahead of me and then I'm driving up to herf with a buddy this afternoon.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Contemplating giving a bit of GH, Black Cherry Twist a go around, although mixed with something else to tame it down a bit.
I tried about 1/4 bowl of straight BC Twist last night but couldn't get it to burn for beans.
It also gave me an immediate nic buzz that I didn't care for one bit. Nor the subsequent headache for that matter...
If this stuff is similar to Happy Bogie, then @freestoke is right that a cigar-sized portion of it would kill you.

Question is, how do you get this stuff to burn? I dried it for quite a while and it still seemed it was treated with a fire retardant.


----------



## Nachman

Emperor Zurg said:


> Contemplating giving a bit of GH, Black Cherry Twist a go around, although mixed with something else to tame it down a bit.
> I tried about 1/4 bowl of straight BC Twist last night but couldn't get it to burn for beans.
> It also gave me an immediate nic buzz that I didn't care for one bit. Nor the subsequent headache for that matter...
> If this stuff is similar to Happy Bogie, then @freestoke is right that a cigar-sized portion of it would kill you.
> 
> Question is, how do you get this stuff to burn? I dried it for quite a while and it still seemed it was treated with a fire retardant.


Slice it thin with a cigar cutter then rub out the coins completely. Dry the results for about a half hour, then pack lightly.


----------



## jjashikki

Sutliff Private Stock Molto Dulce in a Dr Grabow


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Nachman said:


> Slice it thin with a cigar cutter then rub out the coins completely. Dry the results for about a half hour, then pack lightly.


I sliced coins about 3/16" thick with a razor blade and then just broke them up but didn't rub them all the way out. That must be what I did wrong.
This time I will rub them out, let them dry and then rub them out again. I'LL BURN THIS STUFF AS DUST IF I HAVE TO!! ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> I sliced coins about 3/16" thick with a razor blade and then just broke them up but didn't rub them all the way out. That must be what I did wrong.
> This time I will rub them out, let them dry and then rub them out again. I'LL BURN THIS STUFF AS DUST IF I HAVE TO!! ipe:


I'm not man enough for much of the ropes and twists at a time, either, Zurg, so don't feel alone. I generally treat them a bit like scotch or bourbon, with a mixer of PA. PA improves the burn and reduces the nicotine load into something more in the realm of Royal Yacht. How stiff I want to mix the "drink" varies by mood.

Been smoking PA and Sweet Rum Twist today myself. p


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing MacBaren Halberg Yellow in a straight 2012 MM Pony Express cob. Next is Tilbury in a 2002 smooth Rinaldo Silver Line 3 EGER 05 paneled horn.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Planter in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Alexander Bridge in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## freestoke

Boy, nationalism as a marketing tool is reaching levels not seen since the Third Reich. I honestly believe that the patriotic chest-pounding Cadillac commercial is the most embarrassing, internationally offensive commercial I've ever seen in my life. Simply disgusting, the archetypical "Ugly American". I'd also like to notch my extreme disapproval of slapping "POLO" right up front on the US uniforms. Wow. I'm surprised they didn't have the CEO of Coca-Cola carrying the US team flag. :tsk:

Just gave my Forever Diplomat a ream and it's smoking really well! :tu Some Red Cake with an SRT booster. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> Boy, nationalism as a marketing tool is reaching levels not seen since the Third Reich. I honestly believe that the patriotic chest-pounding Cadillac commercial is the most embarrassing, internationally offensive commercial I've ever seen in my life. Simply disgusting, the archetypical "Ugly American". I'd also like to notch my extreme disapproval of slapping "POLO" right up front on the US uniforms. Wow. I'm surprised they didn't have the CEO of Coca-Cola carrying the US team flag. :tsk:


Without trying to sound overly cynical I would point out that it has been a while since the Olympics were primarily a showcase for athletic prowess. You mention the Third Reich- even back then the Olympics were p*#^ing contests between certain countries that were deluded enough to believe dominance on the playing field could be reasonably translated as evidence of national superiority in other facets. The political games being played between Putin and the US leading up to these winter games has been nothing but a total embarrassment to our character IMO, and I take it as common knowledge that the IOC's primary concern for every games is the economic deluge that opens up long before and after the torch is lit and extinguished. This is why I prefer to cheer on the Swiss in everything :lol:

About to smoke McClelland Drama Reserve in a Dr. Grabow Patriot as I run my Saturday errands around town.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Tobias Lutz said:


> About to smoke McClelland Drama Reserve in a Dr. Grabow Patriot as I run my Saturday errands around town.


Drama Reserve is one of my all time favorites!

I tried to give you RG, but it won't let me yet.

I had a bowl of Marble Kake in a Hilson Vintage Dublin on the way to work this morning.


----------



## Branzig

El wedo del milagro said:


> I had a bowl of Marble Kake in a Hilson Vintage Dublin on the way to work this morning.


That's what I am smoking right now!

Enjoying it in a cob while I am getting ready to finish up new batch of estates! Finally just about done with these buggers...the nickel band on the Pete was causing me fits all morning...The guy I bought it from obviously had no concept of taking care of metals... :lol:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Branzig said:


> That's what I am smoking right now!
> 
> Enjoying it in a cob while I am getting ready to finish up new batch of estates! Finally just about done with these buggers...the nickel band on the Pete was causing me fits all morning...The guy I bought it from obviously had no concept of taking care of metals... :lol:


After not buying any estates for a while, your thread inspired me to go shopping for a couple. I set a budget and picked up a nice Butz-Choquins with 30 years on it and a Chapuis Comoy that made me think of my daughter as soon as I saw it (it has a Manet themed coloring). I'll put a couple pictures up when they arrive.


----------



## Branzig

Tobias Lutz said:


> After not buying any estates for a while, your thread inspired me to go shopping for a couple. I set a budget and picked up a nice Butz-Choquins with 30 years on it and a Chapuis Comoy that made me think of my daughter as soon as I saw it (it has a Manet themed coloring). I'll put a couple pictures up when they arrive.


Excellent! I love old Comoy's! I have never owned or smoked a Choquin before, but I have read that they are some of the best values out there. I love the history in estates, and love being able to give old pipes another go in life. I am glad I was able to inspire you to do a little shopping!

Can't wait to see the pictures! ipe:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Branzig said:


> ...the nickel band on the Pete was causing me fits all morning...The guy I bought it from obviously had no concept of taking care of metals... :lol:


As an ex-handmade jeweler, I can not fathom spending "all morning" polishing a one inch square piece of nickel.

Yer a masochist. It should take two or three seconds to make it shine.


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> Boy, nationalism as a marketing tool is reaching levels not seen since the Third Reich. I honestly believe that the patriotic chest-pounding Cadillac commercial is the most embarrassing, internationally offensive commercial I've ever seen in my life. Simply disgusting, the archetypical "Ugly American". I'd also like to notch my extreme disapproval of slapping "POLO" right up front on the US uniforms. Wow. I'm surprised they didn't have the CEO of Coca-Cola carrying the US team flag. :tsk:
> 
> Just gave my Forever Diplomat a ream and it's smoking really well! :tu Some Red Cake with an SRT booster. p





Tobias Lutz said:


> Without trying to sound overly cynical I would point out that it has been a while since the Olympics were primarily a showcase for athletic prowess. You mention the Third Reich- even back then the Olympics were p*#^ing contests between certain countries that were deluded enough to believe dominance on the playing field could be reasonably translated as evidence of national superiority in other facets. The political games being played between Putin and the US leading up to these winter games has been nothing but a total embarrassment to our character IMO, and I take it as common knowledge that the IOC's primary concern for every games is the economic deluge that opens up long before and after the torch is lit and extinguished. This is why I prefer to cheer on the Swiss in everything :lol:
> 
> About to smoke McClelland Drama Reserve in a Dr. Grabow Patriot as I run my Saturday errands around town.


lol: I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing this stuff! Talk about ads and Coke - was "America" intended to be sarcastic? The IOC itself is politicized. I just don't enjoy the Olympics nor respect it anymore. Professional athletes. Sporting events that aren't sporting. I will never ceased to be irked that snow boarding is in while roller skating could never get accepted - even in its heyday and even now during its rennaisance.

I'm going to stuff a bowl with LTF and have some coffee.


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> lol: I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing this stuff! Talk about ads and Coke - was "America" intended to be sarcastic? The IOC itself is politicized. I just don't enjoy the Olympics nor respect it anymore. Professional athletes. Sporting events that aren't sporting. I will never ceased to be irked that snow boarding is in while roller skating could never get accepted - even in its heyday and even now during its rennaisance.
> 
> I'm going to stuff a bowl with LTF and have some coffee.


Going with the KK and the cleaned up 4Dot. Been cleaning pipes a little today, since all my pipes are just disgusting right now.

I'd like to make it clear that the Cadillac commercial was the one that got me, not actually politics in the Olympics. It has nothing to do with politics at all, really. I think it would have been morally repugnant without any mention of the superhumanity of Americans and their wonderful achievements, the smug satisfaction of the protagonist, that he deserves to be better than everybody else, sufficing to turn the stomach of anybody with a social conscience. Even the strident nationalism isn't actually politics, merely a shallow philosophical approach to life in general. The Olympics have been political forever, but the commercials of previous Olympics haven't been quite as in-your-face with American "We're number one!" hubris as this year's crop. And I think the Cadillac commercial is the most offensive commercial I've ever seen in my lifetime. The part is played so convincingly by Mr. Self Satisfied, that it leads me to suspect that the actor is a psychopath in real life. :spy:


----------



## TTecheTTe

You were clear, Jim, the rest was just my random rant. I'm lobbying the IOC to add this event (or accept the athletes):
Subaru Forester 2012 Funny Dog Commercial Carjam Talk Radio Show About Cars 2012 - YouTube


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> You were clear, Jim, the rest was just my random rant. I'm lobbying the IOC to add this event (or accept the athletes):
> Subaru Forester 2012 Funny Dog Commercial Carjam Talk Radio Show About Cars 2012 - YouTube


:rofl:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Sweet Vanilla Honeydew in a Vauen maple/walnut 1/4 bent. Our daughter is getting baptized this morning so I'm getting my tobacco in before my wife's side of the family shows up and I'm stuck through lunch without anything ipe:


----------



## Branzig

Tobias Lutz said:


> Some Sweet Vanilla Honeydew in a Vauen maple/walnut 1/4 bent. Our daughter is getting baptized this morning so I'm getting my tobacco in before my wife's side of the family shows up and I'm stuck through lunch without anything ipe:


That's what I smoked last night, and I was shocked. It is the first aro that I have smoked where I actually "tasted" what was being advertised, sweet vanilla creamy flavor with a good Virginia backbone.

Thanks


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Sweet Rum Twist (rope) mixed 50/50 with PA in a MM Danish spool Cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Tobias Lutz said:


> Some Sweet Vanilla Honeydew in a Vauen maple/walnut 1/4 bent. Our daughter is getting baptized this morning so I'm getting my tobacco in before my wife's side of the family shows up and I'm stuck through lunch without anything ipe:


Congratuations! More LTF..I've got to get out something else....


----------



## JimInks

Roma Vita in a 1979 signed Rossi Oom Paul 1886 natural.


----------



## Branzig

Bowl of Larry's Blend with my coffee...right before having to go back to work...ick :tg


----------



## MarkC

Having a bowl of HV before heading to bed. I have one more bowl of this, which I'll smoke tonight when I get home from work. At that point, I will have exactly zero tins open! Of course, that'll only last for a bit until I pop a tin for my second bowl tonight, but still, this will be the first (and, I'm willing to bet, last) time I have zero tins open since I picked up the pipe again.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Having a bowl of HV before heading to bed. I have one more bowl of this, which I'll smoke tonight when I get home from work. At that point, I will have exactly zero tins open! Of course, that'll only last for a bit until I pop a tin for my second bowl tonight, but still, this will be the first (and, I'm willing to bet, last) time I have zero tins open since I picked up the pipe again.


Good work, Mark! :tu Worthy effort on your part.

Forgot to throw in some HV for Lance.  Oh well...

Smoking some interesting PPP right now, scraps from loading a trade: RY, Tambo, Stonehaven, JK[sic]P, and FVF. p As they say, mixes of good stuff turn out pretty good! :smile:


----------



## MarkC

Ha ha! I decided to have another bowl (not sleepy yet), so I now have NO TINS OPEN! Yeah, I know, a stupid thing to make a big deal about, but it's just so weird...


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> Ha ha! I decided to have another bowl (not sleepy yet), so I now have NO TINS OPEN! Yeah, I know, a stupid thing to make a big deal about, but it's just so weird...


We could always talk about *Ennerdale. *, ainkiller:, with the resultant much ado about nothing. :lol:

Think I'm going to hit up a 3BM flavored bowl of PA. That PPP was pretty stout, so I'll back off a bit and restore the room note. And more coffee! :cp


----------



## Nachman

MarkC said:


> Ha ha! I decided to have another bowl (not sleepy yet), so I now have NO TINS OPEN! Yeah, I know, a stupid thing to make a big deal about, but it's just so weird...


Wow, I have about fifty tins opened and jarred. I don't think I will live long enough to get down to zero. I also couldn't resist opening something when it's jar ran empty.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Just tried a 50/50 mix of Stokkebye Cherry Bonbon and Tinderbox Cherry Almond.
Not bad but not great either - not as good as either of them by themselves.
I guess tobacco blenders really do earn their keep.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Wow, I have about fifty tins opened and jarred. I don't think I will live long enough to get down to zero. I also couldn't resist opening something when it's jar ran empty.


I constantly move things from open to cellared on the tobaccocellar, so I have rather a large number of open containers right now, too, technically speaking.

Maybe one more week of this cold weather before it starts getting a bit into 30s and the snow starts compacting a little. If we get another big snowfall, the banks at the end of the driveway will start getting difficult to see over driving out. Used to be that way every winter, but the past few haven't had a lot of snow that didn't melt between big snowfalls.

A bowl of RY!!!! :banana: Popped a new can!


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> I had a bowl of Sweet Rum Twist (rope) mixed 50/50 with PA in a MM Danish spool Cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


Been smokin' a lot of that combo lately. We could call it Good Night Sweet Prince.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Navy Rolls in a brown rusticated slight bend 1982 Savinelli Non Pareil 99 Acorn with a lucite ferrule and stem.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking 1980s Union Leader in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2003 smooth full bend, gold banded 3 Star Ferndown Tudor Root.


----------



## JimInks

Black Lung in a 1990 Peterson Irish Second Oom Paul natural.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 1982 smooth straight Sasieni Ivory 105 Apple.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

C&D Mountain Camp in a Medico bent Casino


----------



## JimInks

Year 1941 George Washington Cut Plug in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## freestoke

Royal Yacht in the TwoDot apple, one of my favorite pipes. Don't smoke it nearly often enough.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A mixture of DE Central Park Stroll and Dan Midnight Ride in a straight, orange Dr. Grabow Color Duke. They are calling for more snow today and tomorrow than my city has gotten at one time since I moved here in 2007. It's not like what I was used to growing up, but I'm thinking my almost 3yo will enjoy it. I have to stay at my office until 3 so that I can finish payroll for the week ad other tasks, but then I'll make the slow drive home and be off until Monday :biggrin:


----------



## MarkC

Having a bowl of Christmas Cheer. It may be a bit before I pop a second tin; this stuff is good.


----------



## Nachman

Thinking about Steinr1, Robert, today as I get ready to smoke some Louisiana flake, one of his favorites. He lives in Surrey, which if the news presenters are to be believed, is under water.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> A mixture of DE Central Park Stroll and Dan Midnight Ride in a straight, orange Dr. Grabow Color Duke. They are calling for more snow today and tomorrow than my city has gotten at one time since I moved here in 2007. It's not like what I was used to growing up, but I'm thinking my almost 3yo will enjoy it. I have to stay at my office until 3 so that I can finish payroll for the week ad other tasks, but then I'll make the slow drive home and be off until Monday :biggrin:


I don't know when it will hit, but don't get trapped at work!

Had a 4Dot of RY, but I think I'm switching to some PA/SRT in the Forever Legend now. Pretty cold out there this morning, colder than they predicted by about 10ºF, about -16ºF last night. Sunny though! :smile:


----------



## Branzig

Enjoying some Royal Oak in my Adventurer ipe:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> I don't know when it will hit, but don't get trapped at work!


I'll get there, it just might take a while longer than usual. I grabbed a Habano from my humidor to smoke along the way, so I think I can endure :smoke:


----------



## JimInks

Straight Kentucky Burley in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2000 thin stem sandblasted black silver band spigot Ardor Urano S. Holmes #68 /100 D.R. briar calabash with a smooth flared top.


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was MacBaren Halberg Green in a straight 1979 MM Legend. Now, it's Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim.


----------



## JimInks

Pine Hills in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Sam Gawith Jubilee 2012 in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## 2smoke

Esoterica Penzance in my Savinelli 606ks.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

2smoke said:


> *Esoterica Penzance* in my Savinelli 606ks.


Ditto in a MM cob. About to go clean the 7" of snow off my walk and then get the shoveling done for the older lady across the street and the widow next door. Gives me an excuse to stay outside and smoke longer ipe: My son is biting at the bit to go outside. This is way more snow than he's seen in his short life.


----------



## Branzig

Tobias Lutz said:


> My son is biting at the bit to go outside. This is way more snow than he's seen in his short life.


Last week when we got 18'' on top of our 8'' I don't think my daughter's came inside for 6 hours straight. I had to force them in :lol:

Red Raparee in my Mastersen.


----------



## freestoke

The seasonal snowfall in Rome, NY is 154", rounded up. I get closer to 200" a year. Y'all's kid would like here a lot. :lol:

Straight up Sweet Rum Twist and an Old Mil! :beerchug:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> Straight up Sweet Rum Twist and an Old Mil! :beerchug:


Yikes! What are you doing? Getting ready for a long nap?


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> Yikes! What are you doing? Getting ready for a long nap?


Well, it was 4:22 this afternoon. That's morning in Hawaii!

Anyhow, it was just a Forever Legend full, and I have the Olympics to keep me wide awake. I will be taking a break from brain surgery today, though.

Red Cake in the 4Dot. Shmyooth.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Happy Valentines Day! Missing some fine fellas that have been awol of late! Cobbing AK!


----------



## Desertlifter

TTecheTTe said:


> Happy Valentines Day! Missing some fine fellas that have been awol of late! Cobbing AK!


Anni Kake....Anni Kake!

Lovely stuff. Needing a bit of the Latakia, so tomorrow I will lead off with a bowl of SPC Mississippi River.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 1979 large calabash briar 221-B Baker Street made in Israel.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a big 2002 black sandblast straight paneled D.R. Ardor Urano Fatta A Mano Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from my last smoke of the day: L.J. Heart Virginia in a 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## JimInks

J. Fox Hibernia in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## Desertlifter

Continuing with the theme, PS Proper English.

Good stuff. Still can't decide whether I like PE or English Lux. better.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Virginia Spice in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1981 Century full bend natural egg.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Straight Kentucky Burley in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian. Next is Jim's Half&Half in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg. I'm experimenting with blending my own mixture, and this is my first try at it.


----------



## JimInks

Repeating my last smoke: Jim's Half&Half in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg.


----------



## freestoke

No Olympics until 10, just professional hockey. The Winter Olympics are tedious in that respect, with professional hockey sucking up so much the airtime, 3 hours per game, when we could be watching Alpine and Nordic events. Even hockey wouldn't be so bad except for the professional Captain Gruffvoices announcing and millionaire professional hockey players given free accommodations. (The number one worst aspect of professional hockey is all the screaming by the announcers. Very annoying. Chris Berman gives me a sore throat just listening to him.) Unlike the Summer Olympics, which extends the basketball season deep into the summer (where it absolutely does not belong), hockey brings the element of unsportsmanslike conduct and violence to the games we don't see in the the other sports. While it is definitely true that I have no interest whatsoever in basketball or hockey, I also think that sticking golf in the summer Olympics is despicable -- and professional tennis, too. Why a gold medal for Tiger Woods or Adam Scott? I could see it for some college players and the top amateurs, ala Bobby Jones, but there are PLENTY of professional golf tournaments for these millionaires to find glory. 

Smoking some Sweet Rum Twist straight up this morning. I think I've been giving this a bit too much respect, thinking it was Happy Bogie Land. It's strong, but hardly overwhelming.


----------



## BamaDoc77

MB honey & choc..a tasty morning treat


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> Smoking some Sweet Rum Twist straight up this morning. I think I've been giving this a bit too much respect, thinking it was Happy Bogie Land. It's strong, but hardly overwhelming.


When you get comfortable with large amounts of any rope, you have crossed the boundary from Old Codger to Grizzled Old Codger.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> When you get comfortable with large amounts of any rope, you have crossed the boundary from Old Codger to Grizzled Old Codger.


Demote me back to Old Codger, Nick. out: A second bowl in the 4Dot gave me the hiccups. :lol:

Still smoking it in the 4Dot and it's getting stronger. :spy: Another cup of fresh ground to settle my stomach. :cp


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Half&Half/Per in a 1970s slight bend poker-like Caminetto business 134 with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Navy Rolls in a 1984 black sandblasted straight Dunhill Shell 4103 Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Straight Kentucky Burley in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## MarkC

freestoke said:


> No Olympics until 10, just professional hockey. The Winter Olympics are tedious in that respect, with professional hockey sucking up so much the airtime, 3 hours per game, when we could be watching Alpine and Nordic events. Even hockey wouldn't be so bad except for the professional Captain Gruffvoices announcing and millionaire professional hockey players given free accommodations. (The number one worst aspect of professional hockey is all the screaming by the announcers. Very annoying. Chris Berman gives me a sore throat just listening to him.) Unlike the Summer Olympics, which extends the basketball season deep into the summer (where it absolutely does not belong), hockey brings the element of unsportsmanslike conduct and violence to the games we don't see in the the other sports. While it is definitely true that I have no interest whatsoever in basketball or hockey, I also think that sticking golf in the summer Olympics is despicable -- and professional tennis, too. Why a gold medal for Tiger Woods or Adam Scott? I could see it for some college players and the top amateurs, ala Bobby Jones, but there are PLENTY of professional golf tournaments for these millionaires to find glory.


I'm reminded of the old Reese's commercials: you got Olympics in my NHL, and I got NHL in your Olympics. Unfortunately, these are not two great things that go great together, and speaking as a hockey fan, I'm as annoyed by it as you are. The whole league is put on hold for twenty days, and star players are put in situations where they could be hurt, damaging their team's chances. I think it's a bad call by the NHL, and I think it diminishes the league. But, like the *&%$#!! shootout, a lot of people like it, so here we are.

Christmas Cheer in a Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2003 black grain etched Karl Erik Ekstravagant horn with a smooth top.


----------



## JimInks

Year 1941 George Washington Cut Plug in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Cube Bronze in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rockcob poker.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I'm reminded of the old Reese's commercials: you got Olympics in my NHL, and I got NHL in your Olympics. Unfortunately, these are not two great things that go great together, and speaking as a hockey fan, I'm as annoyed by it as you are. The whole league is put on hold for twenty days, and star players are put in situations where they could be hurt, damaging their team's chances. I think it's a bad call by the NHL, and I think it diminishes the league. But, like the *&%$#!! shootout, a lot of people like it, so here we are.
> 
> Christmas Cheer in a Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


For some reason, I thought the luge/skeleton crowd were amateurs. Admittedly, almost nobody in the Olympics is an amateur anymore, but I thought there were some core contestants, like biathlon, short track skating, and x-country skiing, who were still basically amateurs. Did you know that there is actually a professional LUGE circuit out there? Hard to believe enough people would pay to watch luge for anybody to make a living at it. :shock:

Cranking up with RY in the 4Dot.


----------



## JimInks

Pine Hills in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Drama Reserve in a straight, smooth Dr. Grabow Patriot. Trying to decide what I want to do with my afternoon following services and Sunday dinner. I'm thinking of hiding of somewhere with a book for a few hours, but I've got several going right now and can't decide which one. I suppose I could have much worse problems ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Drama Reserve in a straight, smooth Dr. Grabow Patriot. Trying to decide what I want to do with my afternoon following services and Sunday dinner. I'm thinking of hiding of somewhere with a book for a few hours, but I've got several going right now and can't decide which one. I suppose I could have much worse problems ipe:


SRT and 1Q in the Forever Legend. p A good use for the 1Q. :tu


----------



## LewZephyr

Carter Hall (first time, he was gentle) in MM Cob Country Gentleman
I got some CH to give it a run. Never found it locally so grabed some of it and velvet from 4noggins.


----------



## Branzig

LewZephyr said:


> Carter Hall (first time, he was gentle) in MM Cob Country Gentleman
> I got some CH to give it a run. Never found it locally so grabed some of it and velvet from 4noggins.


For as long as I have been smoking pipes, I still have never had CH. I think I need to try it one day, but I have been a dirty tobacco snob and have shunned most the "OTC" blends from day one :lol:

Orlik mixed with FVF in one of my Savi's

I am loving mixing these two lately. It's like the full flavors of FVF mixed with an orange zest of the Golden Slice....really nummy


----------



## Desertlifter

Branzig said:


> For as long as I have been smoking pipes, I still have never had CH. I think I need to try it one day, but I have been a dirty tobacco snob and have shunned most the "OTC" blends from day one :lol:
> 
> Orlik mixed with FVF in one of my Savi's
> 
> I am loving mixing these two lately. It's like the full flavors of FVF mixed with an orange zest of the Golden Slice....really nummy


A run through the OTC blends is not only educational but surprisingly educational. This was done at least twice hereabouts - once in a group trade thing that I ran. I sampled and tried PA, PA Choice, SWR, Granger, Mixture 79, Carter Hall, Walnut, and one or two others. Turns out that I REALLY like SWR and keep it on hand in my rotation.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Turns out that I REALLY like SWR and keep it on hand in my rotation.


I do too. As a straight smoke, I think SWR is better than PA. :tu You have prompted me to pop a new tub. And here I go with the "Canadian" Canadian. p And an Old Mil. :beerchug:


----------



## Branzig

Desertlifter said:


> A run through the OTC blends is not only educational but surprisingly educational. This was done at least twice hereabouts - once in a group trade thing that I ran. I sampled and tried PA, PA Choice, SWR, Granger, Mixture 79, Carter Hall, Walnut, and one or two others. Turns out that I REALLY like SWR and keep it on hand in my rotation.


Hmmmm well looks like I need to get some OTC blends. At least some CH because I hear it smokes out ghosts!


----------



## cpmcdill

Branzig said:


> Hmmmm well looks like I need to get some OTC blends. At least some CH because I hear it smokes out ghosts!


I've tried a bunch of OTCs by now, and have found most of the basic burley and va/bur products to be pretty good. Carter Hall, Half & Half, Granger, Sir Walter, Prince Albert, and even Mixture no. 79, which has a light floral aroma. I'd like to try Five Brothers and Walnut soon, and it seems that Middleton's Sugar Barrel is well-regarded too.

The aromatic cavendishes are more hit-n-miss (I'll never touch Borkum Riff again), but I did recently find at a Rite Aid store the Virginia Gold Vanilla which has a good aroma and flavor. It's made by Lane Ltd and has toasted cavendish and plenty of burley, which make a big difference in the flavor.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Pine Hills in a straight 2012 Rekamepip made Sugar Barrel pipe. Next will be Jim's Half&Half in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


----------



## Branzig

cpmcdill said:


> I've tried a bunch of OTCs by now, and have found most of the basic burley and va/bur products to be pretty good. Carter Hall, Half & Half, Granger, Sir Walter, Prince Albert, and even Mixture no. 79, which has a light floral aroma. I'd like to try Five Brothers and Walnut soon, and it seems that Middleton's Sugar Barrel is well-regarded too.


These would be the ones I would only be interested in more than most likely.

Aromatics...I don't even like many of the "nicer" ones so I think I will be ok skipping the OTC blends haha


----------



## MarkC

cpmcdill said:


> ...and even Mixture no. 79, which has a light floral aroma.


A sick thought just hit me: is Mixture 79 an attempt to create an OTC lakeland? :banana:


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2002 smooth Rinaldo Silver Line 3 EGER 05 paneled horn.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Half&Half/Per in a 1970s slight bend poker-like Caminetto business 134 with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Rekamepip's January Blend in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 1982 smooth straight Sasieni Ivory 105 Apple.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

My own aromatic blend no.2 in a straight, rustic Dr. Grabow Duke.


----------



## JimInks

L.J. Heart Virginia in a 1982 near full bend egg shaped Ascorti Business KS with a black ferrule and saddle stem.


----------



## LewZephyr

Lane 1Q in MM Cob Legend on the way to work.

First time to smoke in car, much less in to work. I did enjoy it, but its not the same as chilling on the back porch.
I am pretty sure this will be relegated to the general / average tobacco. One that doesn't deserve the true focus.


----------



## Chris0673

LewZephyr said:


> Lane 1Q in MM Cob Legend on the way to work.
> 
> First time to smoke in car, much less in to work. I did enjoy it, but its not the same as chilling on the back porch.
> I am pretty sure this will be relegated to the general / average tobacco. One that doesn't deserve the true focus.


X2 on this. I smoke in the Jeep all the time but I just use an old MM Cob and a decent but inexpensive tobacco. Driving and smoking a pipe is difficult enough (try relighting while doing 70 down the freeway), I just don't have the brain power to do all that and try to focus on all the nuances of the tobacco. I'd wind up driving into the back of a semi! Of course if it was a truck transporting tobacco I suppose it wouldn't be all that bad....:biggrin1:


----------



## Branzig

FM on the Bayou in my Captain Browne.

And I agree that 1q would make for a good "no brainer" smoke


----------



## freestoke

Chris0673 said:


> X2 on this. I smoke in the Jeep all the time but I just use an old MM Cob and a decent but inexpensive tobacco. *Driving and smoking a pipe is difficult enough (try relighting while doing 70 down the freeway), I just don't have the brain power to do all that and try to focus on all the nuances of the tobacco. *I'd wind up driving into the back of a semi! Of course if it was a truck transporting tobacco I suppose it wouldn't be all that bad....:biggrin1:


Yeah, but practice makes perfect! :car: I usually do 73, since any slower means you don't pass the trucks fast enough and the cops creep up on you from behind. They want that +10mph ticket, so they won't waste their time unless you are driving strange or guilty of owning a red or yellow muscle car. I read somewhere once that if you have an expensive car and are going the speed limit, they pull you over because they figure you don't want them to pull them over for some reason, and there's a better-than-average chance they'll find drugs and get to sell the car at auction. :lol: Rich people with nothing to hide speed. :nod:

Actually, I don't relight much on the highway, since I am almost always clenching. Pipes in clench mode stay lit better, because there's always some airflow going on from breathing into the stem. The main problem is to maintain the draw, which I do with the small wooden tamper that I keep in the car ashtray. As for what I smoke in the car, it's always what's in the travel pouch, usually a small amount of aromatic mixed into a larger volume of KK, PA, 5B, SWR, et hoc genus omne, designed to burn well and maintain a respectable nicotine load.

I'm going to fire up some newly opened SWR. For some reason, this tub seems more uniform than the last, more in the direction of PA. Still chunkier, but the last tub had some pretty large pieces bordering on broken flake. :ask:


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton. Almost finished with this bag.


----------



## Er999

MarkC said:


> A sick thought just hit me: is Mixture 79 an attempt to create an OTC lakeland? :banana:


Egads!!! Perish the thought!!!:drama:



Chris0673 said:


> X2 on this. I smoke in the Jeep all the time but I just use an old MM Cob and a decent but inexpensive tobacco. Driving and smoking a pipe is difficult enough (try relighting while doing 70 down the freeway), I just don't have the brain power to do all that and try to focus on all the nuances of the tobacco. I'd wind up driving into the back of a semi! Of course if it was a truck transporting tobacco I suppose it wouldn't be all that bad....:biggrin1:


That would not be too bad but then I would run the risk of becoming permanently wheelchair bound due to the resulting crash, I would rather smoke and walk than smoke and wheelchair around thank you very much!!! :drama:


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Straight Red Virginia in a 1999 medium bend black sandblast Savinelli Tris 677KS apple with a cumberland stem. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a little early: Jim's Half&Half in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

H&H Egg Nog in a smooth, straight Savinelli Toscana


----------



## LewZephyr

Some Carter Hall in the MM Legend on the way to work.


----------



## freestoke

Looks like professional hockey from here to the closing ceremonies. Not that idealistic amateurism has much to do with Olympic competition anymore, but it seems a real slap in the face to what tradition remains to put the professional hockey final into the last event slot. It should be that titanic 50K x-country race to match the marathon, a real sport instead of a game. :tsk: They should just drop the amateur requirement at the Olympics, in toto, summer and winter. (Perhaps they should demand that the participants at least speak Ancient Greek, the original minimum requirement. :wink

SWR in the Forever Legend. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> (Perhaps they should demand that the participants at least speak Ancient Greek, the original minimum requirement. :wink


Δυστυχώς, αυτό θα απαιτούσε υψηλές διανοητικές επάρκειας, παράλληλα με τη φυσική του δύναμη. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Δυστυχώς, αυτό θα απαιτούσε υψηλές διανοητικές επάρκειας, παράλληλα με τη φυσική του δύναμη. :lol:


Hmm..."Unfortunately, the same high requirement for mental ability does not parallel that of physics and strength." Something like that? Put me in, coach! :lol:


----------



## Branzig

No Greek for me. Aristotle and Plato are over my head. At least this morning they are :lol:

Byzantium in my 1960s LHS


----------



## LewZephyr

Branzig said:


> No Greek for me. Aristotle and Plato are over my head. At least this morning they are :lol:
> 
> Byzantium in my 1960s LHS


Plato, they say, could stick it away;
Half a crate of whiskey every day.
Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle,

Sorry sorry.. If I ever hear the names Aristotle or Plato at any time... I loop that delightful Monty Python song in my head.


----------



## Er999

LewZephyr said:


> Plato, they say, could stick it away;
> Half a crate of whiskey every day.
> Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle,
> Sorry sorry.. If I ever hear the names Aristotle or Plato at any time... I loop that delightful Monty Python song in my head.


ound: :rofl: I know what you mean!!!!



Tobias Lutz said:


> Δυστυχώς, αυτό θα απαιτούσε υψηλές διανοητικές επάρκειας, παράλληλα με τη φυσική του δύναμη. :lol:


WTH?!?!?! :suspicious:
You know Greek?!?!?! Or did you use an online translator engine? :spy:


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing 1940s Prince Albert spiced with rum in a 2002 medium bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Three Friars in a three quarter bend smooth 1985 Dunhill Chestnut 5202 with a cumberland stem.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing this bowl of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1984 MM General cob.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Navy Rolls in a mid-1970s black rusticated straight Savinelli Estella 915 KS billiard. Have enough left for one more smoke.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Scrap tin special in a straight, green Dr. Grabow Viscount. I think I've got some Mountain Camp, Toasted Black Cavendish, and the last of yesterday's Eggnog in there.


----------



## JimInks

Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Black Cordial in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## freestoke

I think it is on verge of -- raining! :shock: Decided to open the tub of PA. Was going to wait and smoke SWR for a while, but the Red Prince signed a decree.


----------



## Branzig

Yenidje Highlander in a bent Savi


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was L.J. Heart Virginia in a 1984 three quarter bend medium brown Ascorti KS Business Dublin. Next is Jim's Working Blend in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti's Midnight in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Roll Cake in a 1979 black sandblasted medium bend Savinelli Non Pareil 9606 Billiard with a horn ferrule.


----------



## bluesman.54

Tobias Lutz said:


> Δυστυχώς, αυτό θα απαιτούσε υψηλές διανοητικές επάρκειας, παράλληλα με τη φυσική του δύναμη. :lol:


.
Actually, I know Greek..."Unfortunately, high mental sufficiency this would require, in step with his natural force." I was forced to learn it for my job.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 1979 large calabash briar 221-B Baker Street made in Israel. This finishes the bag.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Three Friars in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## TTecheTTe

More AK, with a Weller chaser


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Pine Hills in the third pipe I ever bought ($1.95), a 1974 smooth straight French briar Hadley Apple. Next is Angler's Dream in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

H&H Daybreak in a rustic, bent Dr. Grabow Duke.


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> More AK, with a Weller chaser


What a player, Mari! Bourbon on the morning thread. :lol:

I'm sticking with the PA this morning. Something relaxing. Hiccups could be fatal. :shock: (I fell in the dark last night and bruised some ribs on an armchair. :faint


----------



## JimInks

Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## Branzig

FVF in my LHS


----------



## bluesman.54

TTecheTTe said:


> More AK, with a Weller chaser


An excellent way to begin the Day!

Navy Flake with a bit of perique threw in in in a bent, sandblasted Cassano. It is a large pipe which means I don't have to reload often while writing.

Happy National Pipe Smoking Day to All!

Life is Good!


----------



## TTecheTTe

I wish I could slap this announcer upside the head; he's making the US-CAN Olympic Hockey game intolerable with his incessant blithering of "TeamUSA." I look forward to hearing what the TeamUSA Anthem sounds like; I never even heard of the country. Even the fans are confused, as they regularly roar "USA" in a deafening chant.

More Anni Kake in the Forever Stem Gent.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Carter Hall (re-invigorated and "stoutified" with some tambo) in a Peterson green wash apple military mount with sterling fittings.

The pipe was from my wife on my birthday last month.

My precious... my birthday present.


----------



## TTecheTTe

I wonder if Pres. Obama has already picked out the case of beer, and what it will be, that he owes the PM of Canada.

Great game, but CAN took the Gold from TeamUSA in Women's Hockey.

Ahh, AK p



bluesman.54 said:


> An excellent way to begin the Day!
> 
> Navy Flake with a bit of perique threw in in in a bent, sandblasted Cassano. It is a large pipe which means I don't have to reload often while writing.
> 
> Happy National Pipe Smoking Day to All!
> 
> Life is Good!





freestoke said:


> What a player, Mari! Bourbon on the morning thread. :lol:
> 
> I'm sticking with the PA this morning. Something relaxing. Hiccups could be fatal. :shock: (I fell in the dark last night and bruised some ribs on an armchair. :faint


Well it was "morning," but I was winding down my day...not starting it!

Hope you've avoided anymore treacheous trips to the head, Jim. I'd be on the lookout for wild animals as well, & it might be wise to carry an elephant gun on your excursions.


----------



## Er999

TTecheTTe said:


> I wish I could slap this announcer upside the head; he's making the US-CAN Olympic Hockey game intolerable with his incessant blithering of "TeamUSA." I look forward to hearing what the TeamUSA Anthem sounds like; I never even heard of the country. Even the fans are confused, as they regularly roar "USA" in a deafening chant.
> 
> More Anni Kake in the Forever Stem Gent.


Haven't seen the game but know what you mean. Wish I could do the same...


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> I wonder if Pres. Obama has already picked out the case of beer, and what it will be, that he owes the PM of Canada.
> 
> Great game, but CAN took the Gold from TeamUSA in Women's Hockey.
> 
> Ahh, AK p
> 
> Well it was "morning," but I was winding down my day...not starting it!
> 
> Hope you've avoided anymore treacheous trips to the head, Jim. I'd be on the lookout for wild animals as well, & it might be wise to carry an elephant gun on your excursions.


AA. Schlitz.

A. I hate hockey. I was mildly interested in the women's hockey final, what with the US one up with 1:41 remaining. Decided to watch it (had it on dvr), rather than fast forward to the ski cross. They went into overtime. I decided to check the group. To paraphrase Dan Akroyd on SNL, "Mari, you ignorant slut." :sl

B. Good choice.

C. I suspected as much, but one can always hope.

D. Too much recoil. I'd probably hurt myself less just tripping over the cats instead of shooting them. Actually, since I tripped over one of my own shoes, I'd probably trip over the gun and blow out one of the walls. In a way, though, Morgan the Traveler caused it, since she kept me from lifting the covers all the way and I got out in a funny spot -- stepped on a shoe and off I went. :faint: (He's no fun, he fell right over.) Better me suffer for a week than disturb a sleeping cat, eh? We are here to do their bidding, are we not? "Dogs have masters, cats have staff. :lol:

But I'm doing better. Only one of the pills since noon and I'm trying to make it to bedtime before another.

I think I have pinned this down to a muscle bruise(s) or tear(s) rather than actual rib cartilage thing (I had one a while back, acquired in the course of "flying", a yoga posture), the rib rip being the more debilitating and slow healing.

A bowl of RY in the Forever legend, saying good morning to Sochi!


----------



## Marlow

Get better Jim :-|


----------



## TTecheTTe

A$$ :bitchslap: no wonder I was so dang confused...


freestoke said:


> AA. Schlitz.


AA. Why waste a good beer? ound: i'd like to see Busch, Lite, or a generic.

A. I know. You missed the "good" part; for the first two periods they all played like girls - looked awkward like a kid on hockey ice for the first time. And I wouldn't call them Ladies, as they played very aggressively - looks liked the Bruins trained them.

B. I thought so.

C. Then again, I could have been sleepwalking.

D. Morgan the Traveler will be getting you back tonight for waking her up with all the ruckus and screaming like a little girl.

E. Happy to hear! 

F. What in the hell were you thinking?!?

You made me think about my selection, so to toast the Sochi morning I'm switching to Balkan Supreme. p


----------



## Er999

TTecheTTe said:


> A$$ :bitchslap: no wonder I was so dang confused...
> AA. Why waste a good beer? ound: i'd like to see Busch, Lite, or a generic.
> 
> A. I know. You missed the "good" part; for the first two periods they all played like girls - looked awkward like a kid on hockey ice for the first time. And I wouldn't call them Ladies, as they played very aggressively - looks liked the Bruins trained them.
> 
> B. I thought so.
> 
> C. Then again, I could have been sleepwalking.
> 
> D. Morgan the Traveler will be getting you back tonight for waking her up with all the ruckus and screaming like a little girl.
> 
> E. Happy to hear!
> 
> F. What in the hell were you thinking?!?
> 
> You made me think about my selection, so to toast the Sochi morning I'm switching to Balkan Supreme. p





freestoke said:


> AA. Schlitz.
> 
> A. I hate hockey. I was mildly interested in the women's hockey final, what with the US one up with 1:41 remaining. Decided to watch it (had it on dvr), rather than fast forward to the ski cross. They went into overtime. I decided to check the group. To paraphrase Dan Akroyd on SNL, "Mari, you ignorant slut." :sl
> 
> B. Good choice.
> 
> C. I suspected as much, but one can always hope.
> 
> D. Too much recoil. I'd probably hurt myself less just tripping over the cats instead of shooting them. Actually, since I tripped over one of my own shoes, I'd probably trip over the gun and blow out one of the walls. In a way, though, Morgan the Traveler caused it, since she kept me from lifting the covers all the way and I got out in a funny spot -- stepped on a shoe and off I went. :faint: (He's no fun, he fell right over.) Better me suffer for a week than disturb a sleeping cat, eh? We are here to do their bidding, are we not? "Dogs have masters, cats have staff. :lol:
> 
> But I'm doing better. Only one of the pills since noon and I'm trying to make it to bedtime before another.
> 
> I think I have pinned this down to a muscle bruise(s) or tear(s) rather than actual rib cartilage thing (I had one a while back, acquired in the course of "flying", a yoga posture), the rib rip being the more debilitating and slow healing.
> 
> A bowl of RY in the Forever legend, saying good morning to Sochi!


You guys are a lot of fun to read! :lol:
And Jim, you may be right in that the cats have staff but we could always get MarkC's opinion, after all, his picture has a smoking cat!!!!


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Get better Jim :-|


Thanks, Per! Long time no see! :yo:


----------



## JimInks

L.J. Heart Virginia in a 2003 Stanwell Golden Danish 56 Rusticated Canadian.


----------



## JimInks

HH Vintage Syrian in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was MacBaren Halberg Yellow in a straight 2012 MM Pony Express cob. Now, it's Three Friars in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Fourth Generation 1931 in a smooth, straight Dr. G Royalton


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> Thanks, Per! Long time no see! :yo:


Yeah, I need to try to pop in on this side more and smoke more pipes. I have been smoking a lot more cigars of late.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## bluesman.54

HHODF in a quarter bent, sandblasted Collin Fromm. Cold and very windy here today. A good day for the writing I need to get done. Life is Good!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had some royal yacht this morning in a MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## BamaDoc77

4th gen 1931 in my Ser Jacopo


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Voodoo Queen in a 1978 slight bend CAO Turk's Head Meer.


----------



## JimInks

Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Got up early because I thought I heard the doorbell, but I guess I dreamed it. Figured I might as well smoke, so it's Pine Hills in the third pipe I ever bought ($1.95), a 1974 smooth straight French briar Hadley Apple.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

McClelland Drama Reserve in a 1983 Butz Choquin Millesime. The wife and I are off to do some hiking and visit a museum based in an old cotton mill village about 45 minutes from us. Supposedly many of the mill houses have been restored and sold as private residences, so will probably walk around the neighborhood as well.


----------



## Nachman

Sunny and cool today, so I loaded a giant rusticated Sav pot with well aged Squadron Leader and smoked it on the deck.


----------



## bluesman.54

Sunny but cold here in Iowa today. Watching the USA lose to Finland -- what a shame. Enjoying Bull's Eye Flake in a Oom Paul, rusticated Sav # 604. I really do enjoy this tobacco. Life is Good!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Old Dark Fired in a Hilson Vintage Dublin while driving up the mountain to work.


----------



## freestoke

Mornin', y'all! Got up late, so it's still morning as far I'm concerned. PA in the 4Dot and coffee, coffee, coffee. Windy and warm weather for the moment, with the Polar Vortex Redux Tuesday.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Three Friars in a 1986 pebble relief Aldo Velani Titan 33 briar Oom Paul/Calabash. And doing some tobacco blending.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Jim's Working Blend in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret, signed by Dorelio Rovera. This blend is ever changing as I get new ideas to see how certain tobaccos change the flavor of a mixture.


----------



## JimInks

My last smoke before sleep is Jim's Working Blend in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg. This has changed since I listed it as my last smoke.


----------



## freestoke

The ribs are healling! I was able to dress this morning without screaming. :tu

Red Cake in a Legend Forever. Fresh ground coffee, to celebrate moving from agony to merely excruciating pain. :lol:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> The ribs are healling! I was able to dress this morning without screaming. :tu
> 
> Red Cake in a Legend Forever. Fresh ground coffee, to celebrate moving from agony to merely excruciating pain. :lol:


Glad to hear you're feeling better, Jim!

I'm about to fire up some Dan SVHD in my Vauen 1/4 bent Maple/Walnut Wood. I've got the bike ready for a nice long ride with a buddy after church this morning. My almost 3yo learned how to change a bicycle tire last night. He has an infatuation with the pump now, running around the house collecting all his sports balls and saying they need air. :lol:


----------



## JimInks

freestoke said:


> The ribs are healling! I was able to dress this morning without screaming. :tu
> 
> Red Cake in a Legend Forever. Fresh ground coffee, to celebrate moving from agony to merely excruciating pain. :lol:


I know how that feels. Hope you feel even better later.

My kittens, Suzy and Molly, were banging around the house, chasing each other, so there was no way to stay asleep. I settled them down with some tuna, and I decided to have a smoke, which is Sutliff Black Cordial in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer. This blend tastes better in a meer than in a briar. Simply Orange is my drink for the short time I'm awake. Well, I hope it's just a short time.


----------



## freestoke

JimInks said:


> I know how that feels. Hope you feel even better later.
> 
> My kittens, Suzy and Molly, were banging around the house, chasing each other, so there was no way to stay asleep. I settled them down with some tuna, and I decided to have a smoke, which is Sutliff Black Cordial in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer. This blend tastes better in a meer than in a briar. Simply Orange is my drink for the short time I'm awake. Well, I hope it's just a short time.


Thanks, Jim. Cats need something like 16 hours of sleep a day, which means they are awake during the 8 hours you are supposed to be asleep.

Moving on to some Royal Yacht in the 4Dot.


----------



## JimInks

Sam Gawith Jubilee 2012 in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## LewZephyr

H&H Louisiana Red Flake in Big Ben Cambridge 005


----------



## Tobias Lutz

McClelland Deep Hollow in a smooth, straight Dr. G. Riviera.


----------



## freestoke

The coming week of winter (and possibly beyond) will give me enough time to heal before golf season! Every cloud has a silver lining. :smile: We're paying for that warm spell now! Obviously, the lakes warmed up a bit, to provide some ammunition for the lake effect snow, now depositing in the driveway. With any luck, I can escape with just a few inches so I won't have to snowblow. :faint: 

Suffering from Olympics withdrawal, I am taking a dose of nicotine aboard the Royal Yacht at the moment. p


----------



## TTecheTTe

Anni Kake in the Gent with coffee. 

I may mow the lawn. Maybe I'll just think about mowing the lawn. Perhaps I'll go to bed & dream that I mowed the lawn.


----------



## Stonedog

I'm still out here, just don't post much anymore.

I'm slowly working through a tin of year old Dunhill Flake and this morning I musketballed it into the wide mouthed Edward's Bulldog for a blissful (if long) commute.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter. Have company coming over later. Luckily for him, he likes the smell of pipe smoke.


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> Anni Kake in the Gent with coffee.
> 
> I may mow the lawn. Maybe I'll just think about mowing the lawn. Perhaps I'll go to bed & dream that I mowed the lawn.


I'm having a bit of Red Cake, hoping the snow won't pile up too deep. Four or five inches so far. :faint: Unluckily, snow gets in the way a bit worse than long grass. :faint:


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> I'm having a bit of Red Cake, hoping the snow won't pile up too deep. Four or five inches so far. :faint: Unluckily, snow gets in the way a bit worse than long grass. :faint:


I'll be puffing some 5100 this week! p

Looks like you have a big :smow: storm on the way; at least you can make snowmen!


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> I'll be puffing some 5100 this week! p
> 
> Looks like you have a big :smow: storm on the way; *at least you can make snowmen*!


Cold lake effect doesn't pack worth beans. You need those juicy nor'easters for the good stuff. :lol:


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> Cold lake effect doesn't pack worth beans. You need those juicy nor'easters for the good stuff. :lol:


:smow:angels!

Okay, I did mow the yard afterall as rain is in the forecast. My neighbor came out & gave me hand. I sure hope he had been picking up branches, as the ol' guy was definitely packing wood as I gave him a thankful hug! I think he needs glasses also, as he missed my shoulder by six inches.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a very much appreciated 1979 brown, slight bend grain etched flat front Stanwell Rego 969-48 (09).


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

McClelland Deep Hollow in a smooth, straight Dr. G. Redwood.


----------



## freestoke

Looks like the lake effect has finally drifted out of my driveway. :faint: I'm not sure I can handle the snowblower, . :sad: sigh. However, the good news is that the temp is going to stay pretty cold, so it won't turn to slush and cause impassable ruts, allowing me to ignore it for a few more days. I can probably suffer through another few inches before it becomes impassable. 

I figure if the temps went into the 70s tomorrow and stayed there, we could be playing in a week. The earliest I've ever stepped on the course around these parts is March 7, but I had to drive to Liverpool, because the Rome courses were still snowbound. (It was MISERABLE, too! :lol The typical opening date in Rome/Utica is April 15, but some courses are playable before others. Was checking for when we first played last year and ran across this, posted March 22, "As morning drifts into afternoon, and the snow piles ever deeper, and the start of golf season recedes farther into the future..." :spy:

Highs in the teens and lows around zero for the next week, snow every day. BUT!! I'm injured! :smile: I couldn't play anyhow! :banana:

The Royal Yacht is stuck in the ice, but we have enough provisions to last until spring. p


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Cube Bronze in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip rockcob poker.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## freestoke

I did, indeed, handle the snowblower! The really great players play hurt, right? :lol:

A bowl of RY and a cup of coffee -- and two acetaminophen. :faint: Plus also too, I've decided it is a rib cartilage -- in addition to the muscle tear(s)/pull(s). This will take some getting over. All I need now is a little pleurisy to take hold, to make the next snowblowing event a REAL challenge! :lol:

Trying an SWR swirly. Seems to be working okay, but I should have swirled a little harder. p


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> I did, indeed, handle the snowblower!


I'm about to delve into setting the valves on the lawn tractor / snowblower this evening. Lots of snow on the way and one of the exhaust pipes has taken to turning red... still runs like a champ so I figure I better give 'er a little more clearance before it burns a valve.

Dried out Stokkebye Cherry Bonbon in a glass-bottom cob. You cherry tobacco haters don't know what you're missing ipe:


----------



## Er999

Emperor Zurg said:


> Dried out Stokkebye Cherry Bonbon in a glass-bottom cob. You cherry tobacco haters don't know what you're missing ipe:


And I'm glad I never will, I hate all things cherry!!!:evil::drama::tease:
Of course, to each his/her own.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Working Blend in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking HH Vintage Syrian in a 1949 medium bend Dunhill Shell.


----------



## JimInks

My first go at smoking Dutch Masters Cherry Cavendish in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer. I was asked to review this one. So far, it's very smooth smoking.


----------



## JimInks

Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## Branzig

About to down a bowl of Anniversary Kake before going out into this winter-wasteland on my way to work.

Can't wait for that sun to start shining through! ipe:


----------



## freestoke

"...lake effect east of Lake Ontario...significant accumlations...". :shock: :faint: Believe it or not, I'm having my first smoke of the day, a Royal Yacht swirly in the Darth Rader. Slept late. Wind, snow, white outs, cold...sheesh. And TWC is telling me it will never end. :smow:


----------



## TTecheTTe

freestoke said:


> I did, indeed, handle the snowblower! The really great players play hurt, right? :lol:
> 
> A bowl of RY and a cup of coffee -- and two acetaminophen. :faint: Plus also too, I've decided it is a rib cartilage -- in addition to the muscle tear(s)/pull(s). This will take some getting over. All I need now is a little pleurisy to take hold, to make the next snowblowing event a REAL challenge! :lol:
> 
> Trying an SWR swirly. Seems to be working okay, but I should have swirled a little harder. p


I'm sure that's what you tell yourself as you vicariously play :behindsofa: the Golf Channel! Good job managing the snow blower with that injury! I have a riding mower, so as long as I can stay seated on it I can mow.

It's only 48F in Houston, but it is wet and bone-chilling. Finished the only remedy, chicken broth, so now it's mulled cider.


----------



## Desertlifter

Winter wonderland? Not here in the semi-arid steppes, where it is hitting nigh upon 50 degrees.

As to the blend of the morn, I am thinking of cracking open a randomly selected tin of a Davidoff blend in my cobwarden.

Problem is that Five O'Clock Shadow is waiting.....and calling.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a smooth briar calabash shaped Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier JR Fait Main with a horn ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Jim's Working Blend in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim. Having a great evening phone chatting with an old friend.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Pine Hills in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Last smoke before sleep (I hope) is Dr. Bradley in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

McClelland Deep Hollow in a rustic Dr. Grabow Duke


----------



## freestoke

TTecheTTe said:


> I'm sure that's what you tell yourself as you vicariously play :behindsofa: the Golf Channel! Good job managing the snow blower with that injury! I have a riding mower, so as long as I can stay seated on it I can mow.
> 
> It's only 48F in Houston, but it is wet and bone-chilling. Finished the only remedy, chicken broth, so now it's mulled cider.


Supposed to get more lake effect later this afternoon and tomorrow. :smow: We won't go above freezing for at least another week, low single digits at night. The Royal Yacht is nice and warm in the 4Dot though. p Fresh ground coffee is especially good this morning, too. :cp

As for TV golf, I generally don't care much about it until the Masters rolls around. The big guns out there always arrange their schedules around the major tournaments and so do I. :smile:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Tobias Lutz said:


> McClelland Deep Hollow in a rustic Dr. Grabow Duke


You've been visiting the Deep Hollow a lot these days.
Good stuff, isn't it!!!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Emperor Zurg said:


> You've been visiting the Deep Hollow a lot these days.
> Good stuff, isn't it!!!


I like it. I've had this jar since last March and I'm trying to clean-up all my stragglers so that I can start popping new tins. It's got me all over the map right now as to what I'm smoking.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this early so I can get some things done: MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some 4th Generation 1897 in a large, bent LaRocca Novo.


----------



## freestoke

A crisp, bracing -11ºF this morning. Not quite as much snow as they were calling for, but close enough for snowmobile work. The drifts are hip deep as they spill over the banks lining the driveway, but I always like mowing them down. Adds variety and interest to the operation. Probably a solid three or four bowls before launching the Big Orange. Need to do it before the wind picks up again, but after it warms a bit, heading for a sweltering 13ºF this afternoon. At least they've whittled back the snow forecast! :banana:

Coffee and a 4Dot of RY. :cp Actually, it's rather pretty out there as long as your not out there.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking 1947 Sir Walter Raleigh in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob. Next is MacBaren Halberg Green in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## bluesman.54

LTF with a bit of perique in a quarter bent, sandblasted Don Carlos Two Note. This bowl is huge! Perfect way to begin a day of writing and teaching class. Have a great day Puffers. Life is Good!


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking straight Dark Fired Kentucky in a 2002 medium bend smooth straight grain Karl Erik freehand with a pointy bottom.


----------



## freestoke

A somewhat chilly snowblow, but it's done. We actually might get a break from the snow for a while, hopefully until some sort of magical warming happens. I remember a year back in the 70s when there was still snow on the courses in June. Hopefully not again this year, but it's not looking good. :spy:

Stoking up the Forever Legend with some bracing SRT right now, to try to get the blood flowing again. p


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter. A bottle of Dad's Root Beer is my drink.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of FVF in a Dr G, while driving up the mountain this morning to work.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Virginia Woods in a 2003 smooth matte finish Karl Erik rough top freehand. See you folks later this day!


----------



## freestoke

I am excited. The National Weather Service prognosticates that Friday the temperatures will rise above freezing. Ragnarök was Feb 22nd, when the gods were supposed to die in Valhalla and Ferrir was slated to eat the sun, but possibly that didn't happen. Keeping my eyes to the skies, in case Ferrir was just late to the party, and smoking some JK[sic]P in the Forever Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## bluesman.54

Waiting for round two of snow -- after last night. Snow-blowing is done for now -- and got next door cleaned out as well. Now we are waiting for 5-8" this afternoon into the evening.

Some I am enjoying a bowl of one of my tobaccos -- PA -- in a slightly bent, rusticated Don Carlos, Fatta A Mano, #32 . The bowl on this pipe is huge. My whole thumb fits easily into it. A great tobacco and pipe for finishing today's writing for work tonight. Though I just noticed this morning I am going to have to purchase another tub of PA Monday. Life is Good!


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is MacBaren Solent Mixture in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Half&Half/Per in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Working Blend in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

4th Generation 1931 in a Big Ben Classic line 702


----------



## freestoke

One of the more common errors in mysteries involves currency in briefcases, especially when the "small, unmarked bills" proviso is added. For $1M dollars in $1000 dollar bills, one needs 10 stacks of a 100 bills each. A stack of 100 US dollar bills takes up almost as much space as a deck of playing cards, circulated bills more than new ones. As I heard in testimony on CSPAN once upon a time, you can just fit $1M in *$1000 *bills into a standard small Fedex shipping box, about the size of a small briefcase. I'm always delighted when they open the suitcase with $10 or $20 million dollars in it. A real crook would say, "What are you trying to pull, Lefty? There can't be more $3M in there."

A similar situation occurred in the Murdoch last night, where there were supposed to be 4 small strongboxes with 60 pounds of "gold" in each. The scam involved substituting four 60 lb boxes of bricks and four 60 lb boxes of lead, three bricks just fitting into a strongbox. Of course, you need almost 10 times the volume of bricks as gold and twice the amount of lead. A 50lb bar of gold is about the size of one red brick. The cases clearly contained three brick-sized bars of gold/lead/bricks each, so the gold bars would weigh about 150 lbs per strongbox. The lead-filled strongboxes would weigh maybe 90 lbs each and the ones with bricks less than 20 lb per -- yet no one noticed, not even Murdoch! The people who act in this series are very fit indeed, able to pick up 150 pounds with one hand and set it the table like it was nothing!

And then there are the pirates, who can merrily carry a chest of gold coins up the beach that would have to weigh over a ton.

SWR in the Darth Rader inspires incisive thinking, donchathink or dontchoooooo? (Courtesy of National Lampoon Radio Hour. :yo


----------



## JimInks

Got up early to run to the store in case the upcoming storm is worse then they expect. I smoked a bowl of MacBaren Halberg Green in a straight 1979 MM Legend along the way. Next is Dutch Masters Cherry Cavendish in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.

Love your story about money, Freestroke!


----------



## freestoke

JimInks said:


> Got up early to run to the store in case the upcoming storm is worse then they expect. I smoked a bowl of MacBaren Halberg Green in a straight 1979 MM Legend along the way. Next is Dutch Masters Cherry Cavendish in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.
> 
> Love your story about money, Freestroke!


Thanks, Jim! :smile: I'm beginning to think the people down south are having it worse than here in Central NY. We're at least equipped for this stuff, so it's business as usual, but I lived in Dallas when they had an ice storm. Cars everywhere, like the roads had been strafed by fighter jets. :lol: I'm betting it hasn't been a banner year for golf in Myrtle Beach.

Smoking the Darth Rader again, looking for even more profound revelations by jacking up the volume with JK[sic]P. p


----------



## JimInks

Had a great breakfast, which I seldom eat, and am now smoking Sir Walter Raleigh in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob. Simply Apple is my drink.


----------



## JimInks

I'm a few minutes away from smoking the last of the year 1947 Sir Walter Raleigh in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot. Watching TV with the family.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Jim's Va./UnBur #2 in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Having another go at Jim's Va./UnBur #2 in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Another working blend: Jim's Va./DFK #2 in a 1970s smooth straight rough top Charatan's Make (Lane) Perfection Deluxe Extra Large.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe. See you folks later this day.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

My last full bowl of McClelland Deep Hollow in a sandblasted Leonessa. They're calling for ice here today, after being 70* yesterday :frusty:


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> My last full bowl of McClelland Deep Hollow in a sandblasted Leonessa. They're calling for ice here today, after being 70* yesterday :frusty:


Wonder how they're faring out on the peninsula in Hilton village these days? Ice was something of a novelty there when I was growing up, making the walk to school more interesting breaking the little frozen puddles here and there. Here, it's a bracing -6ºF, too cold for March even around these parts. The hot arctic has really screwed up the jet stream, but does not seem to be interfering too badly with this cob of PA.


----------



## JimInks

Rekamepip's January Blend in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## freestoke

Everybody back to work on Monday, you'd think there'd be a lot of puffers on here this morning. Maybe it's SAD, seasonal affective disorder. Been exercising the Forever Legends, this time it's Royal Yacht. Anybody else feel that JK[sic]P is somewhat underrated in the Vitamin N department? :spy:


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> I am excited. The National Weather Service prognosticates that Friday the temperatures will rise above freezing. Ragnarök was Feb 22nd, when the gods were supposed to die in Valhalla and Ferrir was slated to eat the sun, but possibly that didn't happen. Keeping my eyes to the skies, in case Ferrir was just late to the party, and smoking some JK[sic]P in the Forever Legend.


I thought that was Fenrir not Ferrir, or maybe it's cultural/language differences....:ask:



freestoke said:


> One of the more common errors in mysteries involves currency in briefcases, especially when the "small, unmarked bills" proviso is added. For $1M dollars in $1000 dollar bills, one needs 10 stacks of a 100 bills each. A stack of 100 US dollar bills takes up almost as much space as a deck of playing cards, circulated bills more than new ones. As I heard in testimony on CSPAN once upon a time, you can just fit $1M in *$1000 *bills into a standard small Fedex shipping box, about the size of a small briefcase. I'm always delighted when they open the suitcase with $10 or $20 million dollars in it. A real crook would say, "What are you trying to pull, Lefty? There can't be more $3M in there."
> 
> A similar situation occurred in the Murdoch last night, where there were supposed to be 4 small strongboxes with 60 pounds of "gold" in each. The scam involved substituting four 60 lb boxes of bricks and four 60 lb boxes of lead, three bricks just fitting into a strongbox. Of course, you need almost 10 times the volume of bricks as gold and twice the amount of lead. A 50lb bar of gold is about the size of one red brick. The cases clearly contained three brick-sized bars of gold/lead/bricks each, so the gold bars would weigh about 150 lbs per strongbox. The lead-filled strongboxes would weigh maybe 90 lbs each and the ones with bricks less than 20 lb per -- yet no one noticed, not even Murdoch! The people who act in this series are very fit indeed, able to pick up 150 pounds with one hand and set it the table like it was nothing!
> 
> And then there are the pirates, who can merrily carry a chest of gold coins up the beach that would have to weigh over a ton.
> 
> SWR in the Darth Rader inspires incisive thinking, donchathink or dontchoooooo? (Courtesy of National Lampoon Radio Hour. :yo


That's Hollywood propaganda for you, lord forbid that Hollywood actually be factually correct all the time! :crazy: (I know that the grammar of this sentence _might_ be wrong, but I couldn't come up with a better phrasing at the moment)



freestoke said:


> Everybody back to work on Monday, you'd think there'd be a lot of puffers on here this morning. Maybe it's SAD, seasonal affective disorder. Been exercising the Forever Legends, this time it's Royal Yacht. Anybody else feel that JK[sic]P is somewhat underrated in the Vitamin N department? :spy:


Oh no, another "disorder" what's next the DND? (Disorder Naming Disorder):heh:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

This morning, during my morning commute up the mountain, I had a bowl of Mac Baren Virginia #1 in a Peterson Belgique.


----------



## freestoke

Er999 said:


> I thought that was Fenrir not Ferrir, or maybe it's cultural/language differences....:ask:


Sigh. I thought that didn't sound right.  Fenrir it is, of course. And I did it twice.

Oh no, another "disorder" what's next the DND? (Disorder Naming Disorder):heh:[/QUOTE]

Well, at least it's still a "disorder". A lot of the old disorders have been promoted to diseases, like heartburn becoming GERD and "dry eyes" becoming "dry eye disease". Even highschool hygiene class would suffice to understand the difference between a symptom and a disease, but I don't think doctors bother with such distinctions at all anymore. Alcoholism and gambling are "diseases" now, where before they were merely vices.

A few more bowls of JK[sic]P and another container will arrive at the finish line.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> Sigh. I thought that didn't sound right.  Fenrir it is, of course. And I did it twice.


Glad to help you out with the correction!



freestoke said:


> Well, at least it's still a "disorder". A lot of the old disorders have been promoted to diseases, like heartburn becoming GERD and "dry eyes" becoming "dry eye disease". Even highschool hygiene class would suffice to understand the difference between a symptom and a disease, but I don't think doctors bother with such distinctions at all anymore. Alcoholism and gambling are "diseases" now, where before they....


ound: probably accurate!


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a little early: Jim's Va./UnBur #1 in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305. Ice water chilled to the proper temperature with floaty li'l icebergs is my drink.


----------



## JimInks

Smoker's Haven Cognac in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Jim's Half&Half/Per in a 1970s slight bend Caminetto business 134 poker with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Last smoke before sleep is Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel. See you folks later today.


----------



## JimInks

Smoking 4Noggins Evening Cordial in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker.


----------



## freestoke

Laissez les bons temps rouler, everybody! Don't think we even grazed the low temp record last night, being much warmer this morning than I expected. Less than a bowl of this jar of Royal Yacht left, so it might be time to think about opening another one. p


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> Laissez les bons temps rouler, everybody! Don't think we even grazed the low temp record last night, being much warmer this morning than I expected. Less than a bowl of this jar of Royal Yacht left, so it might be time to think about opening another one. p


Yes, Indeed -- Let the Good Times Roll!! Enjoying a bowl of Tilbury in one of my father's Calabresi quarter bent pipes. It's Fat Tuesday -- so Life is Indeed Good!


----------



## bluesman.54

Moving on to a bowl of Penzance in another one of my father's old, smooth, bent Caminettos. Let The Good Times Roll!


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> A lot of the old disorders have been promoted to diseases, like heartburn becoming GERD and "dry eyes" becoming "dry eye disease". Even highschool hygiene class would suffice to understand the difference between a symptom and a disease, but I don't think doctors bother with such distinctions at all anymore. Alcoholism and gambling are "diseases" now, where before they were merely vices.


Probably because nobody's to blame if I happen to have a 'disease'. (Let's ignore the fact that many of these newly-found diseases are, at least in part, self inflicted. i.e. the gambling and alcoholism you mentioned) However, if I merely have a vice I refuse to deal with, especially one that harms others, that makes me an asshole - at least to some extent. People generally don't want to take responsibility for their own assholery anymore. I'm not a drunk who squanders his family's rent money on cheap vodka. No, I have a disease! Now throw in the idea that if I have a serious enough 'disease' I may just qualify for disability. WOO-HOO!! Free Money!! Maybe I can qualify for disability because of TAD; "Tobacco Acquisition... DISEASE"

Bowl of DE Grand Central in a cob while chasing parts... should have dried it more - tasteless and gurgly. But I was in a hurry.


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> No, I have a disease! Now throw in the idea that if I have a serious enough 'disease' I may just qualify for disability. WOO-HOO!! Free Money!! Maybe I can qualify for disability because of TAD; "Tobacco Acquisition... DISEASE"


Perfect! It has been my experience that people who use excuses for their assholiotitis would be assholes under any and all circumstances, and would find a way to get out of work on disability with or without the serendipitous definition of their favorite pastime as a "disease".

This calls for something serious -- Sweet Rum Twist, I'd say.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> It has been my experience that people who use excuses for their assholiotitis would be assholes under any and all circumstances...
> 
> *This calls for something serious* -- Sweet Rum Twist, I'd say.


Exactly!
And as they used to say in days gone by: "SOMEONE GET A ROPE!"
The aforementioned rope will be Dark Cherry Twist later this afternoon.


----------



## JimInks

Smoker's Haven 20th Anniversary in a 1949 medium bend Dunhill Shell.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a little early: Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a smooth 1977 Medley (GBD second) medium bend billiard with a flat underside.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

Gatlin-Burlier's Cade's Cove Cavendish in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## freestoke

Thinking about picking up the guitar again, but it's such a thankless bunch of work when you play classical, ya know? You rip through Bach's BWVB999 Prelude, chuffed that you dropped not a note, and they ask if you know Stairway to Heaven. sigh. out: (Stairs are so easy. Good thing it isn't Fairway to Heaven.)

The RY is gone. :spy: JK[sic]P. It will suffice with this excellent coffee, though. :cp


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Alexander Bridge in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter. Almost have this tub finished, but you know darn well I have more in the cellar.


----------



## JimInks

Stonehaven in a 1986 three quarter bend Bacchus face CAO meer.


----------



## bluesman.54

Tilbury in a, straight, smooth Charatan's Make Belvedere as I work on my writing. Snow seems to have missed us last night. Life is Good!


----------



## Er999

Emperor Zurg said:


> Probably because nobody's to blame if I happen to have a 'disease'. (Let's ignore the fact that many of these newly-found diseases are, at least in part, self inflicted. i.e. the gambling and alcoholism you mentioned) However, if I merely have a vice I refuse to deal with, especially one that harms others, that makes me an asshole - at least to some extent. People generally don't want to take responsibility for their own assholery anymore. I'm not a drunk who squanders his family's rent money on cheap vodka. No, I have a disease! Now throw in the idea that if I have a serious enough 'disease' I may just qualify for disability. WOO-HOO!! Free Money!! Maybe I can qualify for disability because of TAD; "Tobacco Acquisition... DISEASE"
> 
> Bowl of DE Grand Central in a cob while chasing parts... should have dried it more - tasteless and gurgly. But I was in a hurry.


That would be awesome, the free money that I get from the "disease" can go right back into getting more pipes and tobacco!!! The perfect set up for a pipe smoker!!!:lol::whoo:


----------



## JimInks

Smoker's Haven Select Mixture in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking Virginia Spice in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit.


----------



## JimInks

Straight Kentucky Burley in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## freestoke

More Jackknife Plug (aka, JackKnife Plug et Jack Knife [sic] Plug] et JKP et JK[sic]P) in the Forever Legend this morning, not taking any chances on an early Low Vitamin Deficiency problem. Not sure how low it went, but I saw -10 on the base weatherbug when I got up. Gonna be in the 20s today, with sun! :banana:


----------



## JimInks

Year 1941 George Washington Cut Plug in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sir Walter Raleigh in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## freestoke

In full codger mode this morning, stuffing bowls of SRT with a PA burn stabilizer into the same Legend Forever. p I am crushed, CRUSHED I tell you, that we had no record here last night. Probably missed by two degrees. out:


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1970s three quarter bend half smooth, half rusticated Savinelli Autograph 4 with a lucite stem and ferrule.


----------



## freestoke

I think this is five straight bowls of SRT/PA in the Legend Forever. It must be the sunshine has be confused. :shock:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Union Square in a Falcon during my morning commute today.


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, I had some MacBaren Navy Flake. Just finished smoking Three Friars in a 1980 three quarter bend briar Butz-Choquin 55 skull bowl pipe. Next is Jim's Working Blend in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Jim's Half&Half/Per in a 2003 medium bent straight grain Two dot 2 P. Ardor Venere Extra Bucaneve with a silver ferrule signed by Dorelio Rovera. On to my next smoke, which is St. James Flake in a 1984 black sandblasted straight Dunhill Shell 4103 Billiard.


----------



## freestoke

The commercials with the tinky piano music are getting to me this morning. Fortunately, I have almost an hour saved up on the DVR so I can fast forward through them when I hear one, but what's up with those? They seem to have proliferated, especially infecting "rich people ads". I doubt they bother anybody but piano players, specifically piano players who have suffered through classical piano pedagogy, but no doubt those with even a grain of musical taste would find them tedious. These commercials are basically professionally performed EXERCISES! Not even studies, which have some musical content, but the mindless repetitive noises produced by reach and velocity EXERCISES. They are not music. They are to music what pushups are to sport. It's like listening to somebody learn how to play a musical instrument. "Hell is full of amateur musicians," is how GB Shaw saw it, and these commercials are a demonstration of precisely that -- I do not enjoy listening to people playing piano exercises, not even myself. 

Having a bowl of PPP containing nothing but dried SRT and PA. Good! And coffee! Lots of coffee! :cp


----------



## LandonColby

My go to bulk blend McClelland Virginia/Perique Flake in a Grabow Omega. Good tobacco, good pipe, good morning 
Have a nice day guys and gals


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoying a bowl of Tilbury, LNF, and Cube Cut in a straight, sandblasted pre-transition Barling pot. A good combination for writing. And like Jim -- coffee -- LOTS of coffee! Life is Good!


----------



## freestoke

Just back from a walk in above freezing weather, with sun and a bowl of Ennerdale in the Szabo. :mrgreen: Excellent!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Firedance Flake in a Hilson Vintage Bulldog this morning during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> Just back from a walk in above freezing weather, with sun and a bowl of Ennerdale in the Szabo. :mrgreen: Excellent!


It warms my heart to see you enjoying a bowl of Ennerdale! A fine, though unique tobacco it is!

I'm moving on to another bowl of Tilbury, LNF, and Cube Cut, this time in a quarter bent, rusticated Brebbia # 831.

Next up will have to be a Four Dot that Jim was kind enough to share his wisdom about. Those have to be the coolest smoking pipes on the planet! If you don't have one -- get one and enjoy it yourself. You won't regret it.

I did discover among my dad's pipes a straight, smooth, fish tail Sasieni Stendaline. I enjoyed it last night with some HHODF. It is also a great, very cool smoker. So I have a Sasieni I didn't even know I had as I am still going through my dad's pipes. Life is Good!


----------



## bluesman.54

El wedo del milagro said:


> Firedance Flake in a Hilson Vintage Bulldog this morning during my morning commute up the mountain.


Now I'm sure that made the commute much more enjoyable!


----------



## freestoke

Had some Northwoods last night, just because I stumbled across a jar from yesteryear. I gave most of it away in newbie samplers, but I decided to give it a go for some Latakia. This was a 4star at tobaccoreviews when I bought it, and it's still hanging in there at 3.6, but I don't see why, I really don't. It's a shadow of a Dunhill Latakia, say MM965. Furthermore, one stinking bowl last night and I actually think I have a hint of tongue bite! :shock: 

Think I'll hit the PA/SRT this morning early. As Mr. Mincer told me, mild tobaccos can bite, strong ones usually don't. Still true. PA is one of those mild ones that doesn't bite, BTW.


----------



## Branzig

Star of the East in my Adventurer 

First bowl in 8 days, feels good to be puffin again! ipe:


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoying another bowl of Tilbury, LNF, and Cube Cut in a bent, rusticated Brebbia #839 . A fine tobacco and pipe to finish my writing for work tonight. Life is Good!


----------



## LandonColby

Old Gowrie in the rusticated Savinelli 920 ks. My nephew is having a birthday here today so naturally I put a little snap of Baileys in my coffee to brighten up the day even more  . Time to do some yard work.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Four Nuns in a cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


----------



## Branzig

FVF in my LHS

Trying to decide if I am brave enough to try the Dark Bird's Eye...and also wondering if it will ghost a pipe! :lol:


----------



## JRM03

Enjoying some Midnight Smoke in a cob


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Old Dark Fired in a Peterson green-spray sterling silver military mount on the way to work up the mountain.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> FVF in my LHS
> 
> Trying to decide if I am brave enough to try the Dark Bird's Eye...and also wondering if it will ghost a pipe! :lol:


Dark Birdseye is a little like smoking a twist that has been cut for making cigarettes. You can get big Vitamin N in a hurry, because it burns almost like 5B. :nod: I honestly remember ZERO essence in it. It might be there for all those people with noses like bloodhounds, but I certainly didn't notice it. I need to order more.

I'm settling for JK[sic]P in the Legend Forever. It has a good little punch to it too! :tu


----------



## JimInks

Paul Olsen-My Own Blend Bourbon in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Half&Half/Per in a 1970s slight bend Caminetto business 134 poker with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Year 1941 George Washington Cut Plug in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## freestoke

JK[sic]P in a Legend Forever. 'Bout all gone! Looking for 40ºF today! :banana:


----------



## Branzig

@freestoke, that Dark Birdseye is happening in about 5 minutes.

Long night at work, back is killing me, looking forward for some vitamin N ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 1982 smooth straight Sasieni Ivory 105 Apple.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> @freestoke, that Dark Birdseye is happening in about 5 minutes.
> 
> Long night at work, back is killing me, looking forward for some vitamin N ipe:


How did it go, Brandon? Wouldn't mind a little DB right now myself, but I'll settle for finishing the JK[sic]P, as long as the coffee keeps coming. :cp Left what little I had on the plate last night and it's like pine tree bark. Gotta mix it with some PA for burn stability I think.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> How did it go, Brandon? Wouldn't mind a little DB right now myself, but little finishing the JK[sic]P, as long as the coffee keeps coming. :cp Left what little I had on the plate last night and it's like pine tree bark. Gotta mix it with some PA for burn stability I think.


I liked it a lot! I liked it so much that I wrote a review on it in the review section. I was a little disappointed in the vitamin N strength, but I knock thst off to my stupid amount of tolerance, not the tobacco :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I liked it a lot! I liked it so much that I wrote a review on it in the review section. I was a little disappointed in the vitamin N strength, but I knock thst off to my stupid amount of tolerance, not the tobacco :lol:


Well, I must admit that I was going to say it might be a little overrated in that department, but I was afraid I'd look stupid. :lol: I'm smoking light right now, a basic cob of PA. And more coffee! :cp


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Three Friars in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## Nachman

I started this morning with Red Rapparee in a rustcated Savinelli Pot, then GH Lousiana Flake in a rusticated Eriksen quarter bent apple which is dedicated to Lakeland tobacco. Late I will smoke Royal Yacht in a rusticated Eriksen straight Dublin.


----------



## Arizona

A piping hot cup of 100% Columbian coffee with Vanilla Creamer, talk radio and this fellow - a Jobey I bought in Indiana in 1982 during my college days.


----------



## bluesman.54

Enjoying a bowl of Penzance in a Stallwell billiard Pot with a fish tail stem. It is an old pipe as it was one of my dad's first pipes. It is a great smoker to this day. Life is Good!


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Well, I must admit that I was going to say it might be a little overrated in that department, but I was afraid I'd look stupid. :lol: I'm smoking light right now, a basic cob of PA. And more coffee! :cp


Can't ever go wrong with more coffee! coffee coffee coffee! And Burley goes quite well with coffee too :thumb:

I don't think it a weak blend at all, quite the contrary, I just seem to be immune to nicotine :lol:

I just finished a bowl of Orlik GS


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing this bowl of Marble Kake in a medium bend straight grain 2000 Winslow C silver spigot. Next is Kramer's New Mixture in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim. Next will be Jim's Working Blend in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## Branzig

Big Bowl Of Anniversary Kake before heading out on my first golfing adventure of the year. ipe: :thumb:


----------



## JimInks

Half a bowl of Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording. This finishes the trade sample.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Big Bowl Of Anniversary Kake before heading out on my first golfing adventure of the year. ipe: :thumb:


:mrgreen: Hit 'em good, Brandon! Remember, the harder and faster you swing, the farther and straighter it goes! :tu

A cob of SWR to slide into the morning. Rain just now turning over to snow, but I think we'll make a quick skip out to pick up some groceries anyhow. I'm thinking a nice bourgignon would be perfect for dinner on a stormy night.

Naah...we'll survive without that. :smow:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Old Dark Fired in a MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## T.E.Fox

Top of the morning chaps (it's morning here anyway). Haven't been on the pipe in a while. Small bowl of University Flake to start the morning and ponder the rest of the day.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through smoking Bob's Square Cut in a 2013 bent MM Missouri Pride Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Three Friars in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Top Shelf in a 1980 raw sienna light relief Rossi 1886 Visconte 245 Oom Paul with an Amber colored stem.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> :mrgreen: Hit 'em good, Brandon! Remember, the harder and faster you swing, the farther and straighter it goes! :thumb:


I love how golf is the most frustrating sport in the whole world, yet you can't stop obsessing over and wanting to play! It was a brutal round on one of the hardest courses I have ever played. BUT it was an aboslutely gorgeous day, not a could in the sky and 65 degrees with no wind, and we were in 2 groups of 4 and had a blast razing each other. So I guess that is all that matters... :tg

It was about a 3 hour drive, so I really had time to let all my garbage strokes set in, and by the time I got home, all I wanted to do was go straight to the putting/chipping green and work for hours on my short game! Gluttons for punishment we are :lol:

Going to fire up a bowl of Byzantium in one of my Savis


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I love how golf is the most frustrating sport in the whole world, yet you can't stop obsessing over and wanting to play! It was a brutal round on one of the hardest courses I have ever played. BUT it was an aboslutely gorgeous day, not a could in the sky and 65 degrees with no wind, and we were in 2 groups of 4 and had a blast razing each other. So I guess that is all that matters... :tg
> 
> It was about a 3 hour drive, so I really had time to let all my garbage strokes set in, and by the time I got home, all I wanted to do was go straight to the putting/chipping green and work for hours on my short game! Gluttons for punishment we are :lol:
> 
> Going to fire up a bowl of Byzantium in one of my Savis


My envy knows no bounds, Brandon. :mrgreen: We had a foot plus of snow and 25mph winds yesterday, so it might have been a pretty tough day on the links. :lol: I'll be hitting the driveway here directly -- maybe. I might just skip it until tomorrow morning and not go anywhere again today. Plenty of coffee and tobacco, so no real problems ahead. p Then again, there's a certain amount of enjoyment to be had grinding through the snow and suffering in the cold and wind, probably the same perversity circuit that drives people to climb mountains and engage in home improvements.

Mixed some SWR with the PPP from last night's scraps and it tastes pretty damn good! And fresh coffee! :cp


----------



## freestoke

Half an hour just to clean off the cars. :faint: Awful, leaden snow. Fluff this up into lake effect and there'd be about 4 feet out there. :lol:

Taking a break before cranking up the equipment proper, having a cup of coffee and a bowl of Stonehaven in the 4Dot.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Half an hour just to clean off the cars. :faint: Awful, leaden snow. Fluff this up into lake effect and there'd be about 4 feet out there. :lol:
> 
> Taking a break before cranking up the equipment proper, having a cup of coffee and a bowl of Stonehaven in the 4Dot.


Given your situation, I suppose I shouldn't be so smug about my poor first game of the year :lol: My worst game on the links is better than any day buried in snow (when you have the golf bug that is).

Red Rapparre in one of my LHS


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of FVF in a Hilson Vintage Dublin during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing Marble Kake in a medium bend straight grain 2000 Winslow C silver spigot. Another smoke is on the way!


----------



## JimInks

I'm smoking 5100 Red Cake in a 2002 medium bend smooth straight grain Karl Erik freehand with a pointy bottom.


----------



## Arizona

Good morning to all! It's still dark and the stars are just about to yield to the dawn as I sip my 100% Columbian coffee with touch of creamer and enjoy a few puffs of Black n Gold in a 30 yr old briar Ascorti... Life is good


----------



## freestoke

Guten Morgen! It's supposed to go above freezing! :banana: Then back to the deep freeze Sunday. :faint: Hopefully the courses will be open by June. Got a gram plus of Stonehaven burning in the 4Dot, with some coffee and an eye on the outside thermometer. :lol:


----------



## JimInks

I smokied Sir Walter Raleigh in medium bend grain etched undated Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand. Now, I'm half way through this bowl of Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Jim's Working Blend in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished this bowl of Jim's Va./UnBur #1 in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305. Now smoking year 1941 George Washington Cut Plug in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## freestoke

The 4Dot again, with FVF again. It's raining! :tu This is going to be a mess, though, later. :tsk:


----------



## JimInks

Kramer's House Aromatic in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## Branzig

Dark Birdseye in my LHS


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> The 4Dot again, with FVF again. It's raining! :tu This is going to be a mess, though, later. :tsk:


This is funny as I chose to begin the day with another bowl of FVF in my 4Dot Bulldog --before I read this. We are definitely traveling the same path once again!

The rain will help melt the snow and before you know it you'll be booking Tee Times. Life is Good!


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Rinaldo Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Straight Grain egg.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Sutliff Black Cordial in a straight 1979 MM Legend. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> The rain will help melt the snow and before you know it you'll be booking Tee Times. Life is Good!


It gave the snow cover a nice layer of ice on top, with a low close to zero last night. It's 11ºF at the moment, but the sun is shining! Highs will struggle to get into the twenties the next few days, but Tuesday looks like a real thaw might set in. The course should be clear by July! :lol: Gonna fire up the Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian with FVF again, two flakes left in the jar. I've decided that I like FVF better than Stonehaven, which I think is a good thing all around. p Coffee! :cp


----------



## JimInks

I'm listing this early: Sail Yellow in a 1980s made in London no name smooth straight apple.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Carter Hall in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles. Working and listening to old radio shows.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Capstan Flake in my Peterson Belgique during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Branzig

Some more Mac Baren Navy Flake in a LHS.

This estate Savi may be the death of me!


----------



## Branzig

Ennerdale flake in a MM Gentleman


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Black Cordial in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Ennerdale flake in a MM Gentleman


Isn't that a little like Scotch for breakfast? :new_all_coholic: I'm having some crispy FVF in the TwoDot apple and enough coffee to take the chill off the morning. This could be the spring break in the weather.

Last night was a little below zero, but the rest of the week is definitely warmer than it's been. Maybe we'll be able to skid a few old balls over the ice in a few days. We have LOTS of balls to hit away, finding about 6 a round between us. I almost never lose a ball, and balls these days last for at least 50 or 60 holes with my powder-puffing, before something bad happens to them. And Audrey loses fewer than I do and plays them FOREVER. She can play every day all summer on a couple of sleeves. :lol: In any case, we just hit them off whatever grass we can find and don't bother to tromp out into the snow to get them.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim.


----------



## JimInks

The last of this trade sample of year 1941 George Washington Cut Plug in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Isn't that a little like Scotch for breakfast? :new_all_coholic: I'm having some crispy FVF in the TwoDot apple and enough coffee to take the chill off the morning. This could be the spring break in the weather.
> 
> Last night was a little below zero, but the rest of the week is definitely warmer than it's been. Maybe we'll be able to skid a few old balls over the ice in a few days. We have LOTS of balls to hit away, finding about 6 a round between us. I almost never lose a ball, and balls these days last for at least 50 or 60 holes with my powder-puffing, before something bad happens to them. And Audrey loses fewer than I do and plays them FOREVER. She can play every day all summer on a couple of sleeves. :lol: In any case, we just hit them off whatever grass we can find and don't bother to tromp out into the snow to get them.


I have been up all night working on one of the grossest and gunked up Savi's I have ever attempted to restore! It is a real chore! The Ennerdale was out of necessity :lol: 
Believe it or not though, I find Kendal Flake to not only have a little better taste as far as the "essence" goes, but it also has a bolder flavor and a good kick!

I wish I never lost a golf ball! I don't even want to know how many I go through a season! :lol: Unfortunately, I tweaked my back at work then like a dumb dumb went to the driving range and well, now my upper left back is killing me! I am going to take a week or so away from a club in hopes that it heals quickly...Golfing weather is finally here and I go screwing up my back. :doh:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I wish I never lost a golf ball! I don't even want to know how many I go through a season! :lol: Unfortunately, I tweaked my back at work then like a dumb dumb went to the driving range and well, now my upper left back is killing me! I am going to take a week or so away from a club in hopes that it heals quickly...Golfing weather is finally here and I go screwing up my back. :doh:


I finished the last of my KF a few months back. I need to get more!

I don't hit many sideways, but then I've been playing since I was 11. I learned not to lose balls early, because the good ones cost a buck apiece! And they were FRAGILE! I mostly played drugstore Podos, Capris, balls I found in the woods, and the Penfolds that my father bought cheap at the BX. The Penfolds were cool, with hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades instead of numbers, and they came individually wrapped!










Although the ones I remember were wrapped in an opaque black wrapper. I think they were the British size, too, a little smaller than the American ball.

One of the great tragedies of my life was the demise of the ballata ball. There was a time when a good player could proudly put the ball he played that day on the table at the 19th hole, with no cuts, dents or bruises, merely fine groove marks all over it. An uncut ball used for an entire round was THE mark of a real player. Score was incidental, because you can't really cut a ball on the green, no matter how bad you putt. Sigh. Who'd appreciate that these days!? All the balls, even the good ones, are indestructible.

The FVF jar is now officially empty, the last of its contents burned in the 4Dot.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Although the ones I remember were wrapped in an opaque black wrapper. I think they were the British size, too, a little smaller than the American ball.
> 
> THE mark of a real player. Score was incidental, because you can't really cut a ball on the green, no matter how bad you putt. Sigh. Who'd appreciate that these days!? All the balls, even the good ones, are indestructible.
> 
> The FVF jar is now officially empty, the last of its contents burned in the 4Dot.


Hey those Penfolds are neat! I'd love to have some of those!

And I agree, golf balls are indestructible today. While golfing last week I found a couple balls that had been hacked into the empty river beds (Yes, I was looking for my own hacked ball into said riverbed :lol: ) buried in time and dust, then snowed over and thawed back out. I picked one up and cleaned it off, looked as good as new :lol:

I just checked my FVF jar and I am down to only 5 flakes! I too need to stock up!


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker. This is the same formula as Old Grand-Dad, but the name was changed some years ago.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking MacBaren Roll Cake in a 1979 black sandblasted medium bend Savinelli Non Pareil 9606 Billiard with a horn ferrule.


----------



## Branzig

Last bowl for a while.

Abingdon in a MM Pride. Bold and delicious.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> I think they were the British size, too, a little smaller than the American ball.


I always suspected the Limeys had smaller balls than Americans. Now I have irrefutable proof.


----------



## JimInks

A few moments away from smoking Luxury Twist Flake in an early '70s pebble etched Savinelli 315 Prince.


----------



## bluesman.54

El wedo del milagro said:


> I had a bowl of Capstan Flake in my Peterson Belgique during my morning commute up the mountain.


I enjoy your posts so much about your morning commute. Thank you for sharing!


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## freestoke

Brandon wanted to know about burley's, which led me directly to my first bowl of straight KK in forever! Downing a copious musketball in the Darth Rader with copious amounts of coffee to celebrate a coming stretch of days above freezing! :banana:


----------



## JimInks

1940s Prince Albert spiced with rum in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## JimInks

Ko-Ko in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a black 1997 Brebbia Jubilee 925 silver banded grain sandblast briar calabash.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Working Blend in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## freestoke

My Low Nicotine Warning Light was lit when I got up, so I put a few dimes of SRT in the Pride Forever, mixed with some crispy SWR from the paper plate as a burn stabilizer. With a second go at it, Lady Nicotine has quit nagging on me. p

I think we're actually getting rid of a little snow! :banana:


----------



## bluesman.54

Beginning the day with a bowl of Ennerdale in my Thompson meer. Lot's of writing to get done for work tonight so I have to get after it. Life is Good!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in my Peterson green-spray sterling silver Military-mount pot today during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## LandonColby

JimInks said:


> 1940s Prince Albert spiced with rum in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


That sounds interesting! Also, I love the golden danish line from stanwell.


----------



## LandonColby

Smoking my personal mix of perique and red cake with a light whiskey and soda and a little reggae in the sun. Spring break gives me a moment away from college class but work still keeps me grounded...doesn't me I can't celebrate with what time I DO have :lol:


----------



## JimInks

LandonColby said:


> That sounds interesting! Also, I love the golden danish line from stanwell.


I have two pipe from the Golden Danish line. Good smokers they are!

The '40s PA spiced with rum came from a trade I did. It's pretty good, though I myself would not have thought about doing it. I would have liked to have smoked the PA as it was, just to see if it was consistent with how it tastes today.


----------



## LandonColby

JimInks said:


> I have two pipe from the Golden Danish line. Good smokers they are!
> 
> The '40s PA spiced with rum came from a trade I did. It's pretty good, though I myself would not have thought about doing it. I would have liked to have smoked the PA as it was, just to see if it was consistent with how it tastes today.


I would have loved to try the original blend as well, its interesting to see how the "same" product is different from itself today.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes from smoking Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot. This blend was designed for Basil Rathbone, and being a fan of his, I've long wanted to try this tobacco.


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Bob's Square Cut in a 2013 bent MM Missouri Pride Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Sam Gawith Jubilee 2012 in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## freestoke

Another Sweet Rum Twist coin in the corncob, along with Sir Walter Raleigh. It LOOKS like it's melting, but I'll believe it when the snow starts to recede away from the bottom of the mailbox -- you know, when I can actually get a significant reading off of the Snow Depth Indicator where the postman leaves the car ads, charity donation begs, and insurance offers. :lol:


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, I was smoking Mid-1920s Half and Half in a tan etched medium bend 2001 Rinaldo Sahara 2 Acorn round at the shank, pointy at the opposite top. Now, it's Sir Walter Raleigh in a smooth three quarter bend 1979 Ben Wade Golden Matt freehand sitter.


----------



## freestoke

Taking a break from the SRT with a 4Dot of Stonehaven. Very nice for a melt day. p


----------



## Branzig

Going another round with the Prince. ipe:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

RY in a MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing this bowl of Alexander Bridge in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## Branzig

A little Abingdon. Its colder than its been in weeks here, I need a good lat to get me going!


----------



## bluesman.54

Tilbury in a Willmer sandblasted Bulldog and lots and lots of coffee to get me going. That and Tibury seems to have a good vitamin "N" kick so it was the go to choice to begin what is certain to be a hectic day. IMO Willmer pipes are great smokers. To bad they are no longer in business. They made great pipes.

That said, it is supposed to be in the upper 50's here today so at 4:00PM I will shut down for a bit and grill some steaks, jumbo shrimp, and fresh asparagus -- and enjoy some time with my family . Have great day Puffers. Life is Good!


----------



## freestoke

The "half inch" followed by "no appreciable accumluation" turned into 6 inches overnight, and it's still snowing. :smow: So much for the thaw this week. The 40ºF turned into 34º , which doesn't have enough heat content above freezing to do squat without the sun. :frown: And it's more of the same stretching into April, apparently. Golf season starts in August. 

Smoking some very dry PPP with a 1Q moistener. Smells decent and still provides the morning nicotine boost. p


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing Holiday Mixture Match in a 1990 smooth medium bend Nording freehand sitter with a wider top than bottom that also has a ridge and a narrower bowl resembling an upside down spout, with an amber colored lucite stem with cream swirls.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished this bowl of Angler's Dream in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob. Next is Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a very much appreciated 1979 brown, slight bend grain etched flat front Stanwell Rego 969-48 (09).


----------



## JimInks

Sam Gawith Jubilee 2012 in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## freestoke

One more day of semi-thawing weather, then back to winter, with single digit temps overnight. Giving the "Canadian" Canadian a dose of SWR for my opener, along with round some fresh coffee that's tasting pretty good this morning. Darts this afternoon! I threw pretty well yesterday, believe it or not. I really think I'm starting to throw a bit more like my old self. I've stuck with the same grip for a few weeks nowand have stopped fiddling with stuff, so my throw is stabilizing some, getting away from the "new adventure" with every dart. This is a good thing, because dart season appears to be replacing golf season this year.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## freestoke

It's Arnie's tournament this week. The King. I was in high school when he started winning big. Saw him win in 1960 at the Masters and saw him lose to Player in 1961. I was definitely a fan as a teenager, and the King was my favorite player -- although he wasn't the king, yet. He's still got the "Babe Ruth Event" in golf. In 1960, at Cherry Hills, the US Open was still played at 36 holes on Saturday. During the morning round on Saturday, Mike Souchak had built up a substantial lead, and at lunch between rounds, Palmer told some reporter that he would win it and -- tada! The Babe Ruth Event -- would DRIVE THE FIRST GREEN. He did both. :hail:

Adam Scott has clearly had some sort of bionic circuitry installed. When he hits a ball it STAYS hit, as they say. 

Put the last couple of dimes of SRT, some PA and a pinch of 1Q in the Gentleman Forever and having my umpteenth cup of coffee, while I watch the golf. p


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> It's Arnie's tournament this week.


I'm watching it as well, while sipping on tea. Can't wait for the Masters! One of my Co-workers is actually getting to go to the Thursday and Friday portion...lucky dog out:

Pretty soon I will be on switching to college basketball though...I am a college basketball fanatic and March is my Christmas! :bounce:

Firing up some Dark Birdseye.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of PA in a MM forever cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## TTecheTTe

Howdy, y'all! Forever cobbing Red Cake. p


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was MacBaren Roll Cake in a 1979 black sandblasted medium bend Savinelli Non Pareil 9606 Billiard with a horn ferrule. Now, it's Schippers in a 1977 straight black rusticated Sir Brent billiard with a lucite stem and silver band repair.


----------



## NeverBend

JimInks said:


> Earlier, it was MacBaren Roll Cake in a 1979 black sandblasted medium bend Savinelli Non Pareil 9606 Billiard with a horn ferrule. Now, it's Schippers in a 1977 straight black rusticated Sir Brent billiard with a lucite stem and silver band repair.


Hi Jim,

Enjoying your detailed reports, makes me feel like I'm participating!


----------



## JimInks

NeverBend said:


> Hi Jim,
> 
> Enjoying your detailed reports, makes me feel like I'm participating!


Thanks for the kind words. I was working and listening to the Dodgers- Diamondbacks game while I was smoking. I had the TV on, but the sound turned off, so I could hear Vin Scully for the first three innings. 86 years old and he still sounds sharp and great.

I'm smoking the blend Basil Rathbone once had: Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## swamper

Smoking some Smokers Pride rum cured in my MM.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## freestoke

Snowing lightly earlier, but the sun is out now. Cold, but there could still be some melting and sublimation. (Trying to look on the bright side. :lol

Finished with a Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian of HOTW and heading for the -- HOTW in the TwoDot apple. p And coffee! :cp


----------



## NeverBend

freestoke said:


> Snowing lightly earlier, but the sun is out now. Cold, but there could still be some melting and sublimation. (Trying to look on the bright side. :lol
> 
> Finished with a Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian of HOTW and heading for the -- HOTW in the TwoDot apple. p And coffee! :cp


Good Morning Freestoke,

May I ask when these *Sasieni's *were purchased and what *HOTW *means? (_Hal O'The Wynd_?)

I just took the mothballs off a *Barling *YOW 2xl saddle billiard. Still working that old tin of *Deerstalker*.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a Dr G during my morning commute up the mountain.

It was horrible even though it's my favorite tobacco.

In addition to driving too fast up the mountain, I smoked it way too fast and aggressively. No sweetness, and a bad tongue bite.


----------



## freestoke

You need a finiculare for that commute, Michael. Been smoking HOTW all morning, but now it's SWR with PPP, probably with a repeat to clean the paper plate up. p

I finally have figured out what I find odd about the Accura TL(?) commercial. The woman's voice, presumably intended to sound wistfully sexy, sounds more like hopelessness and despair. I can put it another setting, say a SF flick, the good guys talking to a bedraggled young woman they have rescued from wandering in the desert. In a distant voice she relates how the aliens landed in the back yard, how she hid in the closet while they ate her parents, "And they didn't even leave a single drop of blood...we'll all die," her voice trailing off as her vacant wide eyes look at nothing.


----------



## Branzig

A lovely bowl of Red Rap while enjoying some Lemon Ginger tea. ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Sir Walter Raleigh in medium bend grain etched undated Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## freestoke

I know that memory plays tricks, but I might have a Thomas Jefferson quote that nobody is aware of for some reason. I went probing on the net to find the definitive history of "My country, right or wrong," finding the earliest reference at 1815, along with a Carl Schurz quote from 1901, but since I was in college I have been claiming that Thomas Jefferson wrote, "My country right or wrong, to be defended when right and righted when wrong," which is more clever than the Schurz version, " My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right," and sufficiently clever to preclude any possibility that I made it up. My memory, as dodgy as the next guy of 70, puts my first use of this quote in a history term paper in 1962. The University of Virginia allowed students access to the "stacks", where one could find --of course -- lots of old Thomas Jefferson stuff. Doing research for that paper, I came across the sentence fragment in question in a thin volume containing a collection of letters that TJ had written (at least I think I remember it) and quoted it in the paper. (One needed lots of quoted references in those term papers.) I've "quoted" it a thousand times, I'm sure, but I can't find this particular turn of phrase anywhere, so did TJ actually "say it first", or am I imagining it all? :dunno: Maybe it's an artifact from the Age of Aquarius. :hippie:

Having an opening bowl of HOTW, wishing it were Royal Yacht. p


----------



## bluesman.54

@freestoke Sorry, but I cannot help you with your quote dilemma. Not my field s to speak.

Beginning the day with some Red Kake in a 1/4 bent 4Dot Ruff Root Dark. Good tobacco, great pipe -- the essentials of preparation for good writing. And I'm off....Life is Good!


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> @freestoke Sorry, but I cannot help you with your quote dilemma. Not my field s to speak.
> 
> Beginning the day with some Red Kake in a 1/4 bent 4Dot Ruff Root Dark. Good tobacco, great pipe -- the essentials of preparation for good writing. And I'm off....Life is Good!


May the Muses whisper in your ear, Michael. :smile: Clio has been no help to me today, obviously, so maybe I need to sacrifice one of the cats (the one who decided to trash the kitchen during the night, to be specific) to Thalia and try to channel a few killer jokes.

A Gentleman Forever and Hal o' the Wynd, reading about Samuel Clemens. :smile: "Children of twenty-five, who have seven years experience, try to tell me what is a good cigar and what isn't. Me, who never learned to smoke, but always smoked; me, who came into the world asking for a light."


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Alexander Bridge in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Paul Olsen-My Own Blend Bourbon in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 2001 Karl Erik Ekstravagant A medium bend with a pointy bottom and a wide top.


----------



## Branzig

Delicious Sammy G Black XX Twist.

Man o' man, I don't smoke this stuff often, but I love this tobacco. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Delicious Sammy G Black XX Twist.
> 
> Man o' man, I don't smoke this stuff often, but I love this tobacco. ipe:


Haven't had Black XX in a long time. Good stuff -- tobacco BBQ. :lol: I am starting out with basic PA in the 4Dot, trying to rehash my understanding of the regional climatology. I was taught that around this time of year temperatures would rise, birds would sing, and you'd see the early spring flowers, but this is definitely not the case. Right now, we have a bracing 5ºF with 2 feet of snow on the ground. :dunno:


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> I know that memory plays tricks, but I might have a Thomas Jefferson quote that nobody is aware of for some reason. I went probing on the net to find the definitive history of "My country, right or wrong," finding the earliest reference at 1815, along with a Carl Schurz quote from 1901, but since I was in college I have been claiming that Thomas Jefferson wrote, "My country right or wrong, to be defended when right and righted when wrong," which is more clever than the Schurz version, " My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right," and sufficiently clever to preclude any possibility that I made it up. My memory, as dodgy as the next guy of 70, puts my first use of this quote in a history term paper in 1962. The University of Virginia allowed students access to the "stacks", where one could find --of course -- lots of old Thomas Jefferson stuff. Doing research for that paper, I came across the sentence fragment in question in a thin volume containing a collection of letters that TJ had written (at least I think I remember it) and quoted it in the paper. (One needed lots of quoted references in those term papers.) I've "quoted" it a thousand times, I'm sure, but I can't find this particular turn of phrase anywhere, so did TJ actually "say it first", or am I imagining it all? :dunno: Maybe it's an artifact from the Age of Aquarius. :hippie:
> 
> Having an opening bowl of HOTW, wishing it were Royal Yacht. p


Hmmm, I thought it was the Duke.:drum: Been smoking from a three year old tin of RY today.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Straight Cube Cut Burley in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 2002 black sandblast full bend D.R. Ardor Urano Fatta A Mano with a slightly tapered far side of the bowl.


----------



## tmoran

Nightcap in a MM Legend on the way in. I'm just starting to like this stuff and the tin is just about done. That seems to always be the case, though.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a very much appreciated 1979 brown, slight bend grain etched flat front Stanwell Rego 969-48 (09).


----------



## freestoke

tmoran said:


> Nightcap in a MM Legend on the way in. I'm just starting to like this stuff and the tin is just about done. That seems to always be the case, though.


Ha! I too have the Legend Forever burning, waking up with Kendal Kentucky and a crispy Paper Plate Potpourri ignitor package on top. p Coffee! :cp


----------



## JimInks

Pine Hills in the third pipe I ever bought ($1.95), a 1974 smooth straight French briar Hadley Apple. This being a small bowl, it won't take long to finish.


----------



## freestoke

Didn't smoke much at all last night, so I'm desperately trying to turn off the Low Nicotine Warning Light with a bowl of HOTW. Might have to reach for the Happy Bogie. p


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1979 brown grain etched Lane Era Charatan's Make medium bend double comfort stem calabash shape 483DC.


----------



## JimInks

5100 Red Cake in a 2003 medium bend Nording 4 rough top sitter with a small rusticated area at the top left.


----------



## freestoke

The 4Dot/PA pairing this morning. About 10ºF out there this morning, but it is supposed to push 40 later today. Looking ahead, it might all actually melt out there in a couple of weeks. Golf is on the horizon! :banana:


----------



## swamper

Trying out a little Erinmore flake in a small no name pipe from Bramzig and it's pretty darn good.


----------



## freestoke

swamper said:


> Trying out a little Erinmore flake in a small no name pipe from Bramzig and it's pretty darn good.


I like Erinmore Flake too. Still have some of the old, small cans, but I haven't had any of the new stuff since they switched can shape. Anybody know if the flakes themselves are cut to a different size to accommodate the new can dimensions? I'd think it would smoke the same, but I wonder about the ripple down into the pans and cutting machines. Probably doesn't matter. :spy: Of COURSE it doesn't matter. My mind wanders. :lol:

HOTW on a day that promises to be ice-melting. I seem to have a flat rotation right now, with the following jars within easy reach: Stonehaven, Kendal Kentucky, Prince Albert, Hal o' the Wynd, Sir Walter Raleigh, Happy Bogie, Ennerdale Flake, and 1Q. Burley, burley, burley, VaBurPer, burley, Virginia, Virginia, and burley. The 1Q gets very little play, merely used like a peppermill to flavor a pile of PPP from time to time. p Time to put the Stonehaven and the last of the Kendal Kentucky out of reach for a while, I think, and pop me a can of Royal Yacht! And get another cup of coffee! :cp


----------



## swamper

Going for pipe #2 some 1Q in country gentleman cob. Life is good me the dog and cup of coffee on the porch.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Golf is on the horizon! :banana:


Hitting the driving range this afternoon...if the weather permits should be on the course Monday.... Fingers crossed! :banana:



swamper said:


> Trying out a little Erinmore flake in a small no name pipe from Bramzig and it's pretty darn good.


Glad you're enjoying it! That little pipe smokes little flakes like a champ!

I am about to light up a big ol' bowl of plain old PA...pouch is getting towards empty! Guess that means I like it! ipe:


----------



## bluesman.54

Red Cake in a 4DOT Ruff Root Bulldog with an unusually wide, Stem. A good clincher and a great smoker, with a great tobacco and coffee, coffee, coffee as I begin my weekly writing routine. Life is Good!


----------



## Branzig

A little Dark Birdseye before I head off for the day!


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Paul Olsen-My Own Blend Bourbon in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Three Friars in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob. Next is Kramer's Extra Mild in a slight bent black pattern etched 1979 Lorenzo Lorsan Sigma tilted top with a gray swirl colored stem.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## tmoran

Kendal Kentucky in a MM Legend on the commute. Happy Friday!


----------



## freestoke

My kinda smoke, Tim! :tu I'm having a little low-octane PA in the 4Dot to get started. Got some rain on tap today, so maybe the snowpack will start drawing down. Hope we can play in a week or two. :smile:


----------



## tmoran

freestoke said:


> My kinda smoke, Tim! :tu I'm having a little low-octane PA in the 4Dot to get started. Got some rain on tap today, so maybe the snowpack will start drawing down. Hope we can play in a week or two. :smile:


Nothing like a good shag first thing in the morning :biglaugh: (couldn't help myself). It was my first time smoking it, and loved it! Heard a lot of chatter about it on the forum, and it seemed right up my alley. Most of my favorites are VA's and burleys, or vaburs, Irish Flake being my current favorite.


----------



## freestoke

tmoran said:


> Nothing like a good shag first thing in the morning :biglaugh: (couldn't help myself). It was my first time smoking it, and loved it! Heard a lot of chatter about it on the forum, and it seemed right up my alley. Most of my favorites are VA's and burleys, or vaburs, Irish Flake being my current favorite.


I need to get one more order in before my TAD goes into summer remission, and IF has to be on the list, one of my favorites. I think I'll share a little of that KK with you, Tim. Think I'll burn it in the Pride Forever. p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Capstan Flake (blue) in a Hilson Vintage Dublin during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking Smoker's Haven Cognac in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Paul Olsen-My Own Blend Bourbon in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Kramer's Extra Mild in a slight bent black pattern etched 1979 Lorenzo Lorsan Sigma tilted top with a gray swirl colored stem. That finishes the trade sample. Next is Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## freestoke

I feel terrible! The wonderful pipe-clenching and pipe-lighting instructional video, Godzilla, King of Monsters, with Pipe Professor Raymond Burr is on TCM. I meant to give a heads up last night, but I forgot. out: Even now, he's demonstrating a solid left clench at the typewriter -- now up looking out the window and finally removed the pipe -- the pipe is back as he sits again at the typewriter, but I fear we've missed the matchbook pipelighting aboard a ship at sea. :frown:

HOTW in the "Canadian" Canadian.


----------



## bluesman.54

LTF this morning in a full bent #154 Caminetto Business pipe as I finish my writing for work tonight. Have a great day Puffers! Life is Good!


----------



## freestoke

A musketball of HOTW for the "Canadian" Canadian, it's second outing this morning. Warming up nicely, with LOTS of rain on the way tonight and tomorrow, which should remove a lot of the snow. I'm guessing we'll be out beating the ball around Tuesday! Gotta get cracking, with two sets of clubs to regrip this weekend. :faint:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Three Nuns in a BIG Sav sandblasted Bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## bluesman.54

On to 1792 in full Bent, # 174, Caminetto Business KS, dark, Volcano setter. A nice huge bowl so I don't have to refill too often while I write. Life is Good!


----------



## JimInks

Kramer's New Mixture in a 1949 medium bend Dunhill Shell.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff Black Cordial in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## JimInks

Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Sir Walter Raleigh in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## freestoke

Smoking a gigantic Ser Jacopo that a BOTL has sent me! (It's a wonderful pipe! :hail After searing the heel with some PA and SWR, I'm now on a full load of Red Cake, which should last right up to lunch. p Superb!


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a smooth 2002 medium bend eight sided panel top straight grain Rinaldo Collection Silver Line F Egea 05 Titania bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Bob's Chocolate Flake in a 1970s slight bend black sandblasted Comoy's Silver Cloud 624.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Angler's Dream in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob. Next is Virginia Spice in a black 1997 Brebbia Jubilee 925 silver banded grain sandblast briar calabash.


----------



## tmoran

Lancer's Slices in the MM Missouri Pride on the way in. I should know better than trying to bring a broken flake for the commute. I haven't really come up with a foolproof packing technique for them yet, and they take a little extra care to light for me. Not an ideal situation at highway speed.


----------



## JimInks

Sir Walter Raleigh in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## freestoke

Smoking the giant Ser Jacopo filled with SWR, set to finish sometime in the distant future. p This is much larger than any pipe I have ever smoked regularly and I'm just figuring out how to fill and smoke it properly. 

Thinking we might actually be hitting some balls around tomorrow. No real golf, but slapping it around a little in the mud will get the feel of the club back. Plus, I'm going to regrip of couple of clubs this morning to give the Lamkin grips a go. I've always played Golf Pride, but I think I'm going to like the Lamkin grips better. Bought the X10 grips, since the REL "new" material they've come up with apparently isn't as good as their old material according to quite a few players who sound like they know their shinola.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Thinking we might actually be hitting some balls around tomorrow. No real golf, but slapping it around a little in the mud will get the feel of the club back. Plus, I'm going to regrip of couple of clubs this morning to give the Lamkin grips a go. I've always played Golf Pride, but I think I'm going to like the Lamkin grips better. Bought the X10 grips, since the REL "new" material they've come up with apparently isn't as good as their old material according to quite a few players who sound like they know their shinola.


I should be on the course by 3...if everything goes according to plan 

I have been looking at the Dri-Tac grips for my wedges, I don't care for the grips at all on them and I am thinking about sampling a Dry-Tav on my LW... :hmm:

Finishing up a quick bowl of Anniversary Kake before having to run out and do my morning errands...which includes going to the auto DOL...wish me luck :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I should be on the course by 3...if everything goes according to plan
> 
> I have been looking at the Dri-Tac grips for my wedges, I don't care for the grips at all on them and I am thinking about sampling a Dry-Tav on my LW... :hmm:
> 
> Finishing up a quick bowl of Anniversary Kake before having to run out and do my morning errands...which includes going to the auto DOL...wish me luck :lol:


I don't think I've ever played a Winn grip. Grips are like golf balls though. Every one of the big grip makers makes great grips now, all better than the leather, which used to be the best. Practically everybody on tour before say 1980 or son would have used leather wraps, as did everybody with first line clubs. (Had to take care of those grips!) There's really very little to choose between them in each category, since they all make a cord, a tacky standard black, and all sorts of spiffy variations and textures. The competition is fierce.

Just slipped the Lamkin on my 3 hybrid and really like it! Good thing, too, I ordered two grip kits. :nod:

Having some SWR and the PPP in the "Canadian" Canadian.


----------



## JimInks

Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Kramer's House Aromatic in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a three quarter bend smooth 1985 Dunhill Chestnut 5202 with a cumberland stem.


----------



## tmoran

MM Legend full of Solani ABF with coffee for the morning commute. More coffee is desperately needed.


----------



## freestoke

Could you pass the Prince Albert, please, and my TwoDot apple? And another cup of coffee, too. :cp


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Could you pass the Prince Albert, please, and my TwoDot apple? And another cup of coffee, too. :cp


I too am enjoying the King Prince, in my Lakeland cob. I really enjoy the nutty taste mixed with the lavender. ipe:

I too am getting my fill of coffee, cup 4 now :cp

A little sore from my trip on the course yesterday. You may recall, I strained my back a couple weeks ago and it is still a little sore when I swing a club, I can only go maybe 75%. The plus side of that is that my shots are a lot smoother! I am going to be in the market for a new putter soon. Turns out that I have more of an arced wing than I originally thought, so the putter I have now is not complimentary to my game whatsoever. I used my buddies Odyssey putter on a couple holes...and WOW, what a difference :shock:


----------



## swamper

Trying out the Horn of Gondor packed with some Tambo. Thanks to Shemp. The vitamin N appears to run strong in this one.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I too am enjoying the King Prince, in my Lakeland cob. I really enjoy the nutty taste mixed with the lavender. ipe:
> 
> I too am getting my fill of coffee, cup 4 now :cp
> 
> A little sore from my trip on the course yesterday. You may recall, I strained my back a couple weeks ago and it is still a little sore when I swing a club, I can only go maybe 75%. The plus side of that is that my shots are a lot smoother! I am going to be in the market for a new putter soon. Turns out that I have more of an arced wing than I originally thought, so the putter I have now is not complimentary to my game whatsoever. I used my buddies Odyssey putter on a couple holes...and WOW, what a difference :shock:


I have an old Odyssey Rossie II that I still use that I bought on sale early in 1990 for $29. They couldn't get rid of the damn things at the time, but I really liked the feel of it so I bought it. A few weeks later, Faldo won the Msters with one and suddenly everybody started winning right and left with the Rossie II, then Anika started using one. The next time I went in that store it was $99. :lol: Must have been word of mouth. "Jim was in the shop yesterday and said the Rossie II is a great putter. Call Faldo."

Getting ready for a walk with Ennerdale and Mr. Lakeland Szabo.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> I have an old Odyssey Rossie II that I still use that I bought on sale early in 1990 for $29. They couldn't get rid of the damn things at the time, but I really liked the feel of it so I bought it. A few weeks later, Faldo won the Msters with one and suddenly everybody started winning right and left with the Rossie II, then Anika started using one. The next time I went in that store it was $99. :lol: Must have been word of mouth. "Jim was in the shop yesterday and said the Rossie II is a great putter. Call Faldo."
> 
> Getting ready for a walk with Ennerdale and Mr. Lakeland Szabo.


He has the Odyssey Versa 2. It is just smooth as silk and I hit the sweet spot effortlessly...compared to my prehistoric mallet I have been wielding. The $170.00 price tag kind of hurts...so I will be looking for a good used deal soon! :thumb:

Finishing up my morning smoke with some FVF.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> He has the Odyssey Versa 2. It is just smooth as silk and I hit the sweet spot effortlessly...compared to my prehistoric mallet I have been wielding. The $170.00 price tag kind of hurts...so I will be looking for a good used deal soon! :thumb:
> 
> Finishing up my morning smoke with some FVF.


First, it's a Rossie Dual Force II, second, I got my date wrong. I bought it right before the Masters, in 1996, not 1990. I was totally amazed to see Faldo using a putter exactly like the one I had just bought a week or three earlier. :shock: I think Anika won the Women's US Open with one pretty soon thereafter. In any case, I was looking up when they were first made (which I never found) and noticed that it is the world's most famous kind of of putter now, ahead of Calamity Jane and the Ping. :banana: I shoulda kept a cover on it, huh? :tsk:

Back from the hike, but the Ennerdale jar was empty so I filled the Szabo with SWR instead. I think it needs come chipping and scraping.

While I do that, I'll have a nice light Dip Forever of PPP.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> I shoulda kept a cover on it, huh? :tsk:


I wish you had, then I could get my putter for around 30 bucks too! :lol:

Oh well, the money is worth it. If I even cut 1 stroke a putt I would probably lower my score by 16 points!


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I wish you had, then I could get my putter for around 30 bucks too! :lol:
> 
> Oh well, the money is worth it. If I even cut 1 stroke a putt I would probably lower my score by 16 points!


Go for the claw, it worked for Phil and Sergio! And me!! :nod: Takes a little practice, but it really makes putting a lot easier for us saps with defective strokes.


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Virginia Spice in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo. Next will be Kramer's House Aromatic in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some DE Grand Central in a large, bent La Rocca Novo. This was the last of my DE tins from the initial tastings, but I saw that they have an eighth out finally- _Gatsby Luxury Flake._


----------



## freestoke

Smoking an old Diplomat Forever full of PA, strictly according to codger specifications, including not changing pipes -- it's my second bowl. :smile: Not quite as warm as they promised, but still making the snow go away. Another two clubs stripped and ready for grips! :tu


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Old Dark Fired in a MM cob Forever during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## B-daddy

Capn Black in a cob.


----------



## freestoke

Two more grips on, including a new one for my Driver. Things moving apace, 6 down and 20 to go! They should all be on before Easter. :smile: Been cobbing PA all morning, time for something stouter -- :spy: -- guess it's going to have to be a fresh can off The Royal Yacht.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Two more grips on, including a new one for my Driver. Things moving apace, 6 down and 20 to go! They should all be on before Easter. :smile: Been cobbing PA all morning, time for something stouter -- :spy: -- guess it's going to have to be a fresh can off The Royal Yacht.


What grips did you go with?

I am on the hunt for that putter currently...dealing dealing dealing... 

Just finishing up some Elizabethan Mixture in my old junky Mastersen...tasted rather bitter...must be time to clean this pipe :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> What grips did you go with?
> 
> I am on the hunt for that putter currently...dealing dealing dealing...
> 
> Just finishing up some Elizabethan Mixture in my old junky Mastersen...tasted rather bitter...must be time to clean this pipe :lol:


Lamkin X10. They have a new grip, the REL something or another, but I have seen some complaints about it with some stern warnings to go with the original material in the X10s. The grip on the driver is very similar in feel and tackiness to the grip that came as OEM (who knows who makes Addams grips?), and it was that grip surface that made me give Lamkin a go, actually. Very nice. While the Golf Pride Tour Wraps are great when they're new, they supposedly lose their tackiness a lot faster than the Lamkins. We'll see. The X10s are supposedly better in the rain than the REL grips, and with my small sampling of the tour players, the X10 material is what most of the staff players seem to be using as well, as opposed to the new stuff. Like I said though, I'm sure Golf Pride makes one pretty much like it, and I'm equally sure that Winn makes a great grip, too. Definitely as baffling as trying to find that perfect golf ball. :lol:

Got that fresh can of RY cooking away in the 4Dot. Getting ready for an Ennerdale stroll in the sun. :mrgreen:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

B-daddy said:


> Capn Black in a cob.


I didn't know you swung both ways, Brian! (i.e. ipe: & :smoke


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Lamkin X10. They have a new grip, the REL something or another, but I have seen some complaints about it with some stern warnings to go with the original material in the X10s. The grip on the driver is very similar in feel and tackiness to the grip that came as OEM (who knows who makes Addams grips?), and it was that grip surface that made me give Lamkin a go, actually. Very nice. While the Golf Pride Tour Wraps are great when they're new, they supposedly lose their tackiness a lot faster than the Lamkins. We'll see. The X10s are supposedly better in the rain than the REL grips, and with my small sampling of the tour players, the X10 material is what most of the staff players seem to be using as well, as opposed to the new stuff. Like I said though, I'm sure Golf Pride makes one pretty much like it, and I'm equally sure that Winn makes a great grip, too. Definitely as baffling as trying to find that perfect golf ball. :lol:
> 
> Got that fresh can of RY cooking away in the 4Dot. Getting ready for an Ennerdale stroll in the sun. :mrgreen:


Very cool! I have looked at Lamkin's full cords before. They feel amazing, but I hear they can rip your hands up a bit. All the reviews on any Lamkin grip seems to be high regardless, so can't really go wrong. Seems like a quality product. :thumb:

Smoking a bit of FVF in my LHS


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Very cool! I have looked at Lamkin's full cords before. They feel amazing, but I hear they can rip your hands up a bit. All the reviews on any Lamkin grip seems to be high regardless, so can't really go wrong. Seems like a quality product. :thumb:
> 
> Smoking a bit of FVF in my LHS


More RY in the Darth Rader for me -- and an Old Mil! :beerchug:

I'm not a cord grip kinda guy, personally. I've had some clubs with cord grips and they seemed "hard", for want of a better word. I think you need some real calluses to make them work, using a firm grip -- construction worker, say. On the other hand, the last time I had a cord grip on a club was sometime around 1961. No doubt they are a LOT better these days. :lol: I just checked to see what people were playing on tour, searching with "what's in the bag?". If a number of high profile pros is using a particular grip, and there's nothing really "special" about it, chances are it's a very good grip. I think you can trust their grip choice a LOT better than you can club choices, since whatever they want in a club, they get, no matter who manufactures it. Bounce, lie, weight distribution, custom shafts with specified flex and kick point...they get to try drivers and irons and pick what they like -- EVERY WEEK IF THEY WANT! The odds of getting a Taylor Made Driver that fits you the way that Dustin Johnson's fits him is remote. Or Ian's Cobra, or Mickelson's wedges. Dream on. And they don't need that much perfection, either, really. It's always the Indian, not the arrow, as they say.

I still remember my first set of clubs, that my father put together for me when I was about 12. I had a Spalding 2W, with a WOODEN face (all wood, no face plate), Wilson Stratablock 3W, Sam Snead BlueRidge 4W, Kroyden 3 iron, Spalding 4 iron (with a wooden shaft and a dimpled face like a golf ball! :shock, Dunlop 5 iron, Wilson 6 iron, a Loyd Mangrum 7 iron, and Spalding 8 and 9 (with wooden shafts and that dimpled face. :lol. And a brass putter like Bullseye, but it had no name on it. All of them had leather grips, all totally worn out and slippery,. I added a McGregor Tourney driver at some point. I remember the driver -- it had a cord grip! :lol: -- but don't know when I got it or where. Anyhow, that's what I learned to play with, and actually learned to play pretty well with. I have no idea where my father got them, though, because he had NICE clubs! These were pretty old sticks even then, so I don't think he expected me to stick with it. When I persisted until the age of 14, he finally broke down and got me first line set. Probably felt guilty, making me play those GODAWFUL PIECES OF CRAP for that long. :lol:


----------



## B-daddy

Tobias Lutz said:


> I didn't know you swung both ways, Brian! (i.e. ipe: & :smoke


You know what they say...doubles your chances to score, ... er, smoke.

I enjoy the pipe but partake rather infrequently and I don't really know what the f I'm doing.


----------



## JimInks

Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## B-daddy

Dart Mix in a cob. Lovely.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> *It's always the Indian, not the arrow, as they say. *
> 
> I still remember my first set of clubs, that my father put together for me when I was about 12. I had a Spalding 2W, with a WOODEN face (all wood, no face plate), Wilson Stratablock 3W, Sam Snead BlueRidge 4W, Kroyden 3 iron, Spalding 4 iron (with a wooden shaft and a dimpled face like a golf ball! :shock, Dunlop 5 iron, Wilson 6 iron, a Loyd Mangrum 7 iron, and Spalding 8 and 9 (with wooden shafts and that dimpled face. :lol. And a brass putter like Bullseye, but it had no name on it. All of them had leather grips, all totally worn out and slippery,. I added a McGregor Tourney driver at some point. I remember the driver -- it had a cord grip! :lol: -- but don't know when I got it or where. Anyhow, that's what I learned to play with, and actually learned to play pretty well with. I have no idea where my father got them, though, because he had NICE clubs! These were pretty old sticks even then, so I don't think he expected me to stick with it. When I persisted until the age of 14, he finally broke down and got me first line set. Probably felt guilty, making me play those GODAWFUL PIECES OF CRAP for that long. :lol:


Love the arrow saying!

Those all wood clubs are collectable these days, should of held on to it! That's funny that you learned on such a rag-tag set of clubs! I am surprised that you didn't come out of it with all kinds of inconsistencies and injuries from playing with them! Maybe your "arrows" were so bad though, that it made you one hell of an Indian! :lol:

Quick bowl of CH in a cob before running off to work for the day ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Love the arrow saying!
> 
> Those all wood clubs are collectable these days, should of held on to it! That's funny that you learned on such a rag-tag set of clubs! I am surprised that you didn't come out of it with all kinds of inconsistencies and injuries from playing with them! Maybe your "arrows" were so bad though, that it made you one hell of an Indian! :lol:
> 
> Quick bowl of CH in a cob before running off to work for the day ipe:


Yeah, they'd probably be worth $50 apiece or something. I think my old MT Tourney driver is probably worth a couple of hundred, though, and I still have that. I was told that Tom Watson hit it on the driving range once, so it was imbued with Golf Magic. :lol: The pro who sold it to me (we played in a few scrambles together) didn't like it because the staff was too flexy for him -- big hitter. It was a GREAT driver for me, but alas, the Age of Persimmon is gone forever. And I got it for $50 at a time when a new one went for $150. It was totally like new, too! Probably hadn't been hit 50 times, with all center hits. :smile: Most drivers were built with a slight hook face back then, but this one is dead square, the way I like it. Actually, this is the driver I was hitting the day that I got one of the biggest complements I've ever gotten on a course. After hitting my tee shot at the 18th, one of my friends took the driver from me, turned it upside down and looked at the tee marks. They were clustered directly in the center, a single white stripe running straight back along the sole plate. He took the club and showed it to the other two guys and says, "Roy Barnes would kill for those tee marks." :biglaugh: Roy Barnes is the 7 time city champion and I think twice senior state amateur champion. Big local golf cheese. If I could chip and putt like Leroy back in those days, I could have played on tour I think.

Actually, those terrible grips were what probably helped me. You just can't make any violent changes of direction without the club slipping. You are almost forced to have a light grip, as counter-intuitive as that might seem, because holding a slippery grip tighter doesn't help the situation. You have to keep the wrists relaxed and take away all the torque by keeping the clubface on plane. Think Medicus practice club.

I working on a big Ser Jacopo of RY at the moment. Seems to work very well in this pipe!

Actually, the face of the two wood looked just like this club, but this one is in WAY better shape. Mine was NOT a Bobby Jones, though, and it had an "ordinary" wooden shaft, rather than that spiffy newfangled shaft. :lol:
1930s "Bobby Jones" Spalding Line Rite Wood Golf Club Leather Stitching | eBay

The 8 and 9 irons looked a little like these:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some delicious Sutliff Chocolate Truffle (courtesy of @madbricky ) in a rusticated Leonessa. Thanks Craig! ipe:


----------



## madbricky

Tobias Lutz said:


> Some delicious Sutliff Chocolate Truffle (courtesy of @madbricky ) in a rusticated Leonessa. Thanks Craig! ipe:


I am happy you enjoyed my good friend!


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## Shemp75

swamper said:


> Trying out the Horn of Gondor packed with some Tambo. Thanks to Shemp. The vitamin N appears to run strong in this one.


Hahaha, Glad you're enjoying the Horn and yes that Tambo is not to be played with lightly.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Yeah, they'd probably be worth $50 apiece or something. I think my old MT Tourney driver is probably worth a couple of hundred, though, and I still have that. I was told that Tom Watson hit it on the driving range once, so it was imbued with Golf Magic. :lol: The pro who sold it to me (we played in a few scrambles together) didn't like it because the staff was too flexy for him -- big hitter. It was a GREAT driver for me, but alas, the Age of Persimmon is gone forever. And I got it for $50 at a time when a new one went for $150. It was totally like new, too! Probably hadn't been hit 50 times, with all center hits. :smile: Most drivers were built with a slight hook face back then, but this one is dead square, the way I like it. Actually, this is the driver I was hitting the day that I got one of the biggest complements I've ever gotten on a course. After hitting my tee shot at the 18th, one of my friends took the driver from me, turned it upside down and looked at the tee marks. They were clustered directly in the center, a single white stripe running straight back along the sole plate. He took the club and showed it to the other two guys and says, "Roy Barnes would kill for those tee marks." :biglaugh: Roy Barnes is the 7 time city champion and I think twice senior state amateur champion. Big local golf cheese. If I could chip and putt like Leroy back in those days, I could have played on tour I think.
> 
> Actually, those terrible grips were what probably helped me. You just can't make any violent changes of direction without the club slipping. You are almost forced to have a light grip, as counter-intuitive as that might seem, because holding a slippery grip tighter doesn't help the situation. You have to keep the wrists relaxed and take away all the torque by keeping the clubface on plane. Think Medicus practice club.
> 
> I working on a big Ser Jacopo of RY at the moment. Seems to work very well in this pipe!
> 
> Actually, the face of the two wood looked just like this club, but this one is in WAY better shape. Mine was NOT a Bobby Jones, though, and it had an "ordinary" wooden shaft, rather than that spiffy newfangled shaft. :lol:
> 1930s "Bobby Jones" Spalding Line Rite Wood Golf Club Leather Stitching | eBay
> 
> The 8 and 9 irons looked a little like these:


I want you to know that you are becoming my golf idol. :lol:

I don't care who you are, stories like these are gold! Thank you for sharing!

It's not night anymore, but I'll post that I am about to try some PA in a Custombilt here anyways ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Now smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a black 1997 Brebbia Jubilee 925 silver banded grain sandblast briar calabash.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Woods in a very ugly reddish color 1980 medium bend Lorenzo Leganza Sigma 8635 etched rough top.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some 4th Generation 1931 in a Big Ben Classic Line 702. I LOVE the 4th Generation line!


----------



## tmoran

Scraps this morning. Mostly 5 Brothers with a little leftover Orlik Golden Sliced and a pinch of Semois, in a MM Legend. Not a mixture I would purposefully create, and would definitely not recommend it. Not that it was terrible, but each of those on their own is much better. Sometimes 1+1+1=1/2 I guess.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Spice in a 1970s smooth straight grain Savinelli Oom Paul Non Pareil 9504 with a horn ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Jim's Va./UnBur #1 in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305. Now, it's Penzance in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Jim's Half&Half/Per in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## tmoran

JimInks said:


> Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


I am very interested to hear about the Evolving Work Blend. Is it something you mix up that is constantly changing? Also, a few smokes ago you had Jim's Va./UnBur #1 . Would you mind giving me some info on this stuff?

Semois in my no name bent egg meerschaum with some fresh ground joe. Beautiful morning here in the Old Dominion!


----------



## freestoke

tmoran said:


> Scraps this morning. Mostly 5 Brothers with a little leftover Orlik Golden Sliced and a pinch of Semois, in a MM Legend. Not a mixture I would purposefully create, and would definitely not recommend it. Not that it was terrible, but each of those on their own is much better. *Sometimes 1+1+1=1/2 I guess.*


:lol: So that's how I fall behind on the Paper Plate Potpourri! Effectively, I only smoke half a bowl of the pile at a time!

Starting the morning with a cob of straight PA, playing it arithmetically safe after this this stern statistical warning.


----------



## tmoran

freestoke said:


> Starting the morning with a cob of straight PA, playing it arithmetically safe after this this stern statistical warning.


ound:
I am going to hate myself for posting this, but "May the odds be ever in your favor"


----------



## Branzig

Quick bowl of PA and delicious black coffee before heading off to work for the day.

Looking at new golf bags...I need one by Monday :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Quick bowl of PA and delicious black coffee before heading off to work for the day.
> 
> Looking at new golf bags...I need one by Monday :lol:


Golf is the worst for peripherals. Balls, tees, irons, drivers, putters, wedges, bags, shoes, gloves...and they all require thorough analysis and keen decision-making skills. :faint: Having a Ser Jacopo of RY, and I must say it's going rather well. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A mixture of 3 different scraps tossed together in a straight, blue Dr. Grabow Viscount


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a MM Forever cob whilst driving up the mountain to work.


----------



## freestoke

The new Spiderman is being played by an actor with a British accent. :dunno: Peter Parker is from Queens, New York. Even Tobey Mcquire's California accent wasn't appropriate, but a Limey!? :shock: As steinr used to warn us, "Nothing good will come of it." What next, Sam Elliot as Sherlock Holmes?


----------



## JimInks

tmoran said:


> I am very interested to hear about the Evolving Work Blend. Is it something you mix up that is constantly changing? Also, a few smokes ago you had Jim's Va./UnBur #1 . Would you mind giving me some info on this stuff?
> 
> Semois in my no name bent egg meerschaum with some fresh ground joe. Beautiful morning here in the Old Dominion!


The Va/UnBur is half brown Va. and half uncased burley: Va. sweet, grassy, a little nutty with some harshness. The Evolving Work Blend is often in a state of change, depending on how I liked the latest version of whatever I've been playing around with. I have a variety of blending tobaccos to play with, so anything's liable to happen.


----------



## tmoran

JimInks said:


> The Va/UnBur is half brown Va. and half uncased burley: Va. sweet, grassy, a little nutty with some harshness. The Evolving Work Blend is often in a state of change, depending on how I liked the latest version of whatever I've been playing around with. I have a variety of blending tobaccos to play with, so anything's liable to happen.


That VA/UnBur sounds good! Thanks for the info.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking L.J. Heart Virginia in a 2003 Stanwell Golden Danish 56 Rusticated Canadian. Next is Dunhill Navy Rolls in a mid-1970s black rusticated straight Savinelli Estella 915 KS billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## JimInks

Sir Walter Raleigh in a smooth three quarter bend 1979 Ben Wade Golden Matt freehand sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## tmoran

Orlik Golden Sliced in my Aldo Velani rusticated straight bulldog with good stout fresh ground coffee.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> The new Spiderman is being played by an actor with a British accent. :dunno: Peter Parker is from Queens, New York. Even Tobey Mcquire's California accent wasn't appropriate, but a Limey!? :shock: As steinr used to warn us, "Nothing good will come of it." What next, Sam Elliot as Sherlock Holmes?


:lol:

I'm not a huge fan of superhero films to begin with, but I really dislike it when they switch actors between installments. I understand remakes that have a decade between them, but when a franchise is established for a particular generation, I think they should have continuity.

Some Drama Reserve in a Dr. Grabow smooth, straight Patriot, whilst on my way to church.


----------



## freestoke

SWR/HB in a Gentleman Former, a cup of coffee and scenes from Augusta National, where they're holding the first Masters Drive, Chip, and Putt competition for kids. I normally don't like things like this, but it's closing in on Masters week, so anything broadcast from Augusta National is okay. :mrgreen: There's a three day special on Arnie starting the 13th. I know I won't be able to pick myself out, but there's an estimated 99% chance I'm in some of the footage, back there lost in the crowd. :lol:


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> SWR/HB in a Gentleman Former, a cup of coffee and scenes from Augusta National, where they're holding the first Masters Drive, Chip, and Putt competition for kids. I normally don't like things like this, but it's closing in on Masters week, so anything broadcast from Augusta National is okay. :mrgreen: There's a three day special on Arnie starting the 13th. I know I won't be able to pick myself out, but there's an estimated 99% chance I'm in some of the footage, back there lost in the crowd. :lol:


Did I mention to you that my co-worker gets to go to the Masters? He leaves in 2 days...I don't think words can describe my jealously. Once in a lifetime experience.

Getting ready for work yet again, tomorrow I am off and if the weather cooperates will be on the course by 1:00 and the tee by 1:30 

Feeling bold this morning, a little SG Navy Flake in a Pete system pipe. :cp


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Did I mention to you that my co-worker gets to go to the Masters? He leaves in 2 days...I don't think words can describe my jealously. * Once in a lifetime experience.*


For me it was a twice in a lifetime experience. :lol: I went to the final rounds in '60, and '61 and was only fifteen or twenty feet from Palmer, on the front row at the yellow rope, when he hit his tee shot at 18 in 1960. In 1961, Palmer's shot from the right bunker at 18 went over the green and came to rest almost at my feet! (Double bogie and Player won. :frown

If you look at the youtubes for those years, you'll notice that there is almost no crowd control whatsoever. You could walk right out and talk to the players if they were close enough to the rough. Try that today, and you'd be beamed off the course in two seconds flat. :lol: I talked to Loyd Mangrum for couple of minutes walking down the fairway, for example. One of the shots I remember most was Sam Snead's third on a par 4, a 7 iron that stopped about a foot from the hole. On his second swing, a bee went under his hat and he jerked away, barely topping the ball which bounced up and went about 6 inches. He moved away, got rid of the bee, laughed a little, set back up with the same club and hit the most majestic iron shot that I'd yet witnessed anywhere at any time, higher than high, seeming to hang in the air forever, just right of the hole. It got to the top of its arc, then a little draw set in as it fell. I haven't hit anything remotely like it in my golfing life, I can tell you! :nono: And neither has Graham McDowell. :lol:

I'm running some RY through a Gentleman Forever, more coffee, fighting the urge to drive down to Augusta and pay $2000 at the gate for a ticket to a practice round. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a LARGE Sav sandblast Bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> For me it was a twice in a lifetime experience. :lol: I went to the final rounds in '60, and '61 and was only fifteen or twenty feet from Palmer, on the front row at the yellow rope, when he hit his tee shot at 18 in 1960. In 1961, Palmer's shot from the right bunker at 18 went over the green and came to rest almost at my feet! (Double bogie and Player won. :frown
> 
> If you look at the youtubes for those years, you'll notice that there is almost no crowd control whatsoever. You could walk right out and talk to the players if they were close enough to the rough. Try that today, and you'd be beamed off the course in two seconds flat. :lol: I talked to Loyd Mangrum for couple of minutes walking down the fairway, for example. One of the shots I remember most was Sam Snead's third on a par 4, a 7 iron that stopped about a foot from the hole. On his second swing, a bee went under his hat and he jerked away, barely topping the ball which bounced up and went about 6 inches. He moved away, got rid of the bee, laughed a little, set back up with the same club and hit the most majestic iron shot that I'd yet witnessed anywhere at any time, higher than high, seeming to hang in the air forever, just right of the hole. It got to the top of its arc, then a little draw set in as it fell. I haven't hit anything remotely like it in my golfing life, I can tell you! :nono: And neither has Graham McDowell. :lol:
> 
> I'm running some RY through a Gentleman Forever, more coffee, fighting the urge to drive down to Augusta and pay $2000 at the gate for a ticket to a practice round. :lol:


:bowdown: The Masters, twice? Wow. :bowdown:

I am once again amazed! I would kill for the once in a lifetime experience here! :lol:


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1981 Century full bend natural egg.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Bob's Square Cut in a 2013 bent MM Missouri Pride Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Sutliff Chocolate Truffle in a Graco Ocean. I'm on the road again this evening for work, but at least I'll be in a hotel to watch the UK vs. UCONN game tonight. We completely disconnected our broadcast television the other week and the occasional sporting event is the only thing I can see being an inconvenience, but I got somewhere to watch the game tonight :biggrin:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> :bowdown: The Masters, twice? Wow. :bowdown:
> 
> I am once again amazed! I would kill for the once in a lifetime experience here! :lol:


I think you could probably buy tickets at the gate in 1960. They sold them at Family Services (or whatever they called it) at Hunter AFB, and my father picked them up, probably at a military discount. This is great, finding somebody who hasn't heard all my Masters stories! :lol:

It was a rainy day in 1961, so there were lots of umbrellas. I was at the back of the 4th green when Bob Rosburg came to the tee. He fatted it so bad that it barely made it halfway to the green, then fatted his wedge just onto the front, then casually holed it from 40 feet for a par. (Any list of all-time great putters HAS to include Bob Rosburg.) The rain had stopped when Palmer came to the tee a while later; I was following Palmer, but was skipping ahead a hole or two, to get a good spot before Arnie's Army showed up. Palmer hit his shot and it was clearly long -- way long. I think maybe there was actually OB behind that green then, but I'm not sure. I know that way long would not have worked worth a damn, though. :lol: THONK. An umbrella opened. THONK. Palmer's ball bounced off the umbrella and wound up right on the fringe for an easy two putt. Arnie's Army had to be worth a shot a round, had to be.

And of course, since it's Arnie week on The Golf Chanel, I'm hoping they have footage of the BC Open from the 70s. Golfers around here used to go the old BC Open at En-Joie a lot, and a friend related a good one from one of his trips. Palmer was playing some hole or another when he buried his approach under the lip of a bunker. My friend said, more or less, "Out of gallery comes this woman, probably 50 or 60 years old, with a giant garden hat, a purse on her arm, wearing a flower print dress and PINK GOLF SHOES, runs down into the trap screaming 'NOT MY ARNIE!!', digs his ball out and throws it on the green." I'm sure he had to put the ball back, so it was a futile gesture on her part, but her esprit de corps was certainly intact.

Mixed some 1Q into the SWR/HB mix on the plate, which had become a bit too crispy. Making for a nice mix in the 4Dot right now. p


----------



## swamper

Smoking some frog morton in an il ceppo horn. I was a little skeptical about the shape of this pipe but it fits my hand perfectly.


----------



## swamper

Starting to rebuild the carburetor on my 63 ford 4000 tractor. Loaded up my bent country gentleman with some brown boogie. Some jobs just beckon the use of a cob.


----------



## JimInks

L.J. Heart Virginia in a 1984 three quarter bend medium brown Ascorti KS Business Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Marble Kake in a medium bend straight grain 2000 Winslow C silver spigot.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Rinaldo Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Straight Grain egg.


----------



## JimInks

Smoker's Haven In-B-Tween in a 2004 smooth long stem Canadian Trever Talbot Ligne Bretagne Faite en Bretagne 4/3.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## swamper

GL Pease triple play plug in cob. Sitting on my porch watching the rain.


----------



## freestoke

RY in the Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian, watching Live from the Masters, getting ready to go strike a few locally in a couple of days! :banana: They're showing what the staff would have for their champions' dinner, and so far Charlie "Pork Chop" Rymer and Holly Saunders have the ones I'd like to join in on. (I assume there's poached eggs on toast and prune juice for the really old guys. :lol


----------



## Emperor Zurg

I wouldn't mind joining in on Holly Saunders no matter what she's eating...


----------



## Branzig

Smoking some FVF this morning and enjoying a large cup of joe. :cp

@freestoke , your Masters storied are completely amazing! I couldn't imagine just being able to "go see" the Masters. My how things have changed today! :lol:

My golf game yesterday was atrocious...I was babying my back a lot and every drive I had went straight right...I couldn't get on the fairway to save my life, and by hole 6 the game was in my head...There's nothing worse than when the game takes over and your psyche is thrashed! :lol:

The only good news is that my new putter is fantastic! Every time I got on the green I was a 2 or 1 putt...if I can just get the driving down I would improve my score by 18-20 easily with this new beauty! It is an Odyssey White Ice. Oh well, looks like I am going to have to schedule a lot more range time in before I hit the course again.


----------



## tmoran

Branzig said:


> The only good news is that my new putter is fantastic! Every time I got on the green I was a 2 or 1 putt...if I can just get the driving down I would improve my score by 18-20 easily with this new beauty! It is an Odyssey White Ice. Oh well, looks like I am going to have to schedule a lot more range time in before I hit the course again.


Come on, Brandon! You know that's not the way it works. By the time you figure out your drive, the chipping will be gone, or you'll be three putting every green! At least, that is how it always works with me.


----------



## freestoke

I came this >< close to playing Augusta in 1961. As a member of the top high school golf team in the country, Savannah Country Day School (we won the Georgia State High School championship by 27 shots in two days, finishing first, tie 3rd-4th, and 5th individually), we also had our golf coach Mr. Silvers going for us, a top amateur in the 1910s and 1920s in Georgia, who had played in tournaments with Bobby Jones. (He might have been state amateur champion once, but I'm not sure.) He tried and supposedly almost succeeded in getting the membership to allow the four of us to play, but they decided against it. sigh. out: He was born in 1880, and at the age of 81 was still shooting scores in the 70s! :shock: He had no length left, but he hit what he needed. While I would be hitting 7 irons into bunkers and over the green, he'd be pumping three woods onto the greens. :lol:

Red Cake in the 4Dot and more coffee! :cp


----------



## Branzig

tmoran said:


> Come on, Brandon! You know that's not the way it works. By the time you figure out your drive, the chipping will be gone, or you'll be three putting every green! At least, that is how it always works with me.


How true is that! Damn golf! I don't get why I keep playing it :lol:



freestoke said:


> I came this >< close to playing Augusta in 1961. As a member of the top high school golf team in the country, Savannah Country Day School (we won the Georgia State High School championship by 27 shots in two days, finishing first, tie 3rd-4th, and 5th individually), we also had our golf coach Mr. Silvers going for us, a top amateur in the 1910s and 1920s in Georgia, who had played in tournaments with Bobby Jones. (He might have been state amateur champion once, but I'm not sure.) He tried and supposedly almost succeeded in getting the membership to allow the four of us to play, but they decided against it. sigh. out: He was born in 1880, and at the age of 81 was still shooting scores in the 70s! :shock: He had no length left, but he hit what he needed. While I would be hitting 7 irons into bunkers and over the green, he'd be pumping three woods onto the greens. :lol:
> 
> Red Cake in the 4Dot and more coffee! :cp


Once again Jim, :bowdown:

Playing Agusta? I mean, I wouldn't want to do it right now because I would completely embarrass myself. But in a couple years when I am shooing in the low 80s high 70s ( :lol: ) I would kill too!

I putted with my 3 wood yesterday :lol: It worked out pretty well actually.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Capstan Flake (blue) in a Dr. G during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Branzig

Quick bowl of PA before doing some chores then getting ready for work.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> How true is that! Damn golf! I don't get why I keep playing it :lol:
> 
> Playing Agusta? I mean, I wouldn't want to do it right now because I would completely embarrass myself. But in a couple years when I am shooing in the low 80s high 70s ( :lol: ) I would kill too!
> 
> I putted with my 3 wood yesterday :lol: It worked out pretty well actually.


I feel fairly confident that I could break 100, but that's about it. Hard to shoot a good score when you three putt every green. :lol: The course would have been considerably easier in 1961 than it is today. They've stretched it out and made it all but impossible for normal golfers now.

A bowl of KK for my after lunch smoke. p


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> I feel fairly confident that I could break 100, but that's about it. Hard to shoot a good score when you three putt every green. :lol: The course would have been considerably easier in 1961 than it is today. They've stretched it out and made it all but impossible for normal golfers now.
> 
> A bowl of KK for my after lunch smoke. p


It does look next to impossible to play when I see it on TV. Just unreal.

One last quick bowl of Red Rap before heading off.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in a 1990s slight bend black Sasieni 4 Dot Ruff Root Dark 4 Dublin. Next is Sir Walter Raleigh in medium bend grain etched undated Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand.


----------



## freestoke

The Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian is smoking extremely well this morning, doing yeoman work aboard the Royal Yacht. A fairly nice day today, but windy and a little chilly. We'll probably be striking some practice shots Thursday in the wind, then Friday will be the first day out on the course!! :dance: I can't wait!! :banana:


----------



## swamper

Starting my day off with some tambo in a Savinelli roma. Thinking I like tambo so I ordered some of the ready rubbed may have to try a stick next.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## freestoke

I think I'll bask on the deck of the Royal Yacht a little longer, chatting with the Gentleman Forever, watching for the azaleas to get blooming for the weekend. :hippie:


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> The Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian is smoking extremely well this morning, doing yeoman work aboard the Royal Yacht. A fairly nice day today, but windy and a little chilly. *We'll probably be striking some practice shots Thursday in the wind, then Friday will be the first day out on the course!! :dance: I can't wait!!* :banana:


Yay! I get to read about you golfing finally! :rotfl:

Just got done shaving off my winter beard. Took about 40 minutes to get through that bush. Now I feel naked and cold, but the sun will fix that 

Celebrating the shaving and my official start of the spring with a big bowl of Red Rap ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't talking about who the "oddsmakers in Vegas" think is the favorite to win this week really saying "the most money so far is on" a given player? Gamblers play against line, so that their bets will be on players farther down with better odds compared to how they think a player is doing, but the "oddmakers in Vegas" couldn't care less who wins, they just keep the odds adjusted make the money even on all sides of the bets by gametime, then skim the vigorish -- the "oddsmakers" don't gamble and their odds are merely a reflection of who is attracting the money. 

Love listening to Faldo. Talking about what you have to deal with at Augusta, he said that it isn't so much having to get up and down after missing a green, but the fact that you've hit a beautiful shot to wind up there. He gave the example of nine, hitting a perfect tee shot, posing on the second as hits just a bit soft and stops a few inches too soon, then watching it trickle slowly back down 50 yards short of the green. :lol: Or hitting a shot that misses perfection by a foot and watching as the ball starts trickling away, leaving a 50 foot putt with 20 feet of break. Seeing your best shots turn out horrible can be crushing. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of PA in the Peterson green-spray apple sterling silver military mount during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## bluesman.54

LTF in a bent 4DOT Ruff Root Bulldog as I do my writing for work tonight. And celebrating Jim's return to golf. Life is Good!


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051. Next is Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1970s three quarter bend half smooth, half rusticated Savinelli Autograph 4 with a lucite stem and ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> LTF in a bent 4DOT Ruff Root Bulldog as I do my writing for work tonight. And celebrating Jim's return to golf. Life is Good!


The course is open! :banana: Probably go pick up Audrey's new Footjoys and split a big bucket, putt and chip a bit and back to watch the Masters! Got enough new grips on to try a variety of clubs. Tomorrow we play to the full!

Watching them practice takes me back to the 1960s, when they brought their own shag bags to the range and sent their Masters caddy out to shag (caddies were assigned). It occurs to me that there were very few driving ranges back then, because I don't recall hitting a ball at a driving range until the middle '70s, in Atlanta. Everybody had a shag bag and the better players had better shag balls, because they didn't cut them when they practiced. The balls they took out of play to add to the bag weren't cut either, so the quality of one's shag bag was a direct measure of your game -- balata does not lie. :nono: Rabbit, Gary Player's caddy at the Masters and eventually the caddy who went on tour with him, was out there on the range about 200 yards with the bag between his feet, while Players was hitting 2 irons. Rabbit would move a few steps left or right, but mainly the balls were rolling right up to the bag. :shock: I absolutely had NEVER seen anything like that before! :lol:

On my second straight bowl of RY, with Stewart Cink leading the Masters. If he can just hang on for another 69 holes! :biglaugh:


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Navy Rolls in a very early Ascorti straight New Dear KS billiard with a smooth shank.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Three Friars in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Virginia Woods in a very ugly reddish color 1980 medium bend Lorenzo Leganza Sigma 8635 etched rough top.


----------



## freestoke

Some RY on the porch at nautical dawn in the Sasieni Canadian, just about a perfect smoke! p Well, not really nautical dawn, but there's definitely some lightening of the sky out there. The cats have been hyperactive after the heat wave yesterday, no rest for the weary. :faint: Debating whether to break out the coffee or go back to bed. :spy:


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Some RY on the porch at nautical dawn in the Sasieni Canadian, just about a perfect smoke! p Well, not really nautical dawn, but there's definitely some lightening of the sky out there. The cats have been hyperactive after the heat wave yesterday, no rest for the weary. :faint: Debating whether to break out the coffee or go back to bed. :spy:


Don't lie! You can't sleep because you have golf on the brain! 

Hit them far and straight Jim! :thumb:

Smoking a quick morning bowl of PA before heading off to work.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Don't lie! You can't sleep because you have golf on the brain!
> 
> Hit them far and straight Jim! :thumb:
> 
> Smoking a quick morning bowl of PA before heading off to work.


Definitely going to play later! Some rain overnight, but the course will be relatively dry -- drains unbelievably well with a sandy base and not much rain. I figure it'll be a zoo early, but it doesn't completely warm up until late afternoon anyhow, so we'll probably play then. :banana: Got a lot of the grips done, the worst ones first. Gonna be GREAT!! :smile:

Go Sergio!! Go Miguel!! I'm pulling for Spain this week. :lol: Coffee and some more RY! p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

My wife's hound-dog woke me up in the wee-hours this morning. I took him outside to take care of business, and the sky was incredible! When he was ready to go back inside, I grabbed a bowl of Old Dark Fired in my Nording grade-one freehand, and my eight-inch Dobsonian reflector and went back outside. Viewing conditions were just about perfect! No wind, perfectly clear skies, no streetlights in my village, and the neighbors didn't have their security lights on like normal. The stars didn't even twinkle, they were steady, solid lights. The best viewing conditions I've experienced in years.

I saw Mars better than I have since I was a child using my Dad's old hand made 14 inch reflector. I got a great view of the Orion Nebula, too.

I had a bowl of HV in a Forever Cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


----------



## Nachman

I just came in from a very enjoyable bowl of Stonehaven in a Sav 920 KS Caramella Zulu. The weather was perfect, about 70+ F with no wind.


----------



## LandonColby

Nachman said:


> I just came in from a very enjoyable bowl of Stonehaven in a Sav 920 KS Caramella Zulu. The weather was perfect, about 70+ F with no wind.


I have the same pipe but in the Roma finish, I love my Savs. Guess Ill grab a bowl Stonehaven too.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

El wedo del milagro said:


> I saw Mars better than I have since I was a child using my Dad's old hand made 14 inch reflector. I got a great view of the Orion Nebula, too.


Ugh! You need to get a camera adapter because, as we all know, PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!!

I've toyed around with getting a telescope for years but never pulled the trigger... I always leaned more toward the refractors though - like the Televue 85. Mostly because it would double as a spotting scope on the shooting range  They're so dang expensive though! Then add eyepieces and a Gibraltar mount and you're looking at spending some serious $$$$$$!

Any way had a small bowl of AJ's VaPer in a cob. This is really some good stuff - spicer than the PS Bullseye flake that I also like.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> My wife's hound-dog woke me up in the wee-hours this morning. I took him outside to take care of business, and the sky was incredible! When he was ready to go back inside, I grabbed a bowl of Old Dark Fired in my Nording grade-one freehand, and my eight-inch Dobsonian reflector and went back outside. Viewing conditions were just about perfect! No wind, perfectly clear skies, no streetlights in my village, and the neighbors didn't have their security lights on like normal. The stars didn't even twinkle, they were steady, solid lights. The best viewing conditions I've experienced in years.
> 
> I saw Mars better than I have since I was a child using my Dad's old hand made 14 inch reflector. I got a great view of the Orion Nebula, too.
> 
> I had a bowl of HV in a Forever Cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


Far out, Mark, as it were. :wink: Haven't pulled out my antique Qestar 3.5" folded Maksutov in a few years. I envy everybody being able to buy nice scopes for peanuts these days, telescopes like that used to cost a fortune unless you made them yourself. We had great seeing here the other night, relatively speaking (nothing like New Mexico, I'm sure), and I almost set it up, but it does take a while. I think I've misplaced the motor cord for the mount, too, and looking at the sky with a telescope is sort of pointless (har har) without tracking. 

Watching some late Masters coverage with a Ser Jacopo of RY and coffee. :cp

It's evening here and I was noticing Mars walking out to the car after dinner out. Bright now!


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## tmoran

Semois in my Aldo Velani sandblasted straight bulldog, with some nice fresh ground coffee. Great start to a busy day, which will hopefully conclude watching a bit of the Masters. Barely caught the last few holes yesterday evening, thanks to all the yanks clogging up 95. The cherry blossoms are a blight on the DC metro area.


----------



## Branzig

Quick bowl of Abingdon in a pony before off to work. Go Bubba


----------



## freestoke

tmoran said:


> Semois in my Aldo Velani sandblasted straight bulldog, with some nice fresh ground coffee. Great start to a busy day, which will hopefully conclude watching a bit of the Masters. Barely caught the last few holes yesterday evening, thanks to all the yanks clogging up 95. The cherry blossoms are a blight on the DC metro area.


:biglaugh:

Golf again today! :banana: Played okay for the first time out yesterday, with a 40, but it was pretty cold, low 50s and no sun. Burr! Ball was going nowhere, combined with weak hitting made it long. Made a really stupid double at 6 and another bad bogie at 7, but I hit some decent shots and was pleasantly surprised. Better today, I'm gonna add a birdie or two! :smile:

A bowl of Red Cake in the "Canandian" Canadian.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Jim's Va./UnBur #1 in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305.


----------



## JimInks

McCranie's Red Ribbon in a 2003 medium bend Nording 4 rough top sitter with a small rusticated area at the top left.


----------



## freestoke

"I don't win majors, but when I do, I win the Masters." Miguel Angel Jimenez. 

:biglaugh: Boy, would I ever like to see Miguelito win!! :nod: That would put some life into that Champions' Dinner wouldn't it!? :lol: Definitely pulling for The Mechanic! 

Played better yesterday, but was a shot worse. No putts went in. Not one. Hit four greens and was five over, no three putts. So, how do you like my short game so far? :lol:

RY in the 4Dot redux. The pollen levels are pegging out and it could be a real grind out there today, with a strong wind to get those little protein pellets airborne. :faint:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Sweet Vanilla Honeydew in a Vauen Wood series.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg (Charatan second).


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A mix of aro and English scraps in a straight, green Dr. Grabow Viscount


----------



## JimInks

Solani Aged Burley Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Half&Half/Per in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking MacBaren Plum Cake in a 1979 no name French briar smooth full bend egg.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Solent Mixture in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A Dr. Grabow straight, smooth Redwood filled with Sutliff Chocolate Truffle whilst on my way to jury duty :frusty: ipe:


----------



## freestoke

I don't watch the Weather Channel much, but I've noticed that they seem to have lost the execrable phrase "during the overnight", but here in the hinterlands of Central New York it lingers on, in the context of informing us that we have snow on tap. :smow:

The Two Dot apple, PA with some Happy Bogie coins, to pay Lady Nicotine's ransom.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> I don't watch the Weather Channel much, but I've noticed that they seem to have lost the execrable phrase "during the overnight", but here in the hinterlands of Central New York it lingers on, in the context of informing us that we have snow on tap. :smow:
> 
> The Two Dot apple, PA with some Happy Bogie coins, to pay Lady Nicotine's ransom.


More snow?! Bummer.

I am supposed to head out to the golf course on Firday...but it looks like thunder showers may be in the forecast...nothing worse than itching to golf but not being able to! out:

Especially off Bubba's victory! All I want to do is hit the course since watching Sunday! :lol:

Starting off with a bit of PA this morning.


----------



## freestoke

I'm not sorry Bubba won or anything (Yubba Bubba Two! :biglaugh, but that was the most boring last round at the Masters ever. What was there, like two birdies on the back side from the last five groups? Seemed like it anyhow. Par, par, par, par, bogie, par, par... I want people going nuts with eagles and birdies flying through the air! :rant: Saturday, on the other hand, was fantastic! Should have ended Saturday, with Blixt and Bubba in an 18 hole playoff Sunday. :lol:

Probably will get a couple of inches before it's over, but we'll be back playing Thursday, most likely. :smile: After that last brutal nine I played, maybe I needed a break. Two birdies and I STILL couldn't do better than 43. :lol:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

JimInks said:


> MacBaren Solent Mixture in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


MMmmmmm.... Soylent Green!

A little bit of H&H Larry's Blend this morning.
Not much. Probably finish the bowl sometime tomorrow.
Should have dried it a bit anyway... burned good but lost the sour.
Oh well.


----------



## freestoke

freestoke said:


> Should have ended Saturday, with Blixt and Bubba in an 18 hole playoff Sunday. :lol:


:sl Bubba and SPIETH! :sl

Another bowl of KK. More dark thoughts. p


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> that was the most boring last round at the Masters ever.


Even more boring than it already is? :jaw: oke:


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in a 1990s slight bend black Sasieni 4 Dot Ruff Root Dark 4 Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Even more boring than it already is? :jaw: oke:


Even more boring, yes, Per. But you seem a bit old for this line! As a rule, the most anti-golf crowd is the jockstrap brigade, who generally come to the game after their group showering days are done, crying, "I wish I'd started playing golf when I was younger!" I do agree that it's a bit difficult for an outsider to grok what's happening, though. For my money, the most boring televised sport in the US has to be baseball, probably the same tedium rating as its relative, cricket.

Rather pretty out there, with bright sun and two inches of fresh snow -- for December! :rant: A week into the future we are still looking at highs in the 50s. :frown: Golf will be chilly, if it is at all. A blistering 19 out there this morning. :smow: Time to take the Royal Yacht to a warmer clime, with the Gentleman Forever at the helm -- but I refuse to go out on deck in this wind. :nono:


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> You seem a bit old for this line, Per! As a rule, the most anti-golf crowd is the jockstrap brigade, who generally come to the game after their group showering days are done, crying, "I wish I'd started playing golf when I was younger!" I do agree that it's a bit difficult for an outsider to grok what's happening, though. For my money, the most boring televised sport in the US has to be baseball, probably the same tedium rating as its relative, cricket.
> 
> Rather pretty out there, with bright sun and two inches of fresh snow -- for December! :rant: A week into the future we are still looking at highs in the 50s. :frown: Golf will be chilly, if it is at all. A blistering 19 out there this morning. :smow: Time to take the Royal Yacht to a warmer clime, with the Gentleman Forever at the helm -- and I refuse to go out on deck in this wind. :nono:


Golf just never appealed to me, and it seems to me that golfers are often pretentious and uppity, thinking they are aristocrats. I guess that is not as true anymore though. But most of all, and I have tried to enjoy it, but I really do find it very boring to watch on television.


----------



## MarkC

Marlow said:


> Golf just never appealed to me, and it seems to me that golfers are often pretentious and uppity, thinking they are aristocrats.


Yeah. Them and their damned windmill hazards!

Smoking a bowl of Christmas Cheer 2008 in a Stanwell 63 Legend.


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> Golf just never appealed to me, and it seems to me that golfers are often pretentious and uppity, thinking they are aristocrats. I guess that is not as true anymore though. But most of all, and I have tried to enjoy it, but I really do find it very boring to watch on television.


It should come as no real surprise to find that golf has "social strata", merely a reflection of the people who play it. As a rather expensive game, both in terms of equipment and playing field, it naturally favors the wealthy (who also like to wall themselves off into clubs like Augusta National), but most golfers are "public links" players, who play on public courses. In general, non-resort public courses are not as well maintained as private ones, of course -- follow the money as they say -- but some are every bit the equal of the private ones. There is a certain amount of decorum involved, though not quite as much as tennis I'd say. It isn't so much a "gentleman's" game, in the sense of the "wealthy" gentleman, but rather in the sense of honesty and fair play, virtues never much associated with snobs actually. Consideration for others does not require money, as it were. Games like football, basketball, and especially baseball, encourage cheating and dirty tricks, and players are admired when they win games with them, the lesson being that as long as you don't get caught it's okay to screw the other guy, and you are expected to always lie about having committed the offense.

In the early going, professional players came from the caddy ranks, from the goatlot courses, and professional golfers were not even allowed in the clubhouse. Being a professional golfer meant you were not high class by definition. :lol: Until Jack Nicklaus came along with "no trace of dirt", professional players were a scruffy lot, gambling and drinking and womanizing vagabonds for the most part. It was certainly still that way when I took it up, although a number of "gentleman" golfers had arrived on the scene by then, Sam Snead not included. A real "gentleman golfer" was still in the Bobby Jones mold. Golf has lost most of the qualities that made it great sport, however, mostly due to golf carts. To bring more spectators to professional golf, I think they need to add truly awful behavior, beating up the officials, breaking each others' clubs, jumping up and down waving their arms while the other player hits. A little violence, occasional bloodletting on the fairway, screaming matches with the gallery -- that's what people really like. I think the anticipation of a car careening into the crowd and killing a few fans is what draws people to NASCAR. They also really need to relax the dress code on tour: let the hunky guys wear speedos and body shirts, and bikinis for the foxy ladies!

More RY, this time in the "Canadian" Canadian, happy with myself for never becoming a member at a private course. p Hate playing with golf snobs. :lol:


----------



## Marlow

freestoke said:


> It should come as no real surprise to find that golf has "social strata", merely a reflection of the people who play it. As a rather expensive game, both in terms of equipment and playing field, it naturally favors the wealthy (who also like to wall themselves off into clubs like Augusta National), but most golfers are "public links" players, who play on public courses. In general, non-resort public courses are not as well maintained as private ones, of course -- follow the money as they say -- but some are every bit the equal of the private ones. There is a certain amount of decorum involved, though not quite as much as tennis I'd say. It isn't so much a "gentleman's" game, in the sense of the "wealthy" gentleman, but rather in the sense of honesty and fair play, virtues never much associated with snobs actually. Consideration for others does not require money, as it were. Games like football, basketball, and especially baseball, encourage cheating and dirty tricks, and players are admired when they win games with them, the lesson being that as long as you don't get caught it's okay to screw the other guy, and you are expected to always lie about having committed the offense.
> 
> In the early going, professional players came from the caddy ranks, from the goatlot courses, and professional golfers were not even allowed in the clubhouse. Being a professional golfer meant you were not high class by definition. :lol: Until Jack Nicklaus came along with "no trace of dirt", professional players were a scruffy lot, gambling and drinking and womanizing vagabonds for the most part. It was certainly still that way when I took it up, although a number of "gentleman" golfers had arrived on the scene by then, Sam Snead not included. A real "gentleman golfer" was still in the Bobby Jones mold. Golf has lost most of the qualities that made it great sport, however, mostly due to golf carts. To bring more spectators to professional golf, I think they need to add truly awful behavior, beating up the officials, breaking each others' clubs, jumping up and down waving their arms while the other player hits. A little violence, occasional bloodletting on the fairway, screaming matches with the gallery -- that's what people really like. I think the anticipation of a car careening into the crowd and killing a few fans is what draws people to NASCAR. They also really need to relax the dress code on tour: let the hunky guys wear speedos and body shirts, and bikinis for the foxy ladies!
> 
> More RY, this time in the "Canadian" Canadian, happy with myself for never becoming a member at a private course. p Hate playing with golf snobs. :lol:


I see where you are coming from, and I always love reading your posts. :smile: By the way, you mentioned NASCAR, now there is a "sport" that is more boring than golf, I never lasted more than a few minutes. I'm not into racing in general but I can see the fun in Formula 1 and stuff like that, you know, racing with actual courses. It is mind boggling to me however that cars running around in a circle can be so popular.. Just a last little poke, I can't help myself, but can it really be a sport if you can be fat and or drunk while being amongst the best, like in golf? Is darts or bowling sports? oke: :wink:


----------



## freestoke

Marlow said:


> I see where you are coming from, and I always love reading your posts. :smile: By the way, you mentioned NASCAR, now there is a "sport" that is more boring than golf, I never lasted more than a few minutes. I'm not into racing in general but I can see the fun in Formula 1 and stuff like that, you know, racing with actual courses. It is mind boggling to me however that cars running around in a circle can be so popular.. Just a last little poke, I can't help myself, but can it really be a sport if you can be fat and or drunk while being amongst the best, like in golf? *Is darts or bowling sports?* oke: :wink:


John Daly, last of the great drunk golfers! :tu Call him a snob and you'll have surgeons working to remove golfing apparatus from your bodily orifices. :lol: And I could not agree more about NASCAR. Mind numbing.

As to darts, it was actually officially declared a sport in Great Britain, not too long back. Along the same lines, how in the world can shooting a rifle at a target qualify as a sport in the Olympics? :ask: With x-country skiing involved, sure, but parking yourself in a booth and firing rounds at a target? :dunno: Darts is definitely more of a sport than THAT! In truth, I prefer to distinguish "game" versus "sport". Even chess and duplicate bridge are classified as sports, which to me is somewhat nonsensical. "Higher, faster, stronger" is sport. "More skilled, more clever, more imaginative" is a game. Physical assets help in most games, most certainly in golf, but they aren't necessary, although the size and strength aspect of golf has been emphasized of late with lengthening the golf courses. Golf at the highest levels remains a putting, chipping and wedge play game, however. For every good putter there are a thousand good drivers of the ball. Almost anybody can learn to get it airborne off a peg, but not many can learn to roll it around on the greens. :nono:


----------



## Branzig

Marlow said:


> but can it really be a sport if you can be fat and or drunk while being amongst the best, like in golf? Is darts or bowling sports? oke: :wink:


I love this stereotype :lol:

While I am out on the courses, guess how many drunk and fat people I see on the course? None :lol:

It's hard to nail a 30 yard pin shot when you are intoxicated. Being drunk makes most finesse sports tough, and golf is a finesse sport! It's even harder to swing a club on plane when you are obese. My buddies dad used to be a -6 golfer when he was younger, now with his gut in the way, he can't swing his irons correctly and has lost around 10 strokes in his game.

Golf is a physical sport believe it or not, and staying in decent shape is important, otherwise you're going to injure yourself. I used to think the exact same thing you did, that golf was boring and that it was a snob sport that only smoking, drinking, rich fat cats played. Then I finally started to get into it...oh man you think pipes and cigars are a slippery slope...Now I am full blown addicted! All I want to do is golf! I practice putting in my basement, I watch weather reports like rabid animal, and I go chip every chance I get.

It's actually in your best interest that you *DON'T* get golf, and that you stay away! :laugh:

About to have a bit of Sammy G Navy Flake with my morning Joe.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I love this stereotype :lol:
> 
> While I am out on the courses, guess how many drunk and fat people I see on the course? None :lol:
> 
> It's hard to nail a 30 yard pin shot when you are intoxicated. Being drunk makes most finesse sports tough, and golf is a finesse sport! It's even harder to swing a club on plane when you are obese. My buddies dad used to be a -6 golfer when he was younger, now with his gut in the way, he can't swing his irons correctly and has lost around 10 strokes in his game.


Drunk is no good, but a LITTLE intoxicated doesn't seem to hurt all that much. A couple of beers down the stretch in one of the pressure packed majors might even help relax a player. Loyd Mangrum, who won the 1946 US Open, had the original "liquid center golf bag", for example. :new_all_coholic: , and let us not forget John Daly, who was apparently toasted when he won the '91 PGA, the perfect counterexample to no fat guys drinking beer on the course. :lol: Actually, I see quite a lot of beer drinking out there, almost exclusively the domain of the wheelchair golfers, but they don't seem to care much WHAT they shoot. Please don't forget Chris "A thousand pints of Lite" Patton, either. :lol:










I probably wouldn't even play in scrambles, my favorite golfing format, were it not the beer. :beerchug: Odd, though, I almost never have a beer on the course playing my own ball. :dunno: Although, if somebody in a wheelchair with a few on ice in the basket and offers me a cold one, I try to be polite and choke down a can, two when I try extra hard not to be rude. :beerchug:

An Old Mil on tap, sans le golfe, with a bowl of RY in the Two Dot Canadian. A darts day all the way this afternoon.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


>


This picture is just EPIC :lol:

I love it.

I too drink a beer sometimes on the course, and *scrambles*... well, that's an entirely different situation! That's a case and some whiskey amongst friends  :beerchug:

Just finished another bowl of Sammy G Navy Flake ipe:


----------



## JimInks

A moment or two away from smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Mystery Blend #1 in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Mixture Modern in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Sweet Vanilla Honeydew in my Venturi Bicentennial.


----------



## freestoke

The sun is shining, but it will be a bit chilly and windy for golf today. Consoling myself with some KK in the Darth Rader. p And lots of coffee! :cp

Notched a 180 in a Fifty One 5's game last night! :banana: Used to throw three or four a week, but they come precious seldom these days. Of course, I spent a LOT of time in front of a dart board during the Age of Aquarius, so I not only threw a little better but I also had a lot more opportunities. :hippie: Back then, I was just warming up after an hour or two, but these days that's an entire session! :lol: Hardly enough enough time to lay down a decent beer base to steady the hand. :beerchug: Nothing like Andy "The Viking" Fordham though, the 2004 World Champion, who drank 20 or 30 bottles of lager before his matches to quieten his nerves. :shock: :faint:


----------



## Branzig

Pouring rain here today...absolutely miserable out...

Supposed to be quite drizzly tomorrow as well, but I have a 9am tee time, not going to miss it. Looks like I will be stopping by the store to pick up a new rain slicker :lol:

Keeping it mild today, I have a cigar review to do this evening...CH in a little cob with my coffee.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Old Dark Fired in a BIG Savanelli sandblast Bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Black Noble in a big 1978 gourd calabash with a meer cap.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Mixture Modern in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## tmoran

Haven't done much smoking this week. I did get to take my new irons to the range on Wednesday, though. I have been using my old irons since I was in middle school, so I figured it was time for an upgrade. Also added a +.5" extension, which is something I should have done years ago. They will take a little while to adjust to, but I think it will help my swing a lot. 

MM Legend stuffed with Semois for the commute in.


----------



## freestoke

tmoran said:


> Haven't done much smoking this week. I did get to take my new irons to the range on Wednesday, though. I have been using my old irons since I was in middle school, so I figured it was time for an upgrade. Also added a +.5" extension, which is something I should have done years ago. They will take a little while to adjust to, but I think it will help my swing a lot.


It takes a lot to cope with a set of clubs that doesn't fit. The biggest problem I see is improper lie, where the club toes up or down, making it almost impossible to get the clubface on the ball without part of the leading edge catching the ball. Toed up you can deal with by choking up on the grip an inch or two, but toed down can't be corrected becomes you can't make the club longer. As a small guy, toed up has been what I run into, needing a flatter lie on my sticks. I'm actually playing a few clubs that don't fit me quite right, but clubs for people my size just aren't available off the shelf anymore and I'd have to order Pings or one of the other clubs that you can order special made, although most of the others don't really deal with the little guys, even with special orders -- I'd have to buy a ladie's set, but then, Chi Chi Rodriquez played with ladies' clubs. :smile: Maybe I should consider it for my next set. :hippie:

Think I'll crank up with a bowl of RY in the "Canadian" Canadian. Nice day on the way! :smile:


----------



## tmoran

freestoke said:


> It takes a lot to cope with a set of clubs that doesn't fit. The biggest problem I see is improper lie, where the club toes up or down, making it almost impossible to get the clubface on the ball without part of the leading edge catching the ball. Toed up you can deal with by choking up on the grip an inch or two, but toed down can't be corrected becomes you can't make the club longer. As a small guy, toed up has been what I run into, needing a flatter lie on my sticks. I'm actually playing a few clubs that don't fit me quite right, but clubs for people my size just aren't available off the shelf anymore and I'd have to order Pings or one of the other clubs that you can order special made, although most of the others don't really deal with the little guys, even with special orders -- I'd have to buy a ladie's set, but then, Chi Chi Rodriquez played with ladies' clubs. :smile: Maybe I should consider it for my next set. :hippie:
> 
> Think I'll crank up with a bowl of RY in the "Canadian" Canadian. Nice day on the way! :smile:


You are absolutely right. I had to screw with my posture to deal with the clubs that were too short, but that's how I learned to do it, so I never did it any other way. Once I got the longer club in my hand, I took my normal posture and the toe was nowhere near the ground. I stood up straighter to get the toe on the ground, and that freed my swing up considerably. Right now I have to focus on standing up straighter, but I am sure with time it will become natural.


----------



## freestoke

It's also worth noting that the driver should actually toe up slightly at address, since the longer shaft and higher clubhead speed will arc the shaft downward at impact, due to the weight of the toe being outside the swing plane. The shaft is flexing along the shaft from the acceleration, but the offplane toe vector also bends and torques the shaft. This actually leads to an interesting point, that one must time the shaft flex with the hit, much like a pole vaulter pushing at the proper moment against the flex of the pole; push off too early or too late and the built up energy is lost. Hit too early in golf and the shaft flexes early, so that by the time you get to the ball it might even be at the point of recoil at impact, effectively lowering the relative clubhead speed rather than adding to it.

Lady Nicotine is exacting her usual tariff this morning, KK and RY the preferred currrency. p


----------



## Branzig

I hate my driver. I hate driving. I may only hit my 3 and 5 irons off the tee today! :lol:

Cleaning my clubs and enjoying a little CH in a cob. Lots of coffee. Getting ready for what is probably going to be a very wet day out on the course. Wind is looking to pick up too....gonna have to sling em low today!


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I hate my driver. I hate driving. I may only hit my 3 and 5 irons off the tee today! :lol:


I need a little time with you at the range. :lol: I gotta do a couple of grips! :shock: Looks like we'll hit the links about 2 today! :banana:

More KK in the 4Dot.


----------



## JustTroItIn

Going out to clean the garage and wake the motorcycles up from their winter nap with some Dunhill Early Morning Pipe in a MM Mizzou.


----------



## JimInks

Ko-Ko in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## freestoke

JustTroItIn said:


> Going out to clean the garage and wake the motorcycles up from their winter nap with some Dunhill Early Morning Pipe in a MM Mizzou.


The spring riders are out! You can tell the newbies, because they tailgate. Don't see much of that later in June, as tailgating motorcyclists are a self-limiting species. :lol:

Restoking the 4Dot with KK. Just regripped my 7 wood and Audrey's 7 iron. I'm on a roll! p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of PA in a Forever Cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> *I need a little time with you at the range.* :lol: I gotta do a couple of grips! :shock: Looks like we'll hit the links about 2 today! :banana:
> 
> More KK in the 4Dot.


Instruct me Jim!!!

Had a great front 9 (to my standards) couple bogeys, blew par 2 times because of stupid puts and dreadful amounts of rain/wind.

But that driver! Every shot, *PUSH.* Hard push to the right. I would be consistently paring holes if I could get this push corrected, I hit over 300 yards 2 times. Problem is, both times they were on the fairway to the right of me! :frusty:

As my friend put it, "I'd rather have your short game than be able to drive like I do. Once you get that driving figured out, you will be shooting in the low 90s to mid 80s." Well that's all fine and dandy, *problem is I can't get it figured out!* :lol:

The back 9, the psychological part of the game took over...started topping my shots, tried to change my set up to fix my push which for some reason carried over into my iron play...ugh...:frusty: Still had some gorgeous shots, all within 90 or so yards of the pin. One was up this incline that I thought for sure I was going to blow...but nope! PW did its job just like I wanted it too! Landed a couple feet from the hole. 

Oh well, still had a lot of fun. Monday I am playing an executive course. Should score great since the longest hole is only around 350 yards! 3 and 5 irons baby! :lol:

Finishing up a bowl of Abingdon in a big Savi.


----------



## JimInks

A moment or two away from smoking Jim's Va./UnBur #1 in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305.


----------



## JimInks

Black Noble in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 1978 smooth pointy bottom three quarter bend Sir Brent, shaped like a check mark.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## tmoran

This morning it is OGS in a no name smooth bent egg meer and some nice fresh ground. Thank the lord the week is over. Hopefully I'll be getting out to play nine at the local pitch and putt this afternoon, but there is much to do before I've earned that privilege.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Honor Guard aromatic blend in a straight, rustic Dr. Grabow Duke


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Instruct me Jim!!!
> 
> Had a great front 9 (to my standards) couple bogeys, blew par 2 times because of stupid puts and dreadful amounts of rain/wind.
> 
> But that driver! Every shot, *PUSH.* Hard push to the right. I would be consistently paring holes if I could get this push corrected, I hit over 300 yards 2 times. Problem is, both times they were on the fairway to the right of me! :frusty:


With that kind of distance, it doesn't sound like a rock and block, more like getting "stuck". The good thing about getting stuck is that you share this mistake with Tiger Woods and Henrik Stenson, so there is hope, and if it occasionally turns into a duck hook, you have real promise! :lol:

So it's just a guess, not ever having seen your swing, but I'm betting you have your right elbow (assuming you're right handed), too far back in the side at impact, which keeps the face from squaring up and pushes the club path to the outside. Get your arms a little more in front, with the right arm in the middle-front of the rib cage, instead of where the rib cage starts to curve around to the back. My second guess is that it all started with a bad set-up (not Tiger's or Henrik's mistake), with the ball not far enough forward -- put it forward off the left foot. With the ball more forward, it gives you room to square the club and simultaneously provides a few more inches of acceleration space. You can use two clubs, yardsticks, dowel rods, or anything really, to find the proper ball position, but you need Greg Norman's tip to put the hands in the right place: *Cover your left foot with your left hand.* One of the greatest golf tips for driving the ball ever, in my opinion, coming from one of the greatest drivers of the golf ball ever. It keeps your arms more in front of your torso from the get-go, making it less likely to get "stuck".

I'd also be sure to splay your left foot out maybe 30º, to make it easy to move onto your left side and clear the hips. I see a lot of "railroad feet" players, and they are almost always bad. Even the few good ones I see have merely figured out how to overcome the clumsy footwork that this stance creates, in opinion. I am unaware of any good players with "railroad feet" who actually have pretty swings with decent footwork, but there might be a few on tour. I think Eric(?) Mann, who once played the tour, recommends railroad feet, but it seems wrong to me and definitely gives me lousy balance. I think Hogan probably has the most direct approach, although I put it more off the left instep, instead of inside the left heel like Hogan.










Note that the right foot is ALWAYS square to the line, every time, every club. Without fail. Yours should be too. Very helpful in alignment, since this becomes the reference point when aiming. Put the right foot square to the line and your body will have a reference point to where you are aiming. Never use the line across your toes to find the line, aim with the shoulders and the clubface! And play with good players. Monkey see, monkey do.

On another bowl of SWR in the Pride Forever.


----------



## Tgs679

Some Drew Estate 7th Ave in a MM Pride.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1983 Ben Wade Duo 65 Smooth Poker.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Uni Flake in a Falcon during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Tgs679 said:


> Some Drew Estate 7th Ave in a MM Pride.


That might be my favorite of the DE blends (or Harvest on the Hudson)


----------



## Tgs679

Tobias Lutz said:


> That might be my favorite of the DE blends (or Harvest on the Hudson)


It is very nice. I bought it because I was looking to get the DT Sweet Vanilla Honeydew on your recommendation but they were out of stock at P&C, so i gave it a try. I like it a lot. I am loving the pipe now its time for me to search for a Briar for the englishs' I bought.


----------



## Gheldan

There is a little shop near me called David's Gifts and Tobacco don't know if any of you have heard of them. I think they are southern California only, they have a website if you want to check them out. But I digress I smoke a lovely blend of their called Dover court. It has pretty much become my go to blend, they have others that I try every now and then but tobacco from a tin just doesn't compare to the plastic bags filled with wonderful smelling Dover court. Most people tells me it smells like sweet chocolate but it tastes like sweet smoke, hickory, maybe a little chocolate, it has almost too many flavors to describe. Anyway that is what I had today in my Peterson pipe.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> You can use two clubs, yardsticks, dowel rods, or anything really, to find the proper ball position, but you need Greg Norman's tip to put the hands in the right place: *Cover your left foot with your left hand.* One of the greatest golf tips for driving the ball ever, in my opinion, coming from one of the greatest drivers of the golf ball ever. It keeps your arms more in front of your torso from the get-go, making it less likely to get "stuck".
> 
> I'd also be sure to splay your left foot out maybe 30º, to make it easy to move onto your left side and clear the hips. I see a lot of "railroad feet" players, and they are almost always bad. Even the few good ones I see have merely figured out how to overcome the clumsy footwork that this stance creates, in opinion. I am unaware of any good players with "railroad feet" who actually have pretty swings with decent footwork, but there might be a few on tour. I think Eric(?) Mann, who once played the tour, recommends railroad feet, but it seems wrong to me and definitely gives me lousy balance. I think Hogan probably has the most direct approach, although I put it more off the left instep, instead of inside the left heel like Hogan.


So you actually line up your left hand with your left foot while driving?! :shock:

That seems like I would be addressing way to far forward!

I know I struggle with not placing the bar as forward as I should be...I am usually lined up 3 or maybe 4 inches from the inside of my left foot.

I guess I need to work on placing the ball more forward in my stance, but it feels so awkward to swing through with the ball that far forward.

The chart is really helpful!

Thanks Jim!


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Mount Marcy in a 1978 slight bend CAO Turk's Head Meer.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking Autumn Evening in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Plum Cake in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Happy Easter everyone! Some Jameson's Folly aromatic burley in a Butz-Choquin 1983 Millesime on my way to sunrise service. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> So you actually line up your left hand with your left foot while driving?! :shock:
> 
> That seems like I would be addressing way to far forward!
> 
> I know I struggle with not placing the bar as forward as I should be...I am usually lined up 3 or maybe 4 inches from the inside of my left foot.
> 
> I guess I need to work on placing the ball more forward in my stance, but it feels so awkward to swing through with the ball that far forward.
> 
> The chart is really helpful!
> 
> Thanks Jim!


What I wrote is mainstream, nothing odd whatsoever. Things are done the way they are because that's how the human body is assembled and there is no way around the hinging problems. Golf swings may differ in appearance, but all good golfers look more or less the same in the hitting area and at set-up. Monkey see, monkey do, Brandon! :smile: All swing/grip changes are awkward at first, which is one of the reasons people don't make the changes they should. I'd recommend a full length mirror to see your set-up, comparing it against a touring pro who has your build and a nice swing. Mirrors provide really good feedback -- we are hardly ever doing what we think we are doing! :lol:

I'd get a copy of *Five Lessons* by Hogan. I read it one lesson per month, as the lessons trickled in with my Sports Illustrated subscription. Couldn't WAIT for the next issue to arrive in the mail! Five Lessons is probably the most common "Player's Bible" encountered on tour, the most prominent Hogan preacher today being Jason Dufner. Whenever things go really bad, I pull my old copy out and start praying to Bantam Ben. :bow: As an incidental bonus, one can admire the lucid, solid writing of Herbert Warren Wind. Superior. Simply no comparison with the ordinary writing found in other golf instruction books by famous players. (Stay away from *Golf My Way* by Nicklaus! :nono: and *The Golfing Machine* crazies, golf's equivalent of the Heaven's Gate crowd. :evil

RY to start the day!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Dunhill EMP in a MM cob ipe:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a DR. G during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> What I wrote is mainstream, nothing odd whatsoever. Things are done the way they are because that's how the human body is assembled and there is no way around the hinging problems. Golf swings may differ in appearance, but all good golfers look more or less the same in the hitting area and at set-up. Monkey see, monkey do, Brandon! :smile: All swing/grip changes are awkward at first, which is one of the reasons people don't make the changes they should. I'd recommend a full length mirror to see your set-up, comparing it against a touring pro who has your build and a nice swing. Mirrors provide really good feedback -- we are hardly ever doing what we think we are doing! :lol:
> 
> I'd get a copy of *Five Lessons* by Hogan. I read it one lesson per month, as the lessons trickled in with my Sports Illustrated subscription. Couldn't WAIT for the next issue to arrive in the mail! Five Lessons is probably the most common "Player's Bible" encountered on tour, the most prominent Hogan preacher today being Jason Dufner. Whenever things go really bad, I pull my old copy out and start praying to Bantam Ben. :bow: As an incidental bonus, one can admire the lucid, solid writing of Herbert Warren Wind. Superior. Simply no comparison with the ordinary writing found in other golf instruction books by famous players. (Stay away from *Golf My Way* by Nicklaus! :nono: and *The Golfing Machine* crazies, golf's equivalent of the Heaven's Gate crowd. :evil
> 
> RY to start the day!


Thanks Jim!

Some things to work on. Maybe I will make an Easter trip to the range! Try to work out this push. I also feel like I may be swinging to fast for my driver's shaft...it says it is regular flex, but it feels really "wonky" to me. Like swinging a noodle at times :lol:

I will definitely check out that book as well...I love lessons! And I am an English major, so fine writing is something I enjoy!

CH in a big bowl Custombilt ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a 1986 pebble relief Aldo Velani Titan 33 briar Oom Paul/Calabash.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a really big 2002 three quarter bend paneled light brown sandblasted Ardor Urano Fatta A Mano square shaped bulldog sitter.


----------



## freestoke

Good morning, class! Before we start, I'll remind you that there is a test this Friday on golf etiquette. So, Branzig, how did your Easter rangework go? Find any decorated eggs out there? 

Ontogeny recreates phylogeny, as they say, so after every layoff I have to relive my entire learning curve. Yesterday I did it in 9 quick holes, evolving from something that resembled my game at age 11-15 on 1-3, to an adolescent 16-21 on 4-6, and a skilled 22-40 on 7-9. Good thing I didn't play another nine, or I would have wound up playing like I do now! :spy:

Royal Yacht in the Pride Forever. Gonna be absolutely PERFECT out there today! :chk


----------



## JimInks

Solani Aged Burley Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Good morning, class! Before we start, I'll remind you that there is a test this Friday on golf etiquette. So, Branzig, how did your Easter rangework go? Find any decorated eggs out there?


I did indeed go to the range, and a shocker for me, I made* progress*!!! :lol:

I placed the ball forward in my stance, and placed that left hand above my left foot...I took a light swing with my driver and, *BAM straight down the middle*! Now, if I put any speed on it, I have a bit of slice now, but the *dreaded*, and *unplayable* push seems to of disappeared! I tested to see if my swing was in-out with some head covers, and I seem to be on plane, so my guess is at speed I am rotating to late, keeping my club face open... but the stance change and setup adjustent seems to of made a world of difference.

:bowdown: So, once again, thank you Jim! :bowdown:

Oddly enough, I teed up my 3 wood for fun, and smacked it right own the middle a little over 200 yards...multiple times, not sure why I am hitting it fine and still slicing the driver...but I am playing an exec course today, where all I'll need is my 3 wood...so it works out for today :thumb:



freestoke said:


> Ontogeny recreates phylogeny, as they say, so after every layoff I have to relive my entire learning curve. Yesterday I did it in 9 quick holes, evolving from something that resembled my game at age 11-15 on 1-3, to an adolescent 16-21 on 4-6, and a skilled 22-40 on 7-9. Good thing I didn't play another nine, or I would have wound up playing like I do now! :spy:
> 
> Royal Yacht in the Pride Forever. Gonna be absolutely PERFECT out there today! :chk


Glad your game started to progress yesterday! The weather for me is overcast and a bit chilly, but I am not playing until late afternoon, so we will see. I know come rain or shine, I will be out there. Especially since it may be my last chance to squeeze some course time in for a week or so. Gotta hit em while you can!

Starting out with a little SG Navy Flake this morning with my coffee. ipe:


----------



## tmoran

This morning I had a bowl of Boswell's Piper's Pleasure in a no name smooth bent apple saddle bit, thanks to Pipinho. I really liked this one, and I doubt I would have ever tried it if it was not gifted to me. One more week until a two week golf vacation starting in Atlantic City and ending in Myrtle Beach! My liver is terrified.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Branzig said:


> Yadda-yadda-yadda, golftalk, golftalk, golftalk...
> 
> Starting out with a little SG Navy Flake this morning with my coffee. ipe:


Sorry, had to condense the quote since I don't play golf and have absolutely NO IDEA what any of that means 

But how's that Navy Flake treating you? I've a neglected tin I recently re-hydrated. I've been meaning to give it a try.


----------



## Branzig

Emperor Zurg said:


> Sorry, had to condense the quote since I don't play golf and have absolutely NO IDEA what any of that means


Good! Keep it that way! *Golf will ruin your LIFE!* :lol:



Emperor Zurg said:


> But how's that Navy Flake treating you? I've a neglected tin I recently re-hydrated. I've been meaning to give it a try.


I stayed away from this blend for a long time because of its latakia content. What a mistake that was...

It is up there with Rum Twist as my favorite "Navy" blend. It has a great Va flavor with a good rum kick, and the latakia plays a great part in smoothing out the blend overall.

Hopefully your dried out sample hasn't lost to much of its character. If you find it less than stellar, I suggest you pick up a fresh tin, because I find this to be a great tobacco. ipe:



tmoran said:


> One more week until a two week golf vacation starting in Atlantic City and ending in Myrtle Beach! *My liver is terrified.*


:biglaugh:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Branzig said:


> It is up there with Rum Twist as my favorite "Navy" blend. It has a great Va flavor with a good rum kick, and the latakia plays a great part in smoothing out the blend overall.
> 
> Hopefully your dried out sample hasn't lost to much of its character. If you find it less than stellar, I suggest you pick up a fresh tin, because I find this to be a great tobacco. ipe:


I seem to remember enjoying it when I first bought it but then it got pushed into a forgotten corner and I'm sure you know how those wretched square tins dry out! At any rate, I re-hydrated it with a splash of rum so we'll see how it all shakes out. ipe:

Good thing I never got into that merciless sport. I like bashing old balls into the woods with a borrowed driver but that's as far as I ever got


----------



## tmoran

Emperor Zurg said:


> Good thing I never got into that merciless sport. I like bashing old balls into the woods with a borrowed driver but that's as far as I ever got


That's about what I manage on the course, but I use my own driver :mrgreen:


----------



## JimInks

Autumn Evening in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 1980s made in London no name smooth straight apple.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Sutliff Chocolate Truffle in a straight Gatlinburlier apple. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Rain, and we can use it! Pretty happy with how I played yesterday, splitting every fairway and hitting only a few squirrely shots, two of which I can blame on extraneous factors. How can those occasional disconcerting noises happen EXACTLY at the transition point at the top of my backswing? I've got a shot all honed it, a clear idea of what's going to happen, then right at the top, somebody decides to chip in on a nearby green and start screaming or something. :rant: If the idiot just had the courteous to start screaming a little earlier or later, I'd never notice, but there are a few milliseconds in there where if I jump everything gets out of whack and anything can happen!  Two perfect distractions cost me about 4 shots, so the 41 wasn't really as bad as it looks. And I only made one putt, too. :frown: But WHAT a day to play! SUPER out there -- except for the course conditions, which are never very good. 

Got the Gentleman Forever burning a PA/Happy Bogie fill. I cut a number of coins the other day, and have been cashing them in a few at a time. I think the best mix is with PA. p It should almost be considered a standard blend. Great smoke!


----------



## Branzig

I should be a case study on the mental aspect of golf and how your psyche will ruin your game! :lol:

At the range, I was drilling balls right up the middle. First tee. Hole #1 . Tee up, and *BAM push it right...* :biglaugh:

It's ridiculous how you can look like a scratch golfer at the range, then the minute you get on the course, your technique and approach caves and it looks like you've never touched a club in your life. The conditions at the course I played yesterday were beyond pretty bad as well...the greens in particular. I'm not sure if they waxed them with silicon or what, but good lordy did they play fast! Every chip would just roll forever, a bairly tapped putt took off like a someone muscled it with hammer...

Oh well, I got to golf. That's all that matters 

PA in a MM cob this morning ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I should be a case study on the mental aspect of golf and how your psyche will ruin your game! :lol:
> 
> At the range, I was drilling balls right up the middle. First tee. Hole #1 . Tee up, and *BAM push it right...* :biglaugh:
> 
> It's ridiculous how you can look like a scratch golfer at the range, then the minute you get on the course, your technique and approach caves and it looks like you've never touched a club in your life.


You got that right! :lol: Leaving your game on the range is a classic syndrome. :nod: Done it LOTS of times. :lol:

One of the little appreciated (except among pros and top amateurs) aspects of playing golf is visualization. The cerebellum is pretty much hard wired to the visual cortex. What you see is what you get, in more ways than one! The cerebellum will "make it so", in terms of coordinating all the muscles toward the goal your visuals have put into it, and it does NOT speak English! If you see the ball going right, it will. The cerebellum only works with sight, sound, touch/kinaesthesia, smell, and feedback from the inner ear (balance), but it isn't designed for verbal input. :nono: See the ball go where you want it to go and it often does -- it's a trick -- sometimes even when you make what feels like a bad swing! Most people see the pond, their ball going in, and the cerebellum obliges, while good players see it carrying the water. I'm generally oblivious to practically any obstacle once I've "seen" where I plan to hit it and the trajectory it will take to get there. I think ahead about what I can do and can't, but if I think I have a good chance to get it over the water, I don't picture myself hitting it in the water during the preshot. It's golf's version of the power of positive thinking, sort of. :lol:

I'll have a bowl of PA/Happy Bogie and try to share your pain. p


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Va./UnBur #1 in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing BRG in a smooth early Radice full bend crossgrain/bird's eye 2 dot Clear.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2003 black sandblasted medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant blowfish.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Rubbed out some 4th Generation 1931 for a 1/4 bent rusticated Leonessa ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## tmoran

Finally got out on the course yesterday for 9! Started out playing well, lost it somewhere in the middle, and found it at the end. I completely revamped my swing and grip in the offseason, and it was working great. When it went bad in the middle of the round, it was because I was getting sloppy with my grip and setup. Once I fixed that I was back on track. Pretty encouraging for my first time out.

Boswell's Piper's Pleasure in a MM Washington thanks to Pipinho on my way in today.


----------



## MarkC

I'm not smoking; for the first time in quite a while, I got tongue bite yesterday. Funny thing is, I keep picking up and holding an empty pipe. When they said smoking was addictive, naturally I assumed they were talking about the tobacco...


----------



## freestoke

My Bad Grammar Sensor has been setting off the Syntax Klaxons all morning. I must not have gotten the software update that eliminates "me", "her" and "him" from any parsing involving two pronouns, e.g., it should never respond to "He came with you and I to the party." :faint: I can't keep up with the evolution of language. I will simply have to learn to live with "between you and I", "between he and the hole", "the invitation was address to she and her friend", et hoc genus omne. It's especially confusing now, since the plurals seem to remain intact. For example, no one would ever say "between they and hole", or "the idea occurred to they and the Russians simultaneously" -- yet. :faint:


Still puffing away on this endless smoke of Red Cake in the substantial Ser Jacopo half bent. p I think I've found the perfect tobacco for this pipe, but I'm almost out!!  Hopefully, it will also suit the Highlander and the HH Mature Virginia! :tu


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> My Bad Grammar Sensor has been setting off the Syntax Klaxons all morning. I must not have gotten the software update that eliminates "me", "her" and "him" from any parsing involving two pronouns, e.g., it should never respond to "He came with you and I to the party." :faint: I can't keep up with the evolution of language. I will simply have to learn to live with "between you and I", "between he and the hole", "the invitation was address to she and her friend", et hoc genus omne. It's especially confusing now, since the plurals seem to remain intact. For example, no one would ever say "between they and hole", or "the idea occurred to they and the Russians simultaneously" -- yet. :faint:


I also wonder what happened to the predicate nominative. "It is I." has become "It's me." If you say it correctly you will, at minimum, get a funny look, or possibly someone will "correct" you.
GH Louisiana Flake this morning. How is that for a sentence fragment, sans verb.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Balkan Sobraine (My first, it was awesome!) in a latakia dedicated cob during my morning commute up the mountain to work.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I also wonder what happened to the predicate nominative. "It is I." has become "It's me." If you say it correctly you will, at minimum, get a funny look, or possibly someone will "correct" you.
> GH Louisiana Flake this morning. How is that for a sentence fragment, sans verb.


I don't usually mind sentence fragments, since one can easily supply an appropriate verb, but the misuse of case with pronouns drives me nuts for some reason. No one would say, "The letter was addressed to I," or "The letter was addressed to he," but somehow, "The letter was addressed to he and I," doesn't sound wrong to them :dunno:

The 4Dot with a nice 50/50 mix of PA and Happy Bogie. Very nice! p


----------



## Mr. Motoyoshi

SG Perfection in a Tom Howard Bulldog.

I can't decide if this blend is for me. 1st half of the bowl is nice. The Vanilla (which tastes more like a general sweetener than Vanilla) compliments the orientals very well. But the second half just starts to taste like Ash.


----------



## JimInks

Smoker's Haven In-B-Tween in a 2004 smooth long stem Canadian Trever Talbot Ligne Bretagne Faite en Bretagne 4/3.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Mixture Flake in a 1978 smooth three quarter bend Danish Special.


----------



## JimInks

Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A parfait- 4th Generation 1931 on the bottom, and Dunhill EMP on top; in a 1/4 bent, Yellow Dr. Grabow Color Duke ipe:


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Mixture Modern in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## freestoke

I noticed that for some reason the Alpha Litewate had a barely singed load in the chamber, which I am currently attempting to identify. :ask: p :ask: p

Got it, 5100 from yesterday afternoon, before a gluttonous adventure to a new Mexican place. Good salsa, really interesting assortment of sauces, but the beef filling was super ordinary, the beans runny, the rice not really good, not enough cheese, probably won't go back, although the fajitas at the next table did NOT look bad. :spy: Too bad. I just cannot for the life of me figure out why they can't find some better Mexican cooks to work in the kitchen in these places. :dunno: I mean, they are really close, just not good, sort of like a bad diner with bad hamburgers compared with a good diner with good hamburgers, ya know? It was "authentic" Mexican food, I'm sure (at least everybody had a Spanish accent and looked Mexican), but they need better Spanish rice, a little shredded lettuce would help, and for heaven's sake find a better sauce for those enchilada's! :tsk: The good Mexican restaurants in Texas and California invariably use a finer ground hamburger for tacos and burritos than this was, less cumin, and the refried beans have some substance (although the taste of the runny beans last night was pretty good). I haven't had a good enchilada in a restaurant since I lived in Dallas.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> It was "authentic" Mexican food, I'm sure (at least everybody had a Spanish accent and looked Mexican), but they need better Spanish rice, a little shredded lettuce would help, and for heaven's sake find a better sauce for those enchilada's! :tsk: The good Mexican restaurants in Texas and California invariably use a finer ground hamburger for tacos and burritos than this was, less cumin, and the refried beans have some substance (although the taste of the runny beans last night was pretty good). I haven't had a good enchilada in a restaurant since I lived in Dallas.


I actually prefer counterfeit, Americanized Mexican food myself - like you'd get in a bar somewhere. I'm one of those people that absolutely hate cilantro. The 'authentic' places seem to load up on the stuff - makes me gag just thinking about it. I'm a Pace picante sauce type. Much better than that cilantro-laden 'fresh salsa' you get in an 'authentic' Mexican joint.

Early morning pipe in a glass sipper cob. Haven't had this in a long time... haven't smoked in the morning in a long time for that matter. Very enjoyable, this weed.


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> I actually prefer counterfeit, Americanized Mexican food myself - like you'd get in a bar somewhere. I'm one of those people that absolutely hate cilantro. The 'authentic' places seem to load up on the stuff - makes me gag just thinking about it. I'm a Pace picante sauce type. Much better than that cilantro-laden 'fresh salsa' you get in an 'authentic' Mexican joint.
> 
> Early morning pipe in a glass sipper cob. Haven't had this in a long time... haven't smoked in the morning in a long time for that matter. Very enjoyable, this weed.


Yeah, I really liked Taco Bueno in Dallas, a fast food chain. Don't know if they're still any good, but I liked pretty much everything there 35 years ago. The one thing this place had going for it was the salsa, a serrano pepper salsa, sort of like Guadalajara's in Dallas. Could have been a little hotter for me, but it tasted good. I too like Pace picante and, believe it or not, the Great Value hot chunky salsa, which curiously seems better than the big name ones of the same type. As for cilantro, I love fresh cilantro in my salsa! What I don't like is too much cumin. :nono:

After a 4Dot of RY, I'm heading for the KK. Lady Nicotine has been hard to please this morning! Think I have to pull out the Ser Jacopo for this load. And I think my 4Dot is a diplomat, not an author.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of FVF in a Savinelli sandblast Bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Jim's English Blend in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren HH Acadian Perique in an egg shaped medium bend smooth Burgundy colored 1985 Caminetto.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Ko-Ko in a straight 2012 Rekamepip made Sugar Barrel pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Sir Walter Raleigh in a smooth three quarter bend 1979 Ben Wade Golden Matt freehand sitter.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

C&D Epiphany in a bend, rustic Dr. Grabow Duke ipe:

It's Friday :dude:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of University Flake in a Hilson Vintage Dublin during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a smooth briar calabash shaped Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier JR Fait Main with a horn ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1983 Ben Wade Duo 65 smooth Poker.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## freestoke

Been putting the Legend Forever to work this morning, now on an Oreo cookie of SWR with a filling of dry Happy Bogie and Red Cake scraps from the paper plate. 

Weather is normal for this time of year, which means dicey for golf at best. Probably be able to play Monday, but the rest of the week looks bleak. Dart Mix is temporarily back in season! p


----------



## Branzig

Weather here is also supposed to be dreadful most the week.

I am supposed to be at the links tomorrow around 9am...but if the forecast is correct we may be wetted out out:

Today, however, looks half decent. Little cold, little rain, but that is it. May have to go to the range today. I have a couple of things I want to experiment with...some grip techniques and choking up with my driver!

Starting the day off with a little Dark Birdseye in a little LHS


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of University Flake in a Hilson Vintage Bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## bluesman.54

I'm Baaaack! Busy season is over and things should be slowing down so I can begin posting again. I hope everything is well with everyone. This morning I enjoyed some LNF in an old 1/8 bent Caminetto Ascorti, etc. Life is Good!


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Reiner's Long Golden Flake in a 2014 smooth quarter bend Basil Meadows horn.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Anniversary Kake in a straight Lane era Charatan black with burgundy undertone sandblasted billiard 420.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

EMP in a 1/4 bent, rustic Dr. Grabow Royalton ipe:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> Been putting the Legend Forever to work this morning, *now on an Oreo cookie of SWR with a filling of dry Happy Bogie and Red Cake scraps from the paper plate. *


I've never done an "Oreo cookie", just Parfaits. I might have to try that.


----------



## Branzig

It's dumping rain outside....trying to decide if I am dumb enough to go attempt 9 holes in this mess... :lol:

I'll contemplate it over a bowl of Red Rap this morning with my cup o' joe.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Three Nuns in a Dr G during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> I've never done an "Oreo cookie", just Parfaits. I might have to try that.


The really dry stuff can block the airway, so I bottom fill with something else that won't, put the chaff from the plate on top of that, then fill with the something else on top of that. By the time the ember gets to the chaff, I figure it has rehydrated somewhat, so it will smoke a little better than if I piled it on top and lit it. Not that I couldn't have topped with PA and made a parfait, though! :nod:

Plain ole RY in the ordinary 4Dot, with some coffee to chase away the chills. Looking for a nice day tomorrow, so that might call for some whiffleball work in the back yard today to shape up my swing some. I really don't want a repeat of last time out. :nono:

I have more to say on the word "none" this morning, class. One frequently hears, "There were none to be had/found," and similar constructions which use a plural verb with the singular "none". Most authorities argue that "none" can mean "not any": None of the control group were asymptomatic. A modifier like "virtually" makes it even more pluralesque: Virtually none of the group were asymptomatic. Counter to this argument, I would say that the phrase "virtually none" is verbiage, and that one should use "few" instead.

I find myself forced to yield to the Juggernaut of idiom, the engine of linguistic drift, but I am not at all happy about it. I must say, that this drift is in the direction of imprecision and muddy thinking. :tsk: Nothing good will come of it! We have to draw the line somewhere, and I say at zero, which is to say, not any! Saying that we should accept "none" as a plural merely asks that we succumb to the Argumentum ad Numerum. "With so many cocks crowing, it's a wonder the sun ever comes up."


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a smooth almost full bend 1981 Briar Workshop round volcano signed by Elliott Nachwalter with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a 1980 black rusticated rough top Jobey E27 Stromboli extra egg-shaped poker.


----------



## bluesman.54

Windy and rainy here today so I decided to work at home and get a head start on this week's writing. Beginning the day with a mixture of Tilbury and PA in a 3/4 bent, sandblasted Cassano. Life is Good!


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a tan etched medium bend 2001 Rinaldo Sahara 2 Acorn round at the shank, pointy at the opposite top.


----------



## freestoke

bluesman.54 said:


> Windy and rainy here today so I decided to work at home and get a head start on this week's writing. Beginning the day with a mixture of Tilbury and PA in a 3/4 bent, sandblasted Cassano. Life is Good!


Tilbury! Do I have any Tilbury left? :ask: The tobaccocellar tells me yes! Tilbury next time, instead of Royal Yacht...but right now it's Royal Yacht, almost ready to go into dry dock.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in a 1979 smooth slight bend H. Jones Ltd. Easy Loader 391 Dublin. Next is FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic military mount 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Smoker's Haven 20th Anniversary in a 1949 medium bend Dunhill Shell.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a smooth early Radice full bend crossgrain/bird's eye 2 dot Clear.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg (Charatan second).


----------



## JimInks

Jim's VaPer #1 in a 2003 medium bent straight grain Two dot 2 P. Ardor Venere Extra Bucaneve with a silver ferrule signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in the second pipe I ever bought ($2.49), a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## freestoke

Guten Morgen, Herren und Damen! The wind continues to level mountains in the area, and will keep it up until tomorrow morning, temps in the 40s. Had to play a golf tournament on a day like this about 20 years ago. The winning score was 83 and I shot 90 for the first time since I was a teenager. :lol:

Starting with a Dip Forever of KK and fresh coffee. :cp'


----------



## Nachman

I have a confession to make. I have been smoking cigars instead of my pipes. I won't continue this for long because of the difference in cost, but I decided to spoil myself a little. I think I will smoke some GH Louisiana flake to salve my conscience,


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I have a confession to make. I have been smoking cigars instead of my pipes. I won't continue this for long because of the difference in cost, but I decided to spoil myself a little. I think I will smoke some GH Louisiana flake to salve my conscience,


Oddly enough, the main thing that keeps me from smoking cigars on the golf course is that I don't know what to buy. Choosing cigars is far more overwhelming than deciding on pipe tobaccos and I wind up confused by the time I'm halfway through the catalogs that Pipes & Cigars and Cigars International persist in sending me. I've actually had a few good cigars -- but I can't remember what they were. :lol:

Wow, Louisiana Flake! The RY is out and I've been trying to decide what to break out. I'll have to stare at the jar for a while, to see if the stars are in alignment for perique. p In the meantime, it's KK in the 4Dot. Gotta refill the PA and SWR jars, too!


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> Oddly enough, the main thing that keeps me from smoking cigars on the golf course is that I don't know what to buy. Choosing cigars is far more overwhelming than deciding on pipe tobaccos and I wind up confused by the time I'm halfway through the catalogs that Pipes & Cigars and Cigars International persist in sending me. I've actually had a few good cigars -- but I can't remember what they were. :lol:
> 
> Wow, Louisiana Flake! The RY is out and I've been trying to decide what to break out. I'll have to stare at the jar for a while, to see if the stars are in alignment for perique. p In the meantime, it's KK in the 4Dot. Gotta refill the PA and SWR jars, too!


I have been smoking Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classics and Tatuaje Havana VIs. I think you would like them. If you want something milder, the Romeo y Julieta 1875s are good. Knowing your taste in pipe tobacco though, you would probably prefer the first two which are medium to full bodied. I don't really like the super fuerte ones too much because they often sacrifice flavor for strength, and I don't have much use for the mild Connecticuts either because I puff them too hard trying to get more out of them. The Louisiana Flake was good. It seems different than other Vapers in that it doesn't have a candy feel to the Virginias. That is what I don't like about Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture, Anni Kake et alia hoc geni.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of FVF in a Hilson Vintage Bulldog during my early morning commute up the mountain to work.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> I have been smoking Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classics and Tatuaje Havana VIs. I think you would like them. If you want something milder, the Romeo y Julieta 1875s are good. Knowing your taste in pipe tobacco though, you would probably prefer the first two which are medium to full bodied. I don't really like the super fuerte ones too much because they often sacrifice flavor for strength, and I don't have much use for the mild Connecticuts either because I puff them too hard trying to get more out of them. The Louisiana Flake was good. It seems different than other Vapers in that it doesn't have a candy feel to the Virginias. That is what I don't like about Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture, Anni Kake et alia hoc geni.


Well, I think I get the drift. :dunno: I went for "Full" as my search field at CI, found a CI knock-off of Paragans 20 for $39, then fell for the 10 Ghurka overruns for $27.50 to get free shipping. I'm not sure I appreciate cigar smoking enough to spring for the nicer cigars you recommended and I'm just going to smoke them out on the course. It's not perzackly your relax and enjoy a good smoke atmosphere, if you get my drift, but I do want the nicotine to sharpen up my game. :lol: A cigar is really a nice thing to smoke while you're playing golf, it really is.

Anyhow, thanks for sorta making me finally get me some damn cigars. :smoke:


----------



## bluesman.54

Nachman said:


> I have a confession to make. I have been smoking cigars instead of my pipes. I won't continue this for long because of the difference in cost, but I decided to spoil myself a little. I think I will smoke some GH Louisiana flake to salve my conscience,


Nick, I assure you -- you are forgiven. I do the same thing from time to time. I usually have a few pipes a day and one cigar. I find both to be immensely enjoyable -- but pipes are by far more economical. That is if I can get over my TAD and PAD syndromes.


----------



## JimInks

Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Rinaldo Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Straight Grain egg.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## freestoke

KK in the base, PA on top, in the big Ser Jacopo this morning. Watching the European Tour with a cup of coffee at hand, looking forward to a warmish day in the 60s. The sun is scheduled to return to the area next Tuesday, after a long absence, which is normal for around here. The Mohawk Valley is the most cloud-covered area on the North American continent -- really, it is a fact, I kid you not. Think I'll try to get to the range or even fit in 9 if the rain holds off -- hell, might even play in the rain if it isn't a lot of rain, just to get out into the fresh air for a change. :rain:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> The Mohawk Valley is the most cloud-covered area on the North American continent -- really, it is a fact, I kid you not.


My God, Jim! Why in the world would you live there, a bit masochistic maybe?

Maybe you just don't need much sunlight to stay happy. I sure do. I'm sitting in the kitchen drinking my second cuppa coffee, smoking a bowl of University Flake in my green spray Peterson apple sterling silver military mount, watching the snow softly fall outside. The dim light, and snowfall doesn't bother me a whit. I know the sun will be back out this afternoon most likely, tomorrow at the worst. We average well over three hundred sunny days a year here. Even in our wet season, the Summer, we get five or six afternoon rains a week, but the rain lasts twenty or thirty minutes, then the sun is back out and the humidity drops back to 20% or less. I LOVE it here.

I hope the sun comes back out for you soon, Jim, and you get some quality golfing time.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> My God, Jim! Why in the world would you live there, a bit masochistic maybe?
> 
> Maybe you just don't need much sunlight to stay happy. I sure do. I'm sitting in the kitchen drinking my second cuppa coffee, smoking a bowl of University Flake in my green spray Peterson apple sterling silver military mount, watching the snow softly fall outside. The dim light, and snowfall doesn't bother me a whit. I know the sun will be back out this afternoon most likely, tomorrow at the worst. We average well over three hundred sunny days a year here. Even in our wet season, the Summer, we get five or six afternoon rains a week, but the rain lasts twenty or thirty minutes, then the sun is back out and the humidity drops back to 20% or less. I LOVE it here.
> 
> I hope the sun comes back out for you soon, Jim, and you get some quality golfing time.


Almost a purebred Limey, with some Norwegian thrown into the mix, my genetic structure doesn't accommodate a lot of sun. :lol: A guy at work, back in the early days of weather satellites, had a composite of the clearest day yet recorded over the entire continent. Not a cloud in the sky, from the arctic to the Panama Canal -- except that little patch over Rome, NY. :lol: I used to joke about the poles outside town that held up the permanent cloud cover. We get a good deal of rain/snow, but just because you can't see the sun doesn't mean it will rain. It's winds blowing over those Great Lakes from the left and the ongoing inconsiderate behavior of those international weather-terrorists, the Canadians. :spy:

Been puffing up the PA and SWR, chain smoking the cobs with the Forever stem. p


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Royal Yacht in an unbranded '70s Charatan smooth Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## Branzig

Beautiful day, already 55 out and a high of 81 today. 
@freestoke today I play a course that one of your golf heroes, Mr. Palmer, frequented back in the day; Indian Canyon. The club house has pictures of both Palmer's (Arnie and Johnny) as well as Bing Crosby and Herman Keiser.

It is a course settled in a river valley gorge, extremely hilly and fairly long, not a flat lie in the fairway to be found. Difficulty rating for my area is 4+ stars. I am feeling a 120-130 stroke day ahead of me :banghead:

Alas, the opportunity to play a course that the greats played, on such a beautiful day? I can't turn that down! Tee time is around 11:45 and I am now cleaning my clubs, drinking my coffee, and sipping some FVF in anticipation ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Red Cake in the Legend Forever, pondering the return of spring. On the walk yesterday, I noticed a few more lawns have reached the death cycle of the lawn care scam, with large dead patches starting to appear. The house next door lost all its trees eventually and the new owner had to re-sod the worst areas. I'm beginning to see crab apples and other flowering trees starting to suffer in a few of these yards this year, with the occasional dead tree at the side of the road ready to be picked up by the chipping crew. The trees die because the symbiotic life at their roots, like fungi, is gradually killed by the applications, and the trees "starve". What happens to the lawn is that the fertilizer kills off nitrogen-fixing bacteria (among other things), while the pesticides and herbicides destroy the rest of anything that resembles life, reducing the ground cover to a hydroponic monoculture; if you take away the artificial nutrients, it dies, requiring many fallow seasons for the soil to recover. Over the years, I've noticed that birds don't really land on these lawns much, certainly not in flocks, since robins, grackles and such find nothing to eat. No worms, no grubs, no seeds, no insects...nothing. Sometimes I think the people who use lawn chemicals don't really realize the damage they are doing, to wildlife or to themselves. Admittedly, it's not at the scale of big farming, but I think it's better to have birds and weeds than sterile expanses of mechanized agriculture outside the house. I'm really looking forward to the pattern mowing, avoiding the patches of forget-me-nots, buttercups, violets, and other "weeds" that show up in the yard every spring. By late June, all of that has run its course, and my yard looks as green and almost as even as the monocultures -- but I have birds and don't have to mow as often. 

That took so long, I'm onto another pipe, the Gentleman Forever with PA and Happy Bogie. p And more coffee! :cp I get cranky when I can't play golf. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of 221 B Black Shag in a Hilson Vintage Dublin during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Escudo in a 1984 black sandblasted straight Dunhill Shell 4103 Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a tan etched medium bend 2001 Rinaldo Sahara 2 Acorn round at the shank, pointy at the opposite top.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## JimInks

Autumn Evening in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a 1980 three quarter bend briar Butz-Choquin 55 skull bowl pipe.


----------



## Branzig

Well, I came pretty close to my prediction: I shot a *122* yesterday. My buddy who usually shoots in the mid to high 80s shot a 96, so I don't feel too bad about the course kicking my butt! :lol:

On the bright side, it was a gorgeous day and the course was amazing. Lots of dense old growth timber, perfectly landscaped, and not too many people on it. We did decide to walk it, which ultimately took the life out of us by hole 17. This place was HILLY! But all in all, a great day out with my friends.

Now I am trying to nurse my sore legs back with a bowl of morning CH and coffee before work. It's going to be a loooonnnngggg day today :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Tilbury in the 4Dot on a quasi-rainy day. Too cold this morning to play, too wet this afternoon, so there's no golf again today. :frown: And there doesn't look to be any until Monday. out:


----------



## bluesman.54

It must be a Tilbury and PA kind of day. I am enjoying a bowl of the same in a I/4 bent, tan, sandblasted Brebbia #839 to help get the creative juices flowing as I finish my writing for the weekend. Beautiful sunny day her, but alas, I will spend it working. Still -- Life is Good!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm having a bowl of 221 B Black Shag in a Peterson Belgique with a cup of coffee.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Edgeworth Ready Rub Match in my bamboo semi-churchill before heading off to church ipe:


----------



## Branzig

Just as quickly as the warm sun came, it went! Now it is a chilly high of 51 degrees with *LOTS* of rain coming for the next 5 days. But that is to be expected I suppose living in the Pacific Northwest, we don't get stable warm weather here until late June usually.

Not looking forward to working outside today in this mess, so warming up with a heavy bowl of Star Of The East with my coffee before getting ready for work.


----------



## freestoke

The weather is similar here today, but looks to be a lot better tomorrow. Might play the par 3 tomorrow to work on my iron play. Watching the rain come down, smoking the 4Dot full of Tilbury. Definitely a good tobacco. p :spy: p :ask: Looks like I have to reload. :smile:


----------



## Nachman

Red Rapparee this morning. I should have added some Brown Bogie to up the vitamin N.


----------



## freestoke

Good thought, Nick. Finishing up the Tilbury and PA scraps by molding it into a musketball with a few fresh coins of Happy Bogie. A little rope to hold things together, as it were. p

I see that Feherty is going to have Deane Beaman on his show. I played in the group behind Deane Beaman's, in the 1962 Eastern Amateur. :smile: I played with Vinny Giles in that tournament, too. Kermit Zarley, who came to be known as the Pro from the Moon, won it as I recall. :spy: Nope. Charles B. Smith won it.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren HH Highland Blend in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren HH Highland Blend in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker.


----------



## JimInks

HU Flanagan in a 2003 medium bend straight grain Viggo Nielsen sitter with a Cumberland-like acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Luxury Twist Flake in an early '70s pebble etched Savinelli 315 Prince. Next is Sir Walter Raleigh in medium bend grain etched undated Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand.


----------



## freestoke

Having a firm musketball of Tilbury in the Darth Rader, trying to get Lady Nicotine's attention. Got the perfect density, I think. :smile: Fresh coffee is ready! I hear it! :bolt: :cp


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm about to step out on my porch with a LARGE Savinelli sandblast paneled poker full of 2012 Petersons Christmas blend. I have a mug of coffee and James Thurber to keep me company.


----------



## JimInks

HU Fayyum Kake in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl.


----------



## freestoke

It's PA and Happy Bogie in the 4Dot. Gonna be BEAUTIMOUS out there today! Yesterday was a howl in the wind, setting a personal worst at Mohawk Glen, a horrendous 12 over for 9 holes. :shock: And I never missed a tee shot or hit the ball into anything worse than a sand trap by the green! :dunno: Getting the ball onto the green from near the green, then making the putt, is known as an "up and down". Yesterday, I was getting the ball up-up-down-down, up-down-down-down, and once up-up-down-down-down. :faint: One generally has to watch 3 year old children with those little pink and yellow plastic clubs to see play around the greens like I produced yesterday. :frown:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> It's PA and Happy Bogie in the 4Dot. Gonna be BEAUTIMOUS out there today! Yesterday was a howl in the wind, setting a personal worst at Mohawk Glen, a horrendous 12 over for 9 holes. :shock:


May all your bogies today be happy (and brown)


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> May all your bogies today be happy (and brown)


:biglaugh: I was hoping for no bogies, to be honest. :mrgreen: On the other hand, considering yesterday, maybe I should be extremely happy with bogies today. After all, that would only be a 45 instead of a 48! :lol:

Finishing up this PA/HB mix after a short hiatus to hang laundry. p


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> It's PA and Happy Bogie in the 4Dot. Gonna be *BEAUTIMOUS* out there today! Yesterday was a howl in the wind, setting a personal worst at Mohawk Glen, a horrendous 12 over for 9 holes. :shock: And I never missed a tee shot or hit the ball into anything worse than a sand trap by the green! :dunno: Getting the ball onto the green from near the green, then making the putt, is known as an "up and down". Yesterday, I was getting the ball up-up-down-down, up-down-down-down, and once up-up-down-down-down. :faint: One generally has to watch 3 year old children with those little pink and yellow plastic clubs to see play around the greens like I produced yesterday. :frown:


Beautimous? I can see the beauti but the mous? A mix of beautiful and what? Just curious...


----------



## SmokinSpider

Westminster in my Nording and a Redbull.


----------



## JimInks

HU Flanagan in a 2003 medium bend straight grain Viggo Nielsen sitter with a Cumberland-like acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing Solani 131 in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker.


----------



## freestoke

Er999 said:


> Beautimous? I can see the beauti but the mous? A mix of beautiful and what? Just curious...


Just one of those word-like combos that you hear from time to time. "Ginormous" (the spellchecker knows that one!! :shock is another, a portmanteau of "gigantic" and "enormous", but the "mous" in "beautimous" isn't obvious. "Glamorous"? "Glorious" maybe!? :ask:

Despite a three putt at the last and making zero putts over 2 feet, I managed a 41 yesterday, 5 bogies and 4 pars. My short game was horrid, but I hit the ball VERY well and was totally ecstatic about that part of the game. Sensible play around the greens would have put me pretty close to par, so it looks like things may be turning around finally! :banana: After Tuesday's round, I was afraid I'd never hit another good shot, but yesterday I only mishit two. Such is golf. :lol: And without all that wind, the CI Knock-off went all the way to putting the clubs back in the trunk! :smoke:

Gonna slice up some more Happy Bogie and have it with SWR this morning. I feel an under par nine coming on. :smile:


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> Just one of those word-like combos that you hear from time to time. "Ginormous" (the spellchecker knows that one!! :shock is another, a portmanteau of "gigantic" and "enormous", but the "mous" in "beautimous" isn't obvious. "Glamorous"? "Glorious" maybe!? :ask:


When you put it in that context, my money's on glorious! What smoke _isn't_ glorious!?!?!? :banana: (M79 being the possible exception, but other than that... )


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Despite a three putt at the last and making zero putts over 2 feet, I managed a 41 yesterday, 5 bogies and 4 pars. *My short game was horrid, but I hit the ball VERY well* and was totally ecstatic about that part of the game. Sensible play around the greens would have put me pretty close to par, so it looks like things may be turning around finally! :banana:


I've had the exact opposite problem lately...my short game has been dead on, but it has taken me 2, ugh even sometimes 3 extra shots to get to the green...Then I chip on and 1 putt it! It's almost a slap in the face. I need more range time :lol:

I am currently getting ready to head out to one of the easiest 18 hole courses in our area. Well, I shouldn't say "easy," it is just very open, so no matter how horrid you hit the ball, you can always just about play it where it lies. Very little OB markers. I am looking for a confidence booster today, then I will head back to the wooded courses in a week or so :lol:

Smoking some morning CH with my coffee, cleaning the clubs.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 1981 smooth full bend Mauro Series Two 315 p-lip that copies the Peterson system.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I've had the exact opposite problem lately...my short game has been dead on, but it has taken me 2, ugh even sometimes 3 extra shots to get to the green...Then I chip on and 1 putt it! It's almost a slap in the face. I need more range time :lol:


Hmm...if I'd chipped up and one putted on the greens I missed, I'd have shot 37 yesterday. Take away the 3-jack too and it's par. Let me make one of the 5 birdie putts and it's under par. Today, I'm going to make everything for a 30! :nod:

Tilbury in the 4Dot. Excellent! Gotta get a cigar cut for the round. :smoke:


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren HH Acadian Perique in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking HU Zulu in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a 1980 black rusticated rough top Jobey E27 Stromboli extra ball-shaped poker.


----------



## freestoke

Some Tilbury in the Legend Forever, looking forward to another great day for golf! :banana: Since the day before yesterday, I've been suffering a stuffy nose and my lungs have been a little congested, so I checked the pollen forecast. Nothing much at all. Has to be bronchitis or something, right? Audrey said the pollen count was 8.6 out of 12, but my bookmark to pollen.com, which has been in place forever, was showing 4.1. As it happens, my bookmark was bringing up Austin, TX. :shock: :biglaugh:

So, my bookmark is back to normal, my stuffiness is explained, and I'm ready for a really good round today! :banana: More coffee!! :cp

As an aside, my CI Knock-off lasted only until the 7th green, because play was slow. We'd have been done and I'd have finished it in the parking lot otherwise. :smoke:


----------



## Nachman

Dark Birdseye in a Danish Sovereign XXX billiard. I am out of cigars and waiting on a shipment. I wanted something "cigar like" and although I have five cigar leaf pipe tobaccos, it seemed to me that Dark Birdseye would better fill the bill.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic military mount 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff 1849 in a straight black sandblast 2 star Ferndown Bark Prince with a Cumberland stem.


----------



## JimInks

Blue Mountain in a 1949 medium bend black Dunhill Shell.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Old Dark Fired in a Greenspray Peterson military mount during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Old Dark Fired in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg (Charatan second).


----------



## freestoke

Guten Morgen! Firing up a bowl of PA/Happy Bogie, ready to beat up the course a bit later.

Yesterday was SO windy! :faint: Heavy wind, but when shorts and short sleeves is the uniform of the day you can't complain! Hit some pretty shots, the best my second at two, a majestic 7 wood from 160 into a gale, covering the flag, just getting over the bunker -- and hitting the downside, ROCKETING forward over the back of the green, carrying on into the trees 20 yards long. :shock: Instead of an easy birdie putt, I had to hit a nice recovery shot to make a bogie. :frown: 

And again, I have to wonder who writes the programs that affect so many people. :ask: Where do they find these geniuses? Time Warner Cable apparently decided to use Daffy Duck and Yosemite Sam. I am talking about the way they handle the DVR, seemingly with the objective of defending us from ourselves. In the beginning, one could set up a time to start and a time to end, or pick a program to record, which was simple and effective. With gradual improvements that keep us from hurting ourselves, they have now created a number of deadly embraces and Chinese finger traps for us, to wit:

1. You want to record program A, but it runs for 6 hours. You have space for only 5 hours, so they tell you that it doesn't fit. So far, so good, but now things get sticky, because it won't let you record it starting 2 hours into the coverage (which is fine for golf or most sports). You have to delete something. This is really annoying, because if it would simply start recording, as requested, you could WATCH something else on the DVR and delete it to make room. :frown: 

2. You have set it to record program A, but since you set it to record, you have saved an hour long program with the setting not to delete it. You go play golf. You return to find that PROGRAM A DID NOT RECORD AS SCHEDULED! That's right, it won't even do the first 5 hours and run out of room trying. You get NADA! Cruel. Not even a chance to fix it should you get back while it was recording and delete something, to make room and let it finish as planned. It's the HAL 9000 in action. "I can't let you do that, Jim."

3. The default is to "Delete when space is needed". Let's say you forgot to mark Program B "Do not delete", and you start a recording of program A that is half an hour longer than the disk can hold. Program B is now gone, no questions, no warning. You just lost program B, because it was deleted to make room for program A! :rant:

Probably the stupidest limitation of the new software is the inability to start and stop recordings at specified times. Actually, removing this feature is at the heart of all the problems.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Erinmore Flake in a BIG Savinelli sandblast bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## NeverBend

(In New Mexico) 2000 Rattray's Red Raparee in a 1940s Barling EXEL Fossil Poker


----------



## NeverBend

freestoke said:


> And again, I have to wonder who writes the programs that affect so many people. :ask: Where do they find these geniuses? Time Warner Cable apparently decided to use Daffy Duck and Yosemite Sam. I am talking about the way they handle the DVR, seemingly with the objective of defending us from ourselves. In the beginning, one could set up a time to start and a time to end, or pick a program to record, which was simple and effective...


Don't fix it, feature it!
...old computer programmer's saying (highly applicable to modern life)

As a tech I suggest that we should all rebel against mindless techie meddling that we see in programs that are modified for the sake of having nothing better to do than modify what already works. Sounds like that is what is afflicting your service Jim.


----------



## JimInks

Escudo in a mid-1970s black rusticated straight Savinelli Estella 915 KS billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## freestoke

PA in the 4Dot, contemplating the strange confrontation yesterday on the course. We were getting ready to hit our second shots at one, when two carts with three players went driving by in the rough on the right, proceeding on to the second tee. Upsetting, but we played on, with me noting that there was STILL nobody in front of us. :evil: They had barely gotten off the tee by the time we arrived at the first green and still diddling around in the woods when we got to the tee. I crushed one down the left side, about 40 yards past their best tee shot, then Audrey hit her ball past them on the right side of the fairway. As they kept hammering their way along, they failed to take notice of the fact that we were now a quasi fivesome. :lol: Audrey hit her shot short of the right bunker (into a hard wind), and I hit a pearl that got a rough kick into a bad lie in the bunker. At this point, Audrey and I are both closer to the pin than any of them, despite the fact that they were teeing off before we reached the first green. Most people would notice at this point that we are probably the faster players. They steamed ahead oblviously in their carts, flailing away, and arrived on the green about the time Audrey got to her ball. They were milling around, with one of them holding the pin. It wasn't clear if the pin was in the hole or not, so Audrey yells out, "Where's that hole!? Step aside!" They couldn't believe it. :biglaugh: Audrey continued on and hit a beautiful high lob over the bunker that stopped about 8 feet from the hole, right in the middle of them -- a shot completely beyond their collective skill level -- and none of them moved! (And not a single one of them said nice shot, either! :tsk: ) As we walked up, the guy asked what we thought we were doing, to which I replied, "We're playing through." To which he responded, "We'll putt out...", with me interrupting, "We're not waiting one second for you to putt." He blurted out that they "didn't want to be hitting up on" us. And I responded with, "With YOUR games!?" 

I was going into the bunker, while Audrey continued explaining that what they had done was totally unacceptable, and that their decision to cut in front of us was because she was a female. The guy tries to get away with, "We were doing you a favor. We didn't want you feel like we were pressuring you." :shock: Of course, Audrey was almost undoubtedly correct and called him on his idiotic response; she has been known to speak somewhat indelicately at such times  Meanwhile, I hit a rather nice shot from the horrible lie, the skilled execution of this difficult stroke going entirely unnoticed during the repartee. 

We left them on the green and played the par 3, went to the 4th tee, hit, and were able to finish the long par 4 before the finished hitting off the 4th tee. :evil: At the end of the round, we had put away the clubs and were driving out, delighted to see them only halfway up the ninth hole. :lol:

I would bet a few sous that they saw Audrey and me and decided that they would just jump ahead and never see us again, what with her being a woman player and all. As she said while explaining what cretins they were, "And not ONE of you guys can beat me!" It is my firm belief that among golfers at similar handicap levels, women are almost always faster than the guys. The some of the slowest players are those who shoot in the mid-70s, and those types don't let ANYBODY through!


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob. Up and at 'em already!


----------



## JimInks

Solani Aged Burley Flake in a slight bend rusticated 1979 Savinelli Estella 310 poker.


----------



## freestoke

NeverBend said:


> Don't fix it, feature it!
> ...old computer programmer's saying (highly applicable to modern life)
> 
> As a tech I suggest that we should all rebel against mindless techie meddling that we see in programs that are modified for the sake of having nothing better to do than modify what already works. Sounds like that is what is afflicting your service Jim.


I invented OOP!







I wrote self-installing software before anybody ever heard of such of thing!









Really, though, the stupidest stuff seems to flow out of GUI builders and software that creates html pages. They just can't WAIT to put in the latest features, written by MS, that break any browser except IE. :evil: The Time Warner software is more like badly rewritten 1980s code. :tsk:

Another bowl of PA, this time fortified with some Bogey Happiness. p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of left-over scraps of erinmore flake and ODF in a forever cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of MacBaren Mixture Flake in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## JimInks

ODF in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a tan etched medium bend 2001 Rinaldo Sahara 2 Acorn round at the shank, pointy at the opposite top.


----------



## JimInks

Almost done with this bowl of Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## freestoke

Smoking some KK in the 4Dot, girding my loins for another sortie into the fairways. For the second day in a row, we had a cutting in incident! :shock: As we were playing the par 3 8th, with a free hole ahead of it -- it was no longer free! Three players had arrived on the 9th tee, cutting over from number 4 to get back and play in their league. Two had already hit, when Audrey, preempting the problem, yelled over, "I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYBODY HITTING OVER THERE. WE'VE HAD A PERFECT PACE WITH GROUP IN FRONT OF US ALL DAY!" They waited. :smile: They said they were going to wait on us, so I pretended to believe them, said thanks, hit a nice one up the middle, Audrey hit a nice one up the middle, we hit good layups, Audrey parred and I birdied, and we were out of there! We had the car packed and were heading out before they even finished the hole, and one of them quit early to get to the first tee for the league! And they were actually going make us have to wait while they PRACTICED! Amazing. The rudeness and selfishness of people at this course is absolutely incredible. They wanted to make us wait FAR longer than they would have to wait, but that's okay, because they got there first?


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in the second pipe I ever bought ($2.49), a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

We got fiveish inches of snow last night. I'm on my porch smoking a bowl of PA in a Forever Cob hoping the sun will come out and melt the snow.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished Solani 633 in a 2014 smooth quarter bend Basil Meadows horn.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Roll Cake in a 1979 black sandblasted medium bend Savinelli Non Pareil 9606 Billiard with a horn ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## JimInks

PH Curly Cut in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Va./DFK #2 in a 1970s smooth straight rough top Charatan's Make (Lane) Perfection Deluxe Extra Large.


----------



## freestoke

The Gentleman Forever seems appropriate for this morning, and something easy -- Prince Albert. p Yep, that works with some coffee. :cp

We had free reign on the links yesterday, but the course treated me cruelly.  I even lost a ball.  A fairly new ball, too! :frown: It rained all night, so the course will be impossible until they mow next Tuesday. It wouldn't be so bad, except the fairways start about 100 yards out off every tee, so that there is long, wet grass to trudge through on practically every hole. The walk from 4 to the 5th tee is particularly unpleasant. To let you know what I'm dealing with at this course, I discovered last year that the owner cannot understand that it would cost him nothing to mow paths for walking. When he does the mowing of the tees, simply keep mowing until he reaches the fairway as he leaves the tee, and approaching a tee to be mowed from the fairway, put the blade down when he gets to rough, cutting a path to the tee. For some reason, the owner's simple brain cannot comprehend that it takes almost no extra effort to do this whatsoever. He also has no conception of what it's like to push a cart through heavy, wet grass, and cannot be convinced that it would even matter to anybody, even if they didn't have waterproof golf shoes like mine. Like, what difference does it make if YOUR feet get wet? Typical of New Yorkers, totally indifferent to anybody's inconvenience but their own, but unlike most areas of the country, they are proud of it. It's part of their heritage. The state motto should be, "Screw You".


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> The state motto should be, "Screw You".


:biglaugh:

Doing a little morning gardening with a cob full of Three Nuns before getting ready for work. Finally should have a day off tomorrow. Depending on how my body feels when I wake up will dictate whether I go out and play 18 holes at what may be the hardest course in my town. I really don't want to play it, it is far too difficult and outside of my skill level, but it is kind of a work thing... hwell:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> New Yorkers... The state motto should be, "Screw You".


Wow! So what is a Southern Gentleman, like you, doing there?!?!

New Mexico is known as an "Outlaw State", but we are super friendly, and not fake-friendly like California. (I was born and raised in Cali, and it's definitely a "Mickey Mouse" and phony culture.)

I had a bowl of Balkan Sasieni in a Hilson Vintage Dublin during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> Wow! So what is a Southern Gentleman, like you, doing there?!?!


Fate. I have always thought that if there is such a thing as reincarnation, then they seem to have things backward. Each successive life should be more difficult than the last, as your karma grows stronger and steels you against life's cruelties, putting all those centuries of learning and wisdom to the test. Finding myself isolated among the heathen of Central New York is my next level of difficulty, after a previous life as a wealthy Englishman, spending a tribulation-free life of golf, billiards, masquerade balls, and a valet :dance: (Paris Hilton, for example, is in her first incarnation, completely new, given the easiest possible existence, one within her neophyte's karma grade.)


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> :biglaugh:
> 
> Doing a little morning gardening with a cob full of Three Nuns before getting ready for work. Finally should have a day off tomorrow. Depending on how my body feels when I wake up will dictate whether I go out and play 18 holes at what may be the hardest course in my town. I really don't want to play it, it is far too difficult and outside of my skill level, but it is kind of a work thing... hwell:


Play the forward tees. :smile: (I'm guessing the entire group would be advised to play it forward. :lol Really, though, more people should do that. LOTS more people. I think they'd enjoy the game a little more and actually improve their games a bit faster, rather than being forced to hit three woods and long irons into the greens all the time. I don't play the back tees any more at all, but there was a time I would feel like I was cheating on the whites. Try as I might, I just can't quite move it out there like I used to. I'm still longer than most, but not long enough anymore to justify torturing myself. :lol: But, hey, if it's a work thing, laugh all the way around the course, make friends and move up the corporate ladder! :smile:

Just got a sample of ODF from tmoran in the mail today, and have some rumpled flakes simmering along in the Sasieni TwoDot Canadian. I think I'm going to like this, Tim! Thanks! p


----------



## tmoran

freestoke said:


> Just got a sample of ODF from tmoran in the mail today, and have some rumpled flakes simmering along in the Sasieni TwoDot Canadian. I think I'm going to like this, Tim! Thanks! p


Glad to see they made the journey safely! I had some on my commute home yesterday. I am still battling some lingering allergies so I'm not getting all the flavors, but just enough to determine I like it.


----------



## freestoke

tmoran said:


> Glad to see they made the journey safely! I had some on my commute home yesterday. I am still battling some lingering allergies so I'm not getting all the flavors, but just enough to determine I like it.


I wonder if they've ever checked the data to see if allergies are worse if you live in a part of the country where you didn't grow up. :ask: My allergies at school at William & Mary and Old Dominion, near I grew up (Hilton Village), were never as bad as they were in California or  Idaho.

KK in the Country Gentleman this morning, watching the rain that started about 6 or so. Probably going to wash out golf until Sunday, but we can use it. The flowers on the apple tree out front are just amazing this year! :hippie:


----------



## tmoran

freestoke said:


> I wonder if they've ever checked the data to see if allergies are worse if you live in a part of the country where you didn't grow up. :ask: My allergies at school at William & Mary and Old Dominion, near I grew up (Hilton Village), were never as bad as they were in California or  Idaho.


It's funny you should mention that. I grew up in NW NJ and had allergies as far back as I remember. I moved to VA, and never really got them. I spent 4 days in Atlantic City and my allergies came back and followed me down to Myrtle Beach. Now that I am back in VA I am getting better. I guess my immune system was somehow built for northern VA.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> I wonder if they've ever checked the data to see if allergies are worse if you live in a part of the country where you didn't grow up. :ask:


I don't know, but I just woke up with my eyes watering, the top of my mouth itching like crazy, and my ears on fire! Tree pollen.

However, it isn't going to stop me from making that golf trip today! 18 holes on deck today. One of the most beautiful courses, not to mention difficult, in my area. I am going to have to apologize in advance to my group for keeping them behind :lol:

Cleaning the clubs with a big bowl of Red Rap this morning. Am going to try some new balls today as well. Bridgsetone e6. Supposedly the straightest flying ball on the market...it's a gimmick I am certain, but in the push/slice department I need all the help I can get :laugh:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Dark Star in a MM Forever cob this morning during my commute up the mountain.

I love this tobacco, but it just doesn't burn well in cobs. I suspect the cobs don't hold the heat well enough to keep it going.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I don't know, but I just woke up with my eyes watering, the top of my mouth itching like crazy, and my ears on fire! Tree pollen.
> 
> However, it isn't going to stop me from making that golf trip today! 18 holes on deck today. One of the most beautiful courses, not to mention difficult, in my area. I am going to have to apologize in advance to my group for keeping them behind :lol:
> 
> Cleaning the clubs with a big bowl of Red Rap this morning. Am going to try some new balls today as well. Bridgsetone e6. Supposedly the straightest flying ball on the market...it's a gimmick I am certain, but in the push/slice department I need all the help I can get :laugh:


Bummer, Brandon, sounds like my reaction to sage brush. 

Miss it quick! :lol: No more than one little practice swing, hit it, go find it (and don't look long for it :nono Be ready to hit when it's your turn. On the tee, have your club, ball, and tee in your hand with your glove on. Get your club out and be thinking about your shot while the other players are hitting. You don't really have to play well to move along, just be ready to hit and then hit it without diddling around. Think long, think wrong, as they say. Relax. Trying to figure out EXACTLY how a putt breaks is a waste of time for 95% of the golfers out there, since they probably can't read a putt much better than they hit a putt, being as likely to miss it onto the correct line and speed as often as they hit the line they are seeing (which is probably incorrect). Actually knowing how a putt breaks is one thing, as in a scramble, but good readers are as rare as good strokers, I'd say, maybe even more so.

Advice is probably coming too late, but bon chance anyhow! :tu


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Bummer, Brandon, sounds like my reaction to sage brush.
> 
> Miss it quick! :lol: No more than one little practice swing, hit it, go find it (and don't look long for it :nono Be ready to hit when it's your turn. On the tee, have your club, ball, and tee in your hand with your glove on. Get your club out and be thinking about your shot while the other players are hitting. You don't really have to play well to move along, just be ready to hit and then hit it without diddling around. Think long, think wrong, as they say. Relax. Trying to figure out EXACTLY how a putt breaks is a waste of time for 95% of the golfers out there, since they probably can't read a putt much better than they hit a putt, being as likely to miss it onto the correct line and speed as often as they hit the line they are seeing (which is probably incorrect). Actually knowing how a putt breaks is one thing, as in a scramble, but good readers are as rare as good strokers, I'd say, maybe even more so.
> 
> Advice is probably coming too late, but bon chance anyhow! :tu


I actually didn't bog them down at all today :lol:

I played pretty well, especially off the tee. Not sure what I was doing, but somehow I was knocking them straight and far. No problems at all. A couple holes my dreaded push did show it's head, but for the most part I was doing something correctly :lol:

Of course, if one cylinder is firing, the other is gonna miss....today it was my short game. My mid irons gave me fits like no other and I spent some quality time in the woods :laugh:

All in all, it was a great day out on the course and I had a lot of fun. Maybe if I wake up early enough I will hit the range in the morning and try to fine tune and duplicate my drives...gotta figure out what I was doing right there and stick with it! I'll shave 15 maybe 20 strokes off my game if I keep driving like I did today.


----------



## tmoran

This morning it's Yenidje Highlander in the Mayfair. I never see anybody else post about smoking this stuff, but it's a pretty tasty blend IMO.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Dan Blue Note in a Vauen Wood ipe:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of ODF in my green spray Peterson military mount whilst driving up the mountain to work.


----------



## freestoke

tmoran said:


> This morning it's Yenidje Highlander in the Mayfair. I never see anybody else post about smoking this stuff, but it's a pretty tasty blend IMO.


I have some of that jarred up. During a particularly heavy TAD attack some years back, I ran through a few orders in quick succession and (I think it was smokingpipes) they threw in a pouch kicker of it with each order. I combined it and jarred it, but one of these days it will fall to the Container Reduction and Reclamation Order that I issued in 2013. Come to think of it, there might be an overdue status report at tobaccocellar. :spy:

I'll have a bowl of PA and then a late lunch. No golf today. I am NOT going to play in that cold wind. :nono:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some 15 year-old Butera Royal Vintage Dark Stoved in a 1983 Butz Choquin Millesime ipe:


----------



## Branzig

Getting ready for work. Looks like it will be nice today, should be busy. Reading the latest headlines while enjoying some Anniversary Kake. 

Don't know why I bother with the news. It is all Kingdom Of Fear shi*t... hwell:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Don't know why I bother with the news. It is all Kingdom Of Fear shi*t... hwell:




Saw an interesting and socially revealing juxtaposition of headlines yesterday. BIG HEADLINE and picture: Beyonce's sister and Jay Z arguing in an elevator. (Now THAT's real news! :lol LITTLE HEADLINE and a picture of the man recently elected to head a country of 1.2 billion people, India. (Who the hell would care about THAT! :dunno Good to see the news media keeping its priorities in order, important stuff first.

Burning through some KK in the Legend Forever to restore the critically low nicotine levels. It will take two -- or, if I can find the Tilbury...:spy: Ah!! Yes, make that a Tilbury instead. p

As I was burning off the last of the KK with a quick blast from the BIC, I realized that I could see the flame through the crack that has developed in the front. :shock: Time for the Elmer's! I thought it was drawing a bit feebly this morning. :lol:


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Saw an interesting and socially revealing juxtaposition of headlines yesterday. BIG HEADLINE and picture: Beyonce's sister and Jay Z arguing in an elevator. (Now THAT's real news! :lol LITTLE HEADLINE and a picture of the man recently elected to head a country of 1.2 billion people, India. (Who the hell would care about THAT! :dunno Good to see the news media keeping its priorities in order, important stuff first.


My education is in Journalism...and I work in business management :lol:

All the things I was excited for and what I loved in college, got ripped away when I entered the true world of editorial and controlled information. A lot of, "Well you can write about this but don't ever bring up that, and this is good, but it's a little to true." :lol:

I left that world for a totally different world and haven't looked back. Maybe one day I will start a blog to get all of my creative juices out, but I won't be going back to the jailed word companies.

On a brighter note, think I just scored a new driver. Cleveland Classic XL. If this deal pans out, I will be getting a barely used model for a real bargain! :whoo:

ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I left that world for a totally different world and haven't looked back. Maybe one day I will start a blog to get all of my creative juices out, but I won't be going back to the jailed word companies.
> 
> On a brighter note, think I just scored a new driver. Cleveland Classic XL. If this deal pans out, I will be getting a barely used model for a real bargain! :whoo:
> 
> ipe:


I thought this WAS a blog for getting out my creative juices! :lol:

That driver should serve you well, Branzig! New drivers are like cars, immediately losing half their value the minute you buy one, and all you really have to do is buy last year's model to save a bundle. Clubs don't change all that much, year to year, they really don't. The last real advance was titanium steel, allowing a much longer shaft and bigger head to accommodate the errors introduced by the longer shaft length. The longer shaft is a big part of why they hit the tee shot so much farther now. Driver's were once a standard 43 to 43.5 inches, but now they are 46" and longer. Titanium steel allowed for a hollow head that allowed it to be light and strong enough to take the hit. With old materials, a 46" shaft would have jacked up the swing weight so much that clubhead speed would have been slower unless you were VERY strong. As for the irons, a modern six iron has the nearly the loft and shaft length of a standard 1960s three iron! Hitting 190 yard six irons becomes considerably less amazing when viewed with the proper perspective. :lol: Manufactures have taken to jacking up the length and loft with marketing objective of convincing the buyer that their irons are longer than the competitors'. :tsk: I don't care about the number, I care about how far the club goes, period, whatever that might be.

More KK in the 4Dot this morning. I'm going all codger this morning. p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Instead of a pipe during my morning commute up the mountain, I had a Villiger export maduro. I love these little cigars, damn tasty.


----------



## tmoran

El wedo del milagro said:


> Instead of a pipe during my morning commute up the mountain, I had a Villiger export maduro. I love these little cigars, damn tasty.


I just bought a 5 pack of the maduro and a 5 pack of the natural to try out. So far I have had one of each. The natural was meh but I did enjoy the maduro quite a bit. Also stocked up on Parodi Kings, since CVS is going to stop carrying tobacco, and that is the only place I know that has the Parodis.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

PS Cube cut in a cob.

I don't know why more tobaccos aren't cube cut. This stuff is just... fun.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

This morning I rolled up the mountain old school style with a PA/5 bros mix in a MM cob. Werd. >.<


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> This morning I rolled up the mountain old school style with a PA/5 bros mix in a MM cob. Werd. >.<


Run up the American flag, Mark! :usa2: (Especially if that's an old back of Owensboro. :smile

Probably will play the par 3 today. A little chilly with scattered rain, plus I can work on things around the green a bit. The course is generally almost deserted, especially on a day like this, so it's like a practice round. I generally play better after nine at the par 3. :chk

Having another 4Dot of Tilbury. (Only an ounce left, Michael! )


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Balkan Sasieni in a latakia-dedicated MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## bluesman.54

freestoke said:


> Having another 4Dot of Tilbury. (Only an ounce left, Michael!


Only an ounce -- Yikes! I hope you are going to order more soon. To live without Tilbury is uncivilized.


----------



## Branzig

Up and trying to become alert...6:30 tee time and I need to get there in time to warm up!

Having a quick bowl of Briar Fox in a cob to reflect and prepare for the game today. One thing I have really been working on is trying to visualize my shots. Really try to imagine where I want that shot to go, then setup and swing for it.

Also scored that Cleveland XL Classic, so it will be my first go with that club on the course. It will come in handy, as this particular course has some very long par 5s. I hit the Cleveland yesterday at the range and it felt great! My timing is a little off with it, the shaft length is a little longer than my old driver, but I will have it worked out soon enough.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Honor Guard Aromatic Blend in a Chacom Manet, while taking the kids for a stroll by the river ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Up and trying to become alert...6:30 tee time and I need to get there in time to warm up!
> 
> Having a quick bowl of Briar Fox in a cob to reflect and prepare for the game today. One thing I have really been working on is trying to visualize my shots. Really try to imagine where I want that shot to go, then setup and swing for it.
> 
> Also scored that Cleveland XL Classic, so it will be my first go with that club on the course. It will come in handy, as this particular course has some very long par 5s. I hit the Cleveland yesterday at the range and it felt great! My timing is a little off with it, the shaft length is a little longer than my old driver, but I will have it worked out soon enough.


Good luck out there Brandon! I'll bet you'll really like that driver, especially after you hit that first "good one" with it on the course. :smile:

Just some PA in the Legend Forever this morning. No golf again today, since we have to go to some kid's birthday party with people I barely know. Good thing the weather is dicey, or I could get bitter about it. :lol:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Firedance Flake in a Hilson Vintage bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Good luck out there Brandon! I'll bet you'll really like that driver, especially after you hit that first "good one" with it on the course. :smile:


I played the worst front 9 that I can remember in a loooonnnngggg time :lol: Everything went wrong. Was hitting my irons way too fat. So many of my putts lipped out. BUT! You were right about that driver! I was money with it today! Off the tee it was a thing of beauty, not enough to redeem my front 9, but enough to at least keep my spirits up somewhat. 

Back 9 went a lot smoother. Shot a 48 with my iron play coming back. The drives kept on trucking. We played with a 3rd today who was a stranger, poor bloke couldn't quit slicing it, but his short game was spot on. All in all it was a decent play, and the weather was perfect just now hitting 75, so I guess I shouldn't complain... :laugh:

Winding down with a big bowl of Five O'clock shadow now. That was a rather long course to walk and I am tuckered out! ipe:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A bowl of Blue Note in my Vauen Wood 442. I have some writing to get done this afternoon and then we're taking my son out to my broth-in-law's house to sit on his rented excavator. Since he was a little over two my boy has been able to identify skidsteers, front-end loaders, backhoes, etc. It's hilarious to watch him correct someone when they give a generic term like "bulldozer" to a piece of equipment on a construction site :lol:


----------



## Branzig

That's a pretty neat looking pipe you got there @Tobias!

I have a lot of gardening to get done today, so I am going utilitarian and smoking CH in MM cobs this morning.

After this bowl and this transplanting, I may need to switch up to something with some Latakia in it...it has been a long time since I have had some Lat. ipe:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of PA in a MM Forever cob during my morning commute up the mountain. It was a majic drive... the sun was barely peeking over the ridge-line and it was turing all the frost into mist. The trees, road, sign posts, and everything looked like it was steaming. Beautiful!


----------



## JimInks

Gawith Perfection in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## swamper

G L Pease triple play in a small no name pipe.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Kickin' off the day with some EMP in a Medico Kensington ipe:


----------



## freestoke

I'm surprised that Medico even made a prince! :shock: When I think of Medico (or Grabow for that matter) I picture only billiards and bents. :dunno:

Well, I have an ordinary Pride Forever getting toward the bottom of a jar of Tilbury. The bowl failed on the course during the nubbing phase of my cigar at the 6th tee. :rant: Had a crack in the bowl that I filled with Elmer's last night. This is a test smoke and I think all is well. :tu


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished this bowl of Jim's Burley #2 in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Va/Bur #2 in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I slept in late today and went down to the lake by my house to go fishing about 7am. I had a bowl of ODF in a MM Forever cob whilst fishing.

I only had one strike, but lost it before getting it to shore. On the up side, the bowl of ODF lit with one match and burned to the bottom of the cob.


----------



## JimInks

Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## Stonedog

Good Morning Puff!

The summer commute is gloriously quick now that school is out. Unfortunately that means less time with my morning pipe ... which was a flake of OGS folded and stuffed into my new Stanwell:


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## Desertlifter

Edgeworth Sliced in my Stanwell.

Third bowl of this stuff. I may be ruined. Did I already say that?

It gets worse. Or better, until I try to find it.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Court of St. James in a small 1970s smooth three quarter bend Danish Sovereign XXX 324 sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a couple of minutes early: Sutliff PS Taste of Spring in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> I slept in late today and went down to the lake by my house to go fishing about 7am. I had a bowl of ODF in a MM Forever cob whilst fishing.
> 
> I only had one strike, but lost it before getting it to shore. On the up side, the bowl of ODF lit with one match and burned to the bottom of the cob.


Saw an ad for a TV show I will never watch, but there was a pretty good line: Fishing is like yoga, except you get to kill something. :lol:

Firing up some Tilbury. I seem to have fallen so far behind the Nicotine Stall Curve that a crash is eminent. I need to pull out something stronger next, say some Happy Bogie and PA.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 1981 smooth full bend Mauro Series Two 315 p-lip that copies the Peterson system. A nice, light morning smoke.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Sutliff PS Breckinridge in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Sutliff PS Court of St. James in a small 1970s smooth three quarter bend Danish Sovereign XXX 324 sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS April Dawn in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a 1980 three quarter bend briar Butz-Choquin 55 skull bowl pipe.


----------



## freestoke

I admit to be rather picky about my music, not so much genre-wise, but I demand skill playing the instruments (if you don't play better a LOT better than I do, I don't want to listen to it, okay?), singers should be on pitch and guitars should be in tune (no Ethel Merman or Gordon Lightfoot :lol, and I really don't want it to be a song that sounds exactly like twenty other songs. I'm up for Bach to Rock, Latin to Limbo, Bebop to Blues, Raga to Reggae, but nobody likes everything and I reserve a general hatred for "head banger music" -- I find it unpleasant and tiresome, like roadwork in front of your house. Yesterday, at the 5th hole, I encountered something playing over the speaker at the baseball stadium across the street that should have a legal injunction placed on it. The musical tastes of the baseball team run from dreary and hackneyed to mindlessly annoying, but what came out of the speakers yesterday was like nothing I've encountered in my life outside horror flicks. Take a bunch of teenagers with a combined experience playing their instruments of perhaps 6 months, lock them in a garage, give them overdoses of methedrine and psychedelic drugs, then attach electrodes to their testicles. Tell them to play their instruments and scream, and when they slow down, zap them. Disturbing, psychotic -- possibly mentally handicapped. I'm not actually surprised that there are people who would enjoy making this noise (most of whom I would hope are locked away in asylums for the insane), but it's hard to imagine that anyone would ever willingly listen to it. :dunno: This went WAY beyond not liking "new" music, it really did; it went beyond bad, into the realm of evil. I suspect that it is something developed by the military to demoralize the enemy, possibly by playing it over loudspeakers attached to drones.

I'm smoking some Tilbury to recover, after a sleepless night.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> I admit to be rather picky about my music, not so much genre-wise, but I demand skill playing the instruments (if you don't play better a LOT better than I do, I don't want to listen to it, okay?), singers should be on pitch and guitars should be in tune (no Ethel Merman or Gordon Lightfoot :lol, and I really don't want it to be a song that sounds exactly like twenty other songs. I'm up for Bach to Rock, Latin to Limbo, Bebop to Blues, Raga to Reggae, but nobody likes everything and I reserve a general hatred for "head banger music" -- I find it unpleasant and tiresome, like roadwork in front of your house. Yesterday, at the 5th hole, I encountered something playing over the speaker at the baseball stadium across the street that should have a legal injunction placed on it. The musical tastes of the baseball team run from dreary and hackneyed to mindlessly annoying, but what came out of the speakers yesterday was like nothing I've encountered in my life outside horror flicks. Take a bunch of teenagers with a combined experience playing their instruments of perhaps 6 months, lock them in a garage, give them overdoses of methedrine and psychedelic drugs, then attach electrodes to their testicles. Tell them to play their instruments and scream, and when they slow down, zap them. Disturbing, psychotic -- possibly mentally handicapped. I'm not actually surprised that there are people who would enjoy making this noise (most of whom I would hope are locked away in asylums for the insane), but it's hard to imagine that anyone would ever willingly listen to it. :dunno: This went WAY beyond not liking "new" music, it really did; it went beyond bad, into the realm of evil. I suspect that it is something developed by the military to demoralize the enemy, possibly by playing it over loudspeakers attached to drones.
> 
> I'm smoking some Tilbury to recover, after a sleepless night.


Hahaha!

I hate most music out there.

I especially hate the new, pop country, the old cry-in-your-beer country, metal of all kinds (especially death metal) and or course, rap/hip-hop. Usually if I actually want to listen to music I lean toward Classical... albeit not with any singing; I can't stand to listen to some morbidly obese female warbling along in a language I don't understand. On the subject of female singers; I can't stand vibrato. A singer should be able to hold a note perfectly on key without warbling up and down the scale - any fool can hit something with a shotgun. I also hate having any music on in the background when I'm trying to do something. I find it annoying and it breaks my concentration.

Drying out a small pile of HPCS Pine Grove. Should be about ready in half an hour...


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Loire Valley in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a Hilson Vintage bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.

Jim, you cantankerous old coot, if this doesn't cheer you up nada will:


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Va./DFK #2 in a 1970s smooth straight rough top Charatan's Make (Lane) Perfection Deluxe Extra Large.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> Jim, you cantankerous old coot, if this doesn't cheer you up nada will:


I think Zurg would like that even better than I do, Mark. :lol:



Emperor Zurg said:


> Hahaha!
> 
> I hate most music out there.
> 
> I especially hate the new, pop country, the old cry-in-your-beer country, metal of all kinds (especially death metal) and or course, rap/hip-hop. Usually if I actually want to listen to music I lean toward Classical... albeit not with any singing; I can't stand to listen to some morbidly obese female warbling along in a language I don't understand. On the subject of female singers; I can't stand vibrato. A singer should be able to hold a note perfectly on key without warbling up and down the scale - *any fool can hit something with a shotgun.* I also hate having any music on in the background when I'm trying to do something. I find it annoying and it breaks my concentration.


"The Only Ring He Gave Me Was Around the Kitchen Sink". (Willie Nelson :biglaugh.

A bit of vibrato to round off a note is the mark of a skilled singer, but sustained vibrato is truly an aggravation. Overuse of any embellishment is a tipoff to a performer with no musical taste, but nothing is as ghastly as the overuse of melisma. Melisma is the decoration of a single note by warbling all around it, ala Mariah Carey or the one who butchered the Star Spangled Banner recently, Christina Aguillera(?). Blood curdling. I heard Christmas carols at the car shop a couple of years back, where the first two measures of Silent Night contained no fewer than 627 individual notes. Of course, these objections do NOT apply to Aretha! :nono:

There's also something called "Praise Music", a conglomerate of hymns, C&W, rock and folk that is instantly recognizable, sometimes within a couple of bars, so predictable and bland that it can induce brain death.

As one might expect, I react badly to poor grammar in a song. :lol: "Till the stars fall from the sky -- [with GREAT emphasis] -- *FOR YOU AND I!!*" :banghead: At LEAST make it "to the sea, for you and me". :tsk:

Tilbury in the 4dot. p


----------



## MarkC

Emperor Zurg said:


> On the subject of female singers; I can't stand vibrato.


I don't know why you limit it to female singers, but amen. I thought it was just me.


----------



## freestoke

MarkC said:


> I don't know why you limit it to female singers, but amen. I thought it was just me.


Ululation anyone?


----------



## Emperor Zurg

MarkC said:


> I don't know why you limit it to female singers, but amen. I thought it was just me.


It's just that I seldom hear male singers abusing vibrato. It's usually the women. Just FTR though, I'm an equal opportunity hater.

But on a larger subject... holy shyt! We actually agree on something.

And on a still larger subject... what are you puffing lately?


----------



## NeverBend

freestoke said:


> Of course, these objections do NOT apply to Aretha! :nono:


I just don't see how I could add to this scholarly discourse that excepts Aretha from criticism although the dottle of the discourse is a little rough.

2009 Rattray's Red Rapparree in an Il Ceppo B1680 semi-smooth short canadian with a taper bit.


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> It's just that I seldom hear male singers abusing vibrato. It's usually the women. Just FTR though, I'm an equal opportunity hater.


A hear a LOT of abuse of falsetto with the guys, especially in Motown and such. Hate it. For your musical broadening, though, I'll just give you a listen to something I KNOW y'all will just hate. :lol: This is Claudio Villa, a Pavarotti-level tenor who was once the most popular singer in Italy. This is the best falsetto I've ever heard, actually, and to realize what's happening, you have to know that he is improvising, and the form is the "stornelli", dating back to Renaissance (?) street singers in Italy. He's doing what Mariah Carey and her sort are TRYING to do and failing. You may not like this at all, but you have to at least see the absolutely incredible vocal control this requires, as well as his remarkable musicality. There is actually a competition each year for stornelli and it's a big deal to win it -- which he did, of course. He can belt out operatic arias with almost unbelievable power, too. You wanna hear a sustained note, say at 150 decibels for two minutes with no vibrato? Claudio is your guy! :lol: He was actually most famous for those drippy Italian love songs, and I suspect Placido Domingo picked up a trick or two, but what a voice. Wow.






Mind you, once a year is plenty for this tune. :lol:

I'm gonna smoke one more bowl of 5100 and it's off to the showers, to ready myself for another clean round of golf. :smile:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

NeverBend said:


> I just don't see how I could add to this scholarly discourse that excepts Aretha from criticism although the dottle of the discourse is a little rough.


Well in my defense, I smoke from corn cobs...


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of ODF in a green-spray Peterson military-mount apple during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## NeverBend

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the link to Claudio Villa. In the same vein of elevating our mutual awareness of the possibilities that a man can emulate the singing improprieties of the ladies (but not, of course, Aretha), I proffer the following:






2000 *Rattray's Old Gowrie* in a 1989 Ser _Jacopo Fiamatta_ billiard taper with 14k gold band.


----------



## NeverBend

Emperor Zurg said:


> Well in my defense, I smoke from corn cobs...


The cobs are usualy smooth around the edges, yes?


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the very first pipe I ever smoked (which was my father’s pipe), a late 1950s smooth with etched grooves straight Willard long stem ajustomatic Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Dan Blue Note in a Gatlinbulier House Pipe #79 . I'm On my way to meet a fellow Puffer at the JRs in Burlington. ipe:


----------



## freestoke

NeverBend said:


> Hi Jim,
> 
> Thanks for the link to Claudio Villa. In the same vein of elevating our mutual awareness of the possibilities that a man can emulate the singing improprieties of the ladies (but not, of course, Aretha), I proffer the following:


I like Vivaldi. :smile: Villa isn't a countertenor, being more into the BIG VOICE action, so it's surprising to see a falsetto from a genuine tenor, sort of like hearing Caruso sing something like stenorelli -- although, who knows, maybe Caruso did. :dunno: I actually don't like the soprano range much, men or women, preferring the lower register ladies. I like cellos but violins not so much. I do appreciate this guy's singing though, Pete! :tu I wouldn't want to listen to a lot of it, but I never fail to be awestruck by virtuosity on any instrument.

A Legend Forever with some Tilbury,, getting ready for the terrifying ordeal in a summer gale on the course. Gonna be 20mp with gusts close to 30 at the base, no doubt. :faint: Really tough playing in that, but it's better than not playing! :banana:


----------



## NeverBend

freestoke said:


> I like Vivaldi. :smile: Villa isn't a countertenor, being more into the BIG VOICE action, so it's surprising to see a falsetto from a genuine tenor, sort of like hearing Caruso sing something like stenorelli -- although, who knows, maybe Caruso did. :dunno: I actually don't like the soprano range much, men or women, preferring the lower register ladies. I like cellos but violins not so much. I do appreciate this guy's singing though, Pete! :tu I wouldn't want to listen to a lot of it, but I never fail to be awestruck by virtuosity on any instrument.
> 
> A Legend Forever with some Tilbury,, getting ready for the terrifying ordeal in a summer gale on the course. Gonna be 20mp with gusts close to 30 at the base, no doubt. :faint: Really tough playing in that, but it's better than not playing! :banana:


I think that we're (unintentionally) killing the folks in this thread. :scared:

I posted the counter-tenor as a male (falsetto) performing several of the 'offending' women's vocal ornaments, nothing more and certainly not intended to offend anyone and especially Phillipe Jaroussky who is brilliantly talented and not for all ears.


----------



## freestoke

NeverBend said:


> I think that we're (unintentionally) killing the folks in this thread. :scared:
> 
> I posted the counter-tenor as a male (falsetto) performing several of the 'offending' women's vocal ornaments, nothing more and certainly not intended to offend anyone and especially Phillipe Jaroussky who is brilliantly talented and not for all ears.


It may not be falsetto, but it's not the way he normally sings in any case. Not being a trained singer or really even that much of an opera afficianado, I just knew it wasn't his "ordinary" voice, the one that made him an Italian superstar.

I have more posts on this thread than anybody. Hell with them. :evil:

I'm smoking a defiant Legend Forever with a load of ODF. So there! p


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

SG Perfection in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## JimInks

Solani 633 in a 2003 medium bend straight grain Viggo Nielsen sitter with a Cumberland-like acrylic stem.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Drama Reserve in a Dr. Grabow Patriot ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Blue Mountain in a 1949 medium bend black Dunhill Shell.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Classic Burley Kake in a medium bend 2013 black Rekamepip Rock Cob poker.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes from smoking HU Old Fredder's in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem. This finishes the sample.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a straight Lane era Charatan black with burgundy undertone sandblasted billiard 420.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1978 smooth three quarter bend Danish Special.


----------



## JimInks

Sir Walter Raleigh in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## Derrick_Y

Loaded some McClelland Blackwood Flake in this for my drive into work.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Sutliff PS Old San Francisco in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021. Next is Sir Walter Raleigh in medium bend grain etched undated Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand.


----------



## freestoke

That SWR sounds pretty good -- but think I'll bolster it with some Happy Bogie. p

I used to love zap2it, to look ahead for upcoming tv shows, find out what channel things were going to show up on. This was very useful for odd programs, like world darts championships, figure skating, or re-runs of old mystery series like Poirot or MacBride. A few months ago, they decided that one had to register before they'd let you use the search feature, but each month the date when registrations would be available kept being put off a month. Now, there's a sign-in, where you can get it with facebook, but no way to register for a zap2it account. :ask: Yet another site that demands that you be assimilated into facebook. It's annoying. Like Captain Picard, I fully intend to resist even though it might be futile.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I've packed a bowl of HV in my Peterson green-spray sterling silver military mount, but being with my wife in California, I doubt I will find anywhere to smoke it other than in the car.

We are heading to Duarte from Riverside today, then to OC in two days, and then to Palm Desert. Pray for me yall... these highways are insane here.


As an aside... the other afternoon my wife and I were enjoying some food and beer at a California brewpub. We were sitting outside at the patio in hopes of enjoying a pipe. There were no smoking signs everywhere on the patio so I didn't light up. The waitress noticed my pipe and asked if I was smoking. I said, "No. I saw the signs." She told me that once the other table left, if the patio was empty except for my table to go ahead and smoke. I did. It was good. She got a 33% tip.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking Peretti’s B-94 in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## quo155

While working on an invoice early this morning in my gun shop, I enjoyed a very nice bowl of C&D Mississippi Mud in a MM Country Gentleman. This tobacco is one of my many favorites!


----------



## JimInks

Not too far from finishing this bowl of MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## JimInks

White Knight in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Sir Walter Raleigh in medium bend grain etched undated Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand.


----------



## quo155

@JimInks - Jim, you have an interesting schedule! - I'm just observing...not picking!

Great selections...I like following you to search some of the stuff you smoke...

No morning "pipe" smoke for me, I'm having a cigar before yard work!


----------



## freestoke

After snipping off a couple of inches worth of Happy Bogie dimes, I spent one with Sir Walter Raleigh for a smoke in the Legend Forever.


----------



## JimInks

quo155 said:


> @JimInks - Jim, you have an interesting schedule! - I'm just observing...not picking!
> 
> Great selections...I like following you to search some of the stuff you smoke...
> 
> No morning "pipe" smoke for me, I'm having a cigar before yard work!


Thank you for the kind words. I guess I do have an interesting schedule because I work at home and like working late. It's quieter at night, fewer distractions, better radio most of the time, and I'm _used_ to it!


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank. Next is Bob's Square Cut in a 2013 bent MM Missouri Pride Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Va/Bur #2 in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305. I hate to brag, but I'd buy this one, even if I am saying so myself.


----------



## JustTroItIn

Had a few bowls of PA mixed with tobacco salad from the pipe plate in an MM Legend while cutting the grass.


----------



## Bruck

Having a bowl of MacBaren Flake in one of my brand new MMs (just picked up a 10-pack of MM 2nds). It was a morning smoke but it's rolled over into the p.m.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I can't wait to go back to New Mexico where we let people be.

I'm in California. I had a bowl of Peterson Christmas Blend from two years ago (this stuff smells wonderful), I'm smoking on a private balcony, upstairs, where no-one on the street could even smell anything, and everyone that walks by either tells me that I'm killing myself and anyone else around, or they make "stinky-face" and wave their hands in front of their faces...they are across the street, down one floor, and UPWIND!!! There is no way they could smell anything. 

I hate California, and all the smug, self righteous bastards here. I wanna go back to the land of the outlaws, where folks are polite and mind their own business.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Peterson 3Ps in a smooth briar calabash shape 1984 Fero Danese made in Italy. Have enough for one more bowl.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Solani Silver Flake in a 1984 three quarter bend medium brown Ascorti KS Business Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Heine's Blend in the second pipe I ever bought ($2.49), a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the very first pipe I ever smoked (which was my father’s pipe), a late 1950s smooth with etched grooves straight Willard long stem ajustomatic Billiard.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some more McClelland Dark Cherry Cordial in a Graco Ocean ipe:


----------



## JustTroItIn

Some Royal Yacht in my rusticated bent Capri basket pipe.


----------



## freestoke

Tobias Lutz said:


> Some more McClelland Dark Cherry Cordial in a Graco Ocean ipe:


For some reason, I read that as a *Grabow Ocean*, and was amazed that they made such a bodacious stem. :lol:

Watching the St.Jude Classic and thinking about an Old Mil to sooth my pain racked body. :beerchug: I actually felt a LOT better later on after my fall on the 10th hole yesterday, and today it's almost as if it never happened. HOWEVER, I managed to kick the door jamb and possibly broke my left little toe letting a cat out in the middle of the night. Probably no golf for a week or so.

To go with that Old Mil, I think I'll be hitting a bowl of Happy Bogie-bolstered PA. p


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> For some reason, I read that as a *Grabow Ocean*, and was amazed that they made such a bodacious stem.


:lol: I like my Grabows, but I don't see them making anything like that any time soon. I hope you feel better soon, Jim!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

JimInks said:


> Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the very first pipe I ever smoked (which was my father's pipe), a late 1950s smooth with etched grooves straight Willard long stem ajustomatic Billiard.


I would love to see a picture of that vintage pipe :nod:


----------



## JimInks

Tobias Lutz said:


> I would love to see a picture of that vintage pipe :nod:


I'll try to do that soon. In the past, I had bad luck posting pics here, but I'll see if it'll work next time.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic military mount 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Semois in a straight 2012 MM Pony Express cob. Next is Wilderness in a 1949 medium bend black Dunhill Shell.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s B-94 in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Solani 633 in a 2014 smooth quarter bend Basil Meadows horn. This finishes the tin. Now, I have to find a new tobacco for this excellent smoking pipe!


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Peterson's 3P in a Dr. Grabow smooth, straight Royalton ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Burley #2 in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Royal in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Classic Burley Kake in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## freestoke

The Legend Forever, the Tilbury, the coffee. It's US Open week! :chk

I'm pulling for Jimenez!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

The two day drive back home to New Mexico starts within the HOUR!

I had a great time with my family and the inlaws. I'd also like to thank the California tobacco Nazi's for not lynching me.

It's been days since I've had a smoke. Instead of a pipe this morning, I will celebrate with a Tat cigar once the wife and I hit the road.


----------



## JustTroItIn

El wedo del milagro said:


> The two day drive back home to New Mexico starts within the HOUR!
> 
> I had a great time with my family and the inlaws. I'd also like to thank the California tobacco Nazi's for not lynching me.
> 
> It's been days since I've had a smoke. Instead of a pipe this morning, I will celebrate with a Tat cigar once the wife and I hit the road.


Drive safe and enjoy that cigar.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

JustTroItIn said:


> Drive safe and enjoy that cigar.


Thanks!

I've never tried a Tatauje before. It's a Tat Miami, and I'm looking forward to it.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished this bowl of BRG in a 1978 smooth three quarter bend Danish Special. Next will be Peretti's #333 in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Old San Francisco in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

McClelland Dark Cherry Cordial in my 1976 Bicentennial Venturi ipe:

View attachment 86091


----------



## freestoke

Yowzah, Tobias! I had a "the pipe" once upon a time, about 1962 or thereabouts. Do you put your Venturi in the dishwasher or just wash it in the sink like I did? :lol:

A 4Dot of Tilbury and coffee. :cp Wet and windy today, so I wouldn't be playing in any case. The weather is cooperating with my left toe recovery schedule. :smile:


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a smooth briar calabash shaped Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier JR Fait Main with a horn ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren HH Acadian Perique in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair.


----------



## JimInks

Sir Walter Raleigh in a smooth three quarter bend 1979 Ben Wade Golden Matt freehand sitter.


----------



## madbricky

Had an unusual buffet today. Started with 1776 Country store in a Patriot cob then Sterling Hunnicut in TV Churchwarden and finally filled up my huge Alpha free hand with Match Edgeworth ready rub for the rest of the day.


----------



## JustTroItIn

Had some Larry's Blend on the way to work. Good morning tobacco.


----------



## freestoke

Packin' Tilbury this morning, in a freshly reamed and cleaned Legend employing Emperor Zurg's amazing Bullet Blade Tamper (Thanks! :yo Coffee, coffee, coffee and Open coverage! :cp


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Court of St. James in a 1970s smooth medium bend Stanwell Rego 969-48 Design Choice 837 sitter with a vulcanite stem and ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Burley #1 in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## freestoke

The 4Dot gets the early call, from the Magic Jar of Tilbury, that seems to have an unlimited supply of tobacco in it. I really packed this is there and more keeps fluffing up from the bottom! :shock: I think I have created flake. :lol:


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> The 4Dot gets the early call, from the Magic Jar of Tilbury, that seems to have an unlimited supply of tobacco in it. I really packed this is there and more keeps fluffing up from the bottom! :shock: *I think I have created flake.* :lol:


On the subject of creating flakes inadvertently, is it possible to create a flake out of burley? Just curious as I _may have_ slightly overpacked a small jar (pint sized? I really don't recall at the moment). Of burley without bite tobacco blend (from havana connections if you were wondering)
This overpacking was done sometime in January or February, haven't opened it since.


----------



## freestoke

Er999 said:


> On the subject of creating flakes inadvertently, is it possible to create a flake out of burley?


Solani Aged Burley Flake, aka ABF. :smile:


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> Solani Aged Burley Flake, aka ABF. :smile:


...well that answers that....maybe I'll let that jar sit for a few more months before cracking it open and seeing what if anything happened. Thanks!


----------



## tmoran

Er999 said:


> ...well that answers that....maybe I'll let that jar sit for a few more months before cracking it open and seeing what if anything happened. Thanks!


If it turns out anything like ABF, I am stealing your recipe.


----------



## Er999

tmoran said:


> If it turns out anything like ABF, I am stealing your recipe.


:lol: well first I'd have to try ABF (or send it to someone who can do a taste test of both) but well....eh who knows :dunno: when I pop it open we'll see what it's like. (And before you attempt to steal :nono: please ask first!)

And speaking of taste test: _*when is the annual blind taste test!!! *_It's halfway through June by now!!! :hmm:


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Test VaPer in a 2003 medium bent straight grain Two dot 2 P. Ardor Venere Extra Bucaneve with a silver ferrule signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## freestoke

Think it's going to be a nice day for a change! :smile: Might even play tomorrow, but it's windy and not quite warm enough today -- plus, I'd like one more day to get the left toe completely okay. Got new Titleist ProV1's for my birthday, with "WEIRD" printed on them. :biglaugh: Back in my playing days, I was known as Dr. Weird. :first: I even have a piece of the golf course named after me at Rome Country Club (or used to). There was actually a map in the clubhouse of the course, with a path through the woods from the fourth green back to the practice range and clubhouse named "Dr. Weird Memorial Pathway". There is a story involved. :nod:

I was playing in some tournament or another and I had a police officer's scorecard. At the fourth hole, he had a birdie putt of about 10 feet, hit it by about 3 feet, one-handed a miss that went 3 feet by, stabbed at it one handed and bounced it back where it hit his foot, tried to kick it in, missed, then stuck his hand in the hole and raked it into the cup -- er, hand. :shock: There was some discussion later in the clubhouse (not official, just laughing over a few beers) concerning what his score actually was, because I wasn't sure I didn't leave out a backhand or something. Estimates varied from 11 to 16. :lol: At the time, Lou told me "Five". I was stuck. Do I suggest that he recount? Do I take it up with the tournament committee later? Of COURSE not! I am NOT going to get a speeding ticket and be hassled by the Rome cops for the rest of my life over a golf score, so I did the only reasonable thing -- I said nothing, wrote noting, and gave the card to the player keeping my score and walked back to the clubhouse, via the "Dr. Weird Memorial Pathway", and ordered a beer. :beerchug: 

Going for some of the limitless supply of Tilbury in the never-emptying mason jar. p


----------



## JimInks

The last of this batch of Sir Walter Raleigh in medium bend grain etched undated Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand.


----------



## freestoke

I'm starting to be annoyed by the "EXTANT" ads. What contrived nonsense, with the odd pronunciation to get your attention. While conspiracy theorists would attribute this to some clever advertising subterfuge, I think it's more a matter of stupidity. Practically everything that people think is a devious plot is merely a product of ignorant, lazy, slow-witted people screwing up. My guess is that the people who came up with the title thought that they were inventing a new word, giving it their own version of how it might be pronounced.

Exercising the TwoDot Canadian with some Tilbury. The Sasieni is smoking quite nicely this morning! p


----------



## quo155

@freestoke...I loved your golf story, funny stuff!

This morning, I am enjoying GLP Lagonda in a MM-CG.

Today...will be a day filled with more, work!


----------



## freestoke

quo155 said:


> @freestoke...I loved your golf story, funny stuff!
> 
> This morning, I am enjoying GLP Lagonda in a MM-CG.
> 
> Today...will be a day filled with more, work!


Thanks, Tommy! :yo: I won this tournament at some point and brought the trophy to work. Audrey thought "Low Gross Male" was so funny that she took up the game herself. Two (one?) years later she won her first "Low Gross Female" trophy. :lol: It's a monkey see, monkey do game. I think it's almost impossible to learn to play well if you don't play frequently with good players (5 handicap or less).

I'm gonna burn some SWR and a tickle of Happy Bogie in the Legend Forever. p


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking MacBaren HH Highland Blend in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker. Welch's Farmer's Pick Grape Juice is my drink. Strange combo there, but it's working so far!


----------



## JimInks

Peretti's #333 in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Peterson 3Ps in a smooth briar calabash shape 1984 Fero Danese made in Italy.


----------



## JimInks

Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

MacBaren Old Dark Fired Flake in Savinelli Toscana










*Happy Father's Day, gentlemen!*


----------



## rpb16

quo155 said:


> @freestoke...I loved your golf story, funny stuff!
> 
> This morning, I am enjoying GLP Lagonda in a MM-CG.
> 
> Today...will be a day filled with more, work!


Seems you and I cant get enough of this combination. Lagonda in a mm mp this morning and its treating me perfectly.

Funny this was probably my least favorite GLP blend too(ive had lagonda, piccadily, jk rr, embarcadero, westminster and sextant). But it hasreally grown on me. Im not a huge fan of latakia blends, not enjoying the mouthfeel or overpowering nature too much, but this weed has so much more going on than just smoky latakia. Just an absolutely delicious blend, i know greg claims it isnt a sweet blend, but there is something decadent about this tobacco. Hmmm *puff*, good stuff.

Have a grabo omega loaded with some orlick golden slice loaded and next at bat. Good sunday morning for sure


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a Falcon during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Nachman

Er999 said:


> On the subject of creating flakes inadvertently, is it possible to create a flake out of burley? Just curious as I _may have_ slightly overpacked a small jar (pint sized? I really don't recall at the moment). Of burley without bite tobacco blend (from havana connections if you were wondering)
> This overpacking was done sometime in January or February, haven't opened it since.


Flakes are made in a steam press with heat then slicing the resultant plugs. I have packed jars as tight as possible and left them for years and still didn't have flakes.


----------



## Er999

Nachman said:


> Flakes are made in a steam press with heat then slicing the resultant plugs. I have packed jars as tight as possible and left them for years and still didn't have flakes.


Ah, what a pity....it would have been real nice otherwise....then again, if it were that easy, _everyone_ would have access to their own homemade flakes.
Thanks for straightening me out.


----------



## quo155

rpb16 said:


> Seems you and I cant get enough of this combination. Lagonda in a mm mp this morning and its treating me perfectly.
> 
> Funny this was probably my least favorite GLP blend too(ive had lagonda, piccadily, jk rr, embarcadero, westminster and sextant). But it hasreally grown on me. Im not a huge fan of latakia blends, not enjoying the mouthfeel or overpowering nature too much, but this weed has so much more going on than just smoky latakia. Just an absolutely delicious blend, i know greg claims it isnt a sweet blend, but there is something decadent about this tobacco. Hmmm *puff*, good stuff.
> 
> Have a grabo omega loaded with some orlick golden slice loaded and next at bat. Good sunday morning for sure


This is true...I can not seem to get enough (or tired) of GLP's Lagonada. I absolutely love latakia's though...the woodsy/smokey points in it are the best, to me! I can see how there is some sweetness within...it's slowly become a daily regular for me.

But, for now...as I just finished up a great cigar and some hard apple cider...I am firing up some more of this Altadis Cream Soda in a MM-CG.

I am sure some Lagonda will follow sometime this afternoon...

*Happy Fathers Day pipe puffers!*


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Flakes are made in a steam press with heat then slicing the resultant plugs. I have packed jars as tight as possible and left them for years and still didn't have flakes.


Y'all know I was kidding about creating flake in the mason jar, right? :lol: I was just joking about how much I'd managed to stuff in there.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

Solani Silver Flake in a 1984 three quarter bend medium brown Ascorti KS Business Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Lord of the Manor in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished with this bowl of Escudo in a 1984 black sandblasted straight Dunhill Shell 4103 Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

White Knight in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a 1980 black rusticated rough top Jobey E27 Stromboli extra ball-shaped poker.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## freestoke

As any puffer here knows, I put recreational jet skiers, snowmobilers, and ATV riders in the same class as those who abuse animals, play radios on the golf course, and drive 5 mph under the speed limit for no good reason. It seems an especially harsh dose of fate to find an old ATV tire dumped by my mailbox this morning. Now I have to deal with throwing it away, because these lowlifes waste their money on motorized entertainment instead of paying for garbage pickup. Much easier to dump your trash out of the pickup truck into other people's yards, eh?. :rant: I think they should be fair game for pellet guns or 22 short plinking, so the rest of us can derive some enjoyment from their mindless, noisy self-gratification.

Tilbury gets the call again, this time from the TwoDot Canadian. p


----------



## NeverBend

freestoke said:


> :rant: I think they should be fair game for pellet guns or 22 short plinking, so the rest of us can derive some enjoyment from their mindless, noisy self-gratification.


I with you! Can I bring over my raccoons and mail box bangers?


----------



## JustTroItIn

freestoke said:


> As any puffer here knows, I put recreational jet skiers, snowmobilers, and ATV riders in the same class as those who abuse animals, play radios on the golf course, and drive 5 mph under the speed limit for no good reason. It seems an especially harsh dose of fate to find an old ATV tire dumped by my mailbox this morning. Now I have to deal with throwing it away, because these lowlifes waste their money on motorized entertainment instead of paying for garbage pickup. Much easier to dump your trash out of the pickup truck into other people's yards, eh?. :rant: I think they should be fair game for pellet guns or 22 short plinking, so the rest of us can derive some enjoyment from their mindless, noisy self-gratification.
> 
> Tilbury gets the call again, this time from the TwoDot Canadian. p


Yikes!....guess I shouldn't mention what it is I like to do for fun. :behindsofa:

Sorry some low life dumped their trash on you.

MM American Patriot in an MM Great Dane with Forever Stem for me tonight.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Cuban Mixture in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

HGL in a 1990 Peterson Irish Second Oom Paul natural.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

I had some of the new SG Spring Flake in a MM cob. ipe:


----------



## swamper

Some GL Pease triple play in my Storient meerschaum. I'm really starting to enjoy this tobacco.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of 50/50 rum twist/PA in a falcon during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> As any puffer here knows, I put recreational jet skiers, snowmobilers, and ATV riders in the same class as those who abuse animals, play radios on the golf course, and drive 5 mph under the speed limit for no good reason. It seems an especially harsh dose of fate to find an old ATV tire dumped by my mailbox this morning. Now I have to deal with throwing it away, because these lowlifes waste their money on motorized entertainment instead of paying for garbage pickup. Much easier to dump your trash out of the pickup truck into other people's yards, eh?. :rant: I think they should be fair game for pellet guns or 22 short plinking, so the rest of us can derive some enjoyment from their mindless, noisy self-gratification.


I'll have you know, I have snowmobiles and a 2 cycle dirt bike and I also love Jet Skis and Seadoos!  

WIIINGGGG-NING-NING-NING!!...WIIINGGGG-NING-NING-NING-NING!!....BWAAAAAAAAAWHAAAAAAAAWHAAAAAAAaaaaa!!!!!!!

But I've never thrown an old tire on some grumpy guy's front lawn... 
AND, as my driving record will attest, I'm never the guy going 5 UNDER the limit. Usually 10 over.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank. Next is half a bowl of Bright CR Plug in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer, which finishes the sample.


----------



## Desertlifter

FVF in the Tsuge on deck. On my deck, to whit.


----------



## JimInks

HU Balkan Passion in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Archduke Ferdinand in a 1979 no name French briar smooth full bend egg.


----------



## JimInks

Couple of minutes away from ending my smoking day with a bowl of BRG in a 1978 smooth three quarter bend Danish Special.


----------



## freestoke

A musketball of Tilbury in the 4Dot, wondering why there's a week of xmas movies on TV starting July 4th. :ask:


----------



## quo155

freestoke said:


> A musketball of Tilbury in the 4Dot, wondering why there's a week of xmas movies on TV starting July 4th. :ask:


"Christmas in July" Jim...you know, another retailers' holiday!

No pipe for me this morning...hopefully this afternoon!


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Sunday Picnic in a Petersons green-spray sterling silver military mount during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot. Have enough for one more bowl.


----------



## NeverBend

2014 *Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake* in a 1983* James Upshall bX* straight grain billiard saddle with a gold band.


----------



## NeverBend

2014 *Germain's Royal Jersey* in a 1981 *Mastro de Paja 1C *sandblasted lovat.


----------



## freestoke

This morning, a lesson in fuzzy thinking. For years, I pulled, then pushed a cart. True, I could carry extra clothing, a first aid kit, 30 balls that keep piling up as I find them walking down the edge of the fairway. (Audrey always throws me her finds, too.) I hit a few away into practice range off the first tee while waiting to tee off, but I can't seem to get rid of them as fast as I find them. (I have HUNDREDS of useless golf balls, fully half brand new...anybody like a dozen new Warbirds, Noodles or TopFlites? :lol: )

But back to the cart. Yesterday I carried a light bag with an extra ball and glove, 13 clubs, tees, and the Course Legend for nubbing my cigar. It was a delight. No back pain, no tough pushing through the high grass between the tee and the fairway. What have I been THINKING all these years? :dunno: The cart goes into the garage forthwith. :nod

This morning, it's a cannonball of Tilbury in the Ser Jacopo, reducing the Tilbury stores to no more than three small Legends' worth.


----------



## Desertlifter

Big (for me) bowl of FVF this morning in my cobwarden.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Escudo (my favorite VaPer) in a Peterson green-spray sterling silver military mount during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Smoking the last of this sample of Pipeworks and Wilke #515 in a straight 2012 Rekamepip made Sugar Barrel pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Jim's Burley #1 in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg. Next is HU Khoisaan in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## JimInks

I looked into my crystal ball and saw that the next smoke waiting for me will be Peretti’s Cuban Mixture in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles. Might as well list it now!


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Peretti’s B-94 in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe. Next will be MacBaren Plum Cake in a 1979 no name French briar smooth full bend egg.


----------



## JimInks

A few moments away from smoking HU Makhuwa in a black 1980 sandblasted Peterson Premiere 01 medium bend apple.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a smooth 1977 Medley (GBD second) medium bend billiard with a flat underside.


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a smooth briar calabash shaped Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier JR Fait Main with a horn ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking BRG in a 1983 Ben Wade Duo 65 smooth Poker.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished Peretti’s B-94 in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a Forever MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Black Noble in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob. Next is Klondike Gold in a 1980 Stanwell 668 medium bend with a ferrule, half black sandblasted, half brown smooth, rough top.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## NeverBend

JimInks said:


> A couple of minutes away from smoking Peretti's Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


Morning Jim,

You're one of the most eclectic (variety of tobacco mixtures) that I've ever seen. Kudos.

2014 *Escudo Navy De Luxe* in a 1963 *Barling #6106* sandblasted billiard taper.


----------



## JimInks

HU Nashville County in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Escudo in a 1984 black sandblasted straight Dunhill Shell 4103 Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Heine's Blend in the third pipe I ever bought ($1.95), a 1974 smooth straight French briar Hadley Apple. Next is HU Fayyum Kake in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a 2003 Stanwell Golden Danish 56 Rusticated Canadian.


----------



## JimInks

The Smoker’s Saint James in a 1970s smooth medium bend Stanwell Rego 969-48 Design Choice 837 sitter with a vulcanite stem and ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a bit early: Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## freestoke

When you play golf, you almost anthropomorphize your equipment, treating it like it understands English. I don't think much of that goes on other sports, at least not to the extent that you actually start to talk to your clubs and balls. "Get DOWN!!" "Break, break, break!!!" "Okay, ball, there's the hole..." "My driver hates me." I had a somewhat insane golfing friend (the best kind, of course), who would place each of his clubs in a different room overnight, to punish them after a bad round. "Golf clubs don't like to be alone." People just don't say things like that about tennis rackets or football pads, at least as far as I know. Think "Caddyshack". There's Ted Knight with his putter, "OOO BILLY Billy billy...", and it's funny, but...understandable. People know that this really is the sort of depraved mentality that golf can induce. 

I'll finish this Legend Forever of Tilbury and SWR and be back with another revelation sure to alter the course of Western Civilization.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm draggin' ass today. I had to close last night and open this morning.

I had a bowl of Escudo in a cob while driving to work this morning, and it sure helped wake me up.


----------



## tmoran

freestoke said:


> When you play golf, you almost anthropomorphize your equipment, treating it like it understands English. I don't think much of that goes on other sports, at least not to the extent that you actually start to talk to your clubs and balls. "Get DOWN!!" "Break, break, break!!!" "Okay, ball, there's the hole..." "My driver hates me." I had a somewhat insane golfing friend (the best kind, of course), who would place each of his clubs in a different room overnight, to punish them after a bad round. "Golf clubs don't like to be alone." People just don't say things like that about tennis rackets or football pads, at least as far as I know. Think "Caddyshack". There's Ted Knight with his putter, "OOO BILLY Billy billy...", and it's funny, but...understandable. People know that this really is the sort of depraved mentality that golf can induce.
> 
> I'll finish this Legend Forever of Tilbury and SWR and be back with another revelation sure to alter the course of Western Civilization.


I've never met a golfer that didn't at least talk to the ball while in the air, but the idea that the clubs are pack animals never occurred to me. Maybe the problem with my game all these years is I haven't been properly disciplining my gear.


----------



## freestoke

tmoran said:


> I've never met a golfer that didn't at least talk to the ball while in the air, but the idea that the clubs are pack animals never occurred to me. Maybe the problem with my game all these years is I haven't been properly disciplining my gear.


Gotta slap 'em around a little, to make 'em pay attention. :nod: And make the other clubs watch. :evil:


----------



## JimInks

Vincent Manil La Brumeuse Semois in a straight 2012 MM Pony Express cob.


----------



## JimInks

Going to list my next smoke a little early: Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Wilderness in a 1949 medium bend black Dunhill Shell.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Jim's Va/Bur #2 in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Half&Half/Per in a 1970s slight bend Caminetto business 134 poker with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## Branzig

First pipe in over a month...I am nervous and very excited!!!! My morning coffee just hasn't been nearly as tasty without my pipe to go along with it! :hc

Gonna light up a big bowled Savinelli with some Sammy G Navy Flake. Oh how I have missed some delicious latakia!

While puffing away, I am looking over the layout of a course I am playing this afternoon. First time out to this one, looks pretty straight and open, but they make up for the lack of trees with about a *ba-zillion bunkers!* Looks like course management will be the key to this one...I foresee a lot of hybrid and 3 wood shots off the tee box. I also am down to only 2 Srixon Q-stars! I hope my order comes in soon! These have quickly become my favorite ball. They have decent anti-spin qualities off the tee and great feel and spin with lower speed green side work.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Today is a day off of work.

Kat and I finished breakfast and coffee. I'm smoking a bowl of FVF in a green-spray Peterson military mount.

It's 95 degrees here and only 11 am! (It's never this hot here.) I see clouds on the horizon, and I'm praying the monsoon rains will start and cool it down. Kat and I are having a beer and deciding what we will do with our day... so far the ideas are either fishing at Cabresto lake, or going for a hike.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Branzig said:


> First pipe in over a month...I am nervous and very excited!!!! My morning coffee just hasn't been nearly as tasty without my pipe to go along with it! :hc
> 
> Gonna light up a big bowled Savinelli with some Sammy G Navy Flake. Oh how I have missed some delicious latakia!


Hey, Branzig's back!!
Good to hear from you again



Branzig said:


> ...they make up for the lack of trees with about a *ba-zillion bunkers!*


More golftalk... you mean bunkers like this?
Must be hard to hit the ball with a bunch of fat guys all over the place...


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in a 1979 smooth slight bend H. Jones Ltd. Easy Loader 391 Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Va/Bur #1 in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1981 Century full bend natural egg. I've enough for one more bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a 1980 three quarter bend briar Butz-Choquin 55 skull bowl pipe.


----------



## Branzig

Emperor Zurg said:


> Hey, Branzig's back!!
> Good to hear from you again


Thanks! It is good to be back!



Emperor Zurg said:


> More golftalk... you mean bunkers like this?
> Must be hard to hit the ball with a bunch of fat guys all over the place...


:lol:

There mine as of been a bunch of fat dudes in the way! The group in front of us played at such a ridiculously slow pace with no etiquette at all that we almost gave up on the last 3 holes...It was atrocious. Sometimes 5 minutes waiting to tee off. Coming around the turn, I had time to go to the restroom, get water and a beer, drink half the beer, and they still hadn't teed off :bored:

About to have a quick bowl of CH


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> There mine as of been a bunch of fat dudes in the way! The group in front of us played at such a ridiculously slow pace with no etiquette at all that we almost gave up on the last 3 holes...It was atrocious. Sometimes 5 minutes waiting to tee off. Coming around the turn, I had time to go to the restroom, get water and a beer, drink half the beer, and they still hadn't teed off :bored:
> 
> About to have a quick bowl of CH


PA in a newly drafted Country Gentleman. Corny. p

What amazed me is how much time slow players waste for no reason whatsoever. Instead of hitting, they're telling jokes while they stand there with the ball teed up. Instead of having their club out, ready to hit, they sit there watching until another player has hit, THEN go to the bag, put on the glove, take practice swings, start thinking about the yardage, more practice swings (like it would help)...they could have done all that while the other guy was hitting! :rant:And there is nothing more annoying than watching the panzer division circling in the rough looking for a golf ball. GET OUT OF THE CART AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE IT, YOU IDIOTS! Apparently bad golfers are also terrified of being alone while they hit a shot, and need the comfort and support of the other three players nearby; forfend that they should actually be at one of the other player's ball getting ready to hit. No. Too fast. They have to sit and ride over as a unit to the next ball, on the other side of the fairway.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> PA in a newly drafted Country Gentleman. Corny. p
> 
> What amazed me is how much time slow players waste for no reason whatsoever. Instead of hitting, they're telling jokes while they stand there with the ball teed up. Instead of having their club out, ready to hit, they sit there watching until another player has hit, THEN go to the bag, put on the glove, take practice swings, start thinking about the yardage, more practice swings (like it would help)...they could have done all that while the other guy was hitting! :rant:And there is nothing more annoying than watching the panzer division circling in the rough looking for a golf ball. GET OUT OF THE CART AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE IT, YOU IDIOTS! Apparently bad golfers are also terrified of being alone while they hit a shot, and need the comfort and support of the other three players nearby; forfend that they should actually be at one of the other player's ball getting ready to hit. No. Too fast. They have to sit and ride over as a unit to the next ball, on the other side of the fairway.


You litterally just summed up the group I played behind yesterday :biglaugh:

Especially the panzer division analogy! The course I played has a ton of tall field grass in the rough, and these lunatics would try to drive through it and look and look and look forever...99% of the time they were looking for it out of bounds...it is OB for a reason!! It is unplayable! Of course, once they found their ball they would continue to try to hack through the knee high grass to get it out :mad2: Not kidding, I watched this guy take 5 strokes to get 60 yards out of that stuff...then he shanked it into a bunker :frusty:


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> I watched this guy take 5 strokes to get 60 yards out of that stuff...then he shanked it into a bunker :frusty:


He should have been in his pocket before the shank. There should be a rule stating that one is not allowed to take more than 8 shots to play a hole. After the eighth shot is struck and it doesn't go in, pick it up and try to do better on the next hole. It should work like the one ball rule, except in reverse. If you're in a real tournament, anything goes, but for everyday match play, the marshal should escort anyone taking nine shots to play a hole off the course forthwith.







I personally have it in my pocket after hitting it 6 times, since it's all I can put on my scorecard for handicap purposes and it's a lost hole in a match 99% of the time anyhow. I really wish the USGA would promote this idea a little more in their ads intended to speed up play, ie, once you've hit your stroke control PUT IT IN YOU POCKET! Those 50 players on the course behind you shouldn't be punished by having to wait for you to hit what amounts to practice shots. And in matches, once you've won/lost the hole, PICK IT UP! And that affects the pace of play by PICKING IT UP!! :director:

Smoking a bowl of ODF in the TwoDot Canadians, getting ready to head for the par3 and practice some. Too windy for the regular course. It would be a real grind.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> He should have been in his pocket before the shank. There should be a rule stating that one is not allowed to take more than 8 shots to play a hole. After the eighth shot is struck and it doesn't go in, pick it up and try to do better on the next hole. It should work like the one ball rule, except in reverse. If you're in a real tournament, anything goes, but for everyday match play, the marshal should escort anyone taking nine shots to play a hole off the course forthwith.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I personally have it in my pocket after hitting it 6 times, since it's all I can put on my scorecard for handicap purposes and it's a lost hole in a match 99% of the time anyhow. I really wish the USGA would promote this idea a little more in their ads intended to speed up play, ie, once you've hit your stroke control PUT IT IN YOU POCKET! Those 50 players on the course behind you shouldn't be punished by having to wait for you to hit what amounts to practice shots. And in matches, once you've won/lost the hole, PICK IT UP! And that affects the pace of play by PICKING IT UP!! :director:
> 
> Smoking a bowl of ODF in the TwoDot Canadians, getting ready to head for the par3 and practice some. Too windy for the regular course. It would be a real grind.


Words to live by Jim.

When the course is busy, there is just no reason to be taking 10-15 shots a hole! It's ludicrous. There are so many ways to speed up play without effecting your game. If I build a snowman on the course, I also pick up and cut my loses on the hole.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Rinaldo Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Straight Grain egg.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s B-94 in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## JimInks

A moment or two away from smoking Solani 131 in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## Branzig

Back to work today...I had a 3 day weekend but now play time is over! :lol:

I decided I wanted something a little Lakelandy with my coffee with morning, so a quick bowl of Kendall Flake before I head off to work.


----------



## freestoke

The overworked 4Dot never complains, now happily burning some ODF. Pumping down the coffee this morning, thinking ahead to tonight, when we'll be going to the Rome Capitol Theater to watch Young Frankenstein on the big screen! :banana:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> He should have been in his pocket before the shank. There should be a rule stating that one is not allowed to take more than 8 shots to play a hole. After the eighth shot is struck and it doesn't go in, pick it up and try to do better on the next hole.
> 
> Smoking a bowl of ODF...


This is why I do not play golf. I have yet to find pants whose pockets will comfortably hold 18 golf balls.

ODF in a Forever Pride.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of ODF in a Dr G during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking HU Imagine in a 1998 smooth medium bend Peterson Limerick 69 with a nickel band.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

HU Nashville County in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin. I've enough for one more bowl as I'm smoking up some of my open tins and baggies.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in a 1990s slight bend black Sasieni 4 Dot Ruff Root Dark 4 Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti's #333 in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Dark burley in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

St. James Flake in a straight sandblasted pre-transition Barling Exel 249 Fossil T.V.F. black billiard with a silver band and military bit.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Anniversary Kake in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49. This finishes the tin. I have more in the cellar, so I'll revisit the blend probably next year.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## JimInks

Peacehaven in a 2014 smooth quarter bend Basil Meadows horn.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JimInks

Smoker's Haven Cognac in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Cuban Mixture in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Compton’s Macedonian Mixture in a 2003 URAL full bend big bowl egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Bird's Eye Flake in a Falcon during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

HU Makhuwa in a black 1980 sandblasted Peterson Premiere 01 medium bend apple. I've enough for one more bowl as I'm smoking up blends I'm running low on.


----------



## JimInks

HU Imagine in a 1998 smooth medium bend Peterson Limerick 69 with a nickel band. I've enough for one more bowl as I'm smoking up blends I'm running low on.


----------



## JimInks

Full Virginia Plug in a smooth 2002 medium bend flame grain Rinaldo Collection Silver Line silver spigot 10 Egea 03 Titania. This finishes the sample.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Bird's Eye Flake in a Hilson Vintage bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Bob's Chocolate Flake in a 1970s slight bend black sandblasted Comoy's Silver Cloud 624.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking MacBaren HH Acadian Perique in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair. Still working, still drinking ice water, and listening to _The Falcon_ from my own collection of radio shows. Next will be _The Challenge of the Yukon_.


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Lane HS-3 in a Chacom Manet ipe:

Nothin' like headin' back to work after a four day weekend.


----------



## Branzig

Lighting up a bowl of FVF while cleaning up the clubs. ipe:

Today will be a marathon. 36 holes. My first 18 this morning is a charity scramble that should be a lot of fun. It is on a nice open course that isn't too long and has few hazards. The next 18 will be a bruiser. Supposed to get close 100 degrees this afternoon and I will be playing one of the tougher courses around. Tight fairways, lots of hazards and dense vegetation with trees on either side...

It'll be like going from mini golf to the PGA :lol: But I am still looking forward to it. Your worst day golfing is still better than going to work :thumb:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I have a day off from work today. I haven't had a smoke yet, just some snuff. The wife and I are headed down to Taos today... I'll have a cigar during the drive. Probably a Oliveros King Habano robusto.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of MacBaren Scottish Blend in a very ugly reddish color 1980 medium bend Lorenzo Leganza Sigma 8635 etched rough top.


----------



## JimInks

Wessex Burley Slices in a slight bend rusticated 1979 Savinelli Estella 310 poker. This finishes this sample.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren HH Acadian Perique in a 2003 medium bent straight grain Two dot 2 P. Ardor Venere Extra Bucaneve with a silver ferrule signed by Dorelio Rovera. Starting to run low on this tobacco, too.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Peretti’s B-94 in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank. This finishes the pouch.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

A bowl of Holiday Excursion in my 1976 Venturi Bicentennial. ipe: Today is our 8th wedding anniversary, so I'm scrambling to get stuff done and hopefully get out of the office early.


----------



## JimInks

Tobias Lutz said:


> A bowl of Holiday Excursion in my 1976 Venturi Bicentennial. ipe: Today is our 8th wedding anniversary, so I'm scrambling to get stuff done and hopefully get out of the office early.


Happy anniversary!!!

I couldn't sleep, so I'm up and smoking Heine's Blend in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Mountain Pass in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

JimInks said:


> Happy anniversary!!!


Thank you, sir! :yo:

And since this is a tobacco forum I feel I must mention that she has never once, in 12 years together, complained about my tobacco usage :biggrin:
(she does ask me to use mouthwash after cigars though :lol: )


----------



## swamper

Tobias Lutz said:


> A bowl of Holiday Excursion in my 1976 Venturi Bicentennial. ipe: Today is our 8th wedding anniversary, so I'm scrambling to get stuff done and hopefully get out of the office early.


Happy Anniversary! Hope you have many more. I've been married for 25 now.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Happy anniversary, Tobias! Eight years already, and yer a youngin'. Congratulations.

Next month will be only a year for Kat and I, but I've liked her since we were twelve (circa late 70's). Good thing I'm patient (heh).

I'm gonna celebrate yer anniversary with a bowl of Anniversary Kake in my Nording freehand.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

El wedo del milagro said:


> Happy anniversary, Tobias! Eight years already, and yer a youngin'. Congratulations.
> 
> Next month will be only a year for Kat and I, but I've liked her since we were twelve (circa late 70's). Good thing I'm patient (heh).
> 
> I'm gonna celebrate yer anniversary with a bowl of Anniversary Kake in my Nording freehand.


Thank you, Mark! I've got some AK open somewhere- I didn't even think about smoking that today.



swamper said:


> Happy Anniversary! Hope you have many more. I've been married for 25 now.


Thanks Doug! 25 years sounds fine to me. We ran into the pastor that married us at a convention a couple weeks ago. We had emailed him some, but hadn't seen him face to face in about 7 years since moving away from the Shenandoah Valley. He said he was so glad to see we were still together, and after we walked away I had to ask my wife whether he said it because so many people get divorced, or just because he never thought very highly of our odds :lol:


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic military mount 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren HH Acadian Perique in an egg shaped medium bend smooth Burgundy colored 1985 Caminetto.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Carter Hall in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Solani 131 in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Lane 1-Q in a Gatlinburlier #76 house pipe ipe: It's hump-day :dude:


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob. Simply Apple is my drink.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Mixture Modern in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

In a break from tradition, I had a Villiger Export Maduro during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a small 1982 three quarter bend meer with a smiling turbaned Turk's head.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051. Working and listening to old radio shows from my personal collection.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Heine's Blend in the third pipe I ever bought ($1.95), a 1974 smooth straight French briar Hadley Apple.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Carter Hall in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Lane LL-7 in a rusticated Leonessa ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## Desertlifter

Blakeney's Best Bayou Sliced in my Stanwell silver band.


----------



## NeverBend

2000 *Rattray's 7 Reserve* in a 1963 *Barling #6109 *sandblasted billiard taper.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early so I can concentrate on work for a while: Three Friars in a 1970s medium bend smooth Ben Wade Golden Walnut. Ice water chilled to the proper temperature with floaty li'l icebergs is my drink.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## JimInks

A short and sweet smoke: Sutliff PS Mountain Pass in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some H&H Daybreak in a Big Ben Classic 702 ipe:

It's finally Friday :dizzy:


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a smooth almost full bend 1981 Briar Workshop round volcano signed by Elliott Nachwalter with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Sunday Picnic in a Falcon during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Cuban Mixture in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## JustTroItIn

SPC Plum Pudding in an MM Great Dane with 4" Forever Stem with a green swirl.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Balkan Saisini in a latakia-dedicated cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

SG Navy Flake in a 2003 IMP horn Meer. This finishes the stash.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti's #333 in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Va/Bur #1 in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville. This finishes this mixture I created.


----------



## JimInks

Solani 131 in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren HH Acadian Perique in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair.


----------



## JimInks

Almost done smoking Heine's Blend in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Peretti's Royal in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg. One of the better English blends on the market. Working and listening to _The Jack Benny Program_ from my personal collection.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2003 black sandblasted medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant blowfish.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Rattray's Sweet and Fragrant in my Zurg Glass Sipper cob. ipe:


----------



## Emperor Zurg

Tobias Lutz said:


> Rattray's Sweet and Fragrant in my Zurg Glass Sipper cob. ipe:


Booyah!!

Just had a bit of Old Dark Fired in my Glass Sipper semi churchwarden ipe:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Tobias Lutz said:


> Rattray's Sweet and Fragrant in my Zurg Glass Sipper cob. ipe:





Emperor Zurg said:


> Booyah!!
> 
> Just had a bit of Old Dark Fired in my Glass Sipper semi churchwarden ipe:



View attachment 86773


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren HH Latakia Flake in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Rattray's Bagpiper's Dream in a Gatlinburlier no.76 housepipe. ipe: Is it just me, or does 4am come earlier than it used to? :frusty:


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Sutliff PS Taste of Spring in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker. @Tobias Lutz, every hour comes faster than it used to, man!


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Jim's Burley #1 in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg.


----------



## JustTroItIn

MM Country Gentleman in an MM Great Dane with Forever Stem while on the way to work.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I have today off from work.

I left the house early this morning with every intention of going trout fishing. But, whilst pondering "Pipe, or Cigar" as the truck was warming up I decided breakfast was of more immediate import. I lit a Man O' War Corona and drove south to Taos to have breakfast at Michaels Kitchen right after they opened. After breakfast I drove to Black Mesa winery's tasting room to pick up a bottle of Black Beauty to share with a retired priest who is a friend of mine.

I parked near the plaza, and walked to his apartment. We sat on his patio and poured the whole bottle into two huge balloon glasses and smoked Chupa Cabras (thanks, penguinhockey!). The wine was drunk much too fast, so we strolled the plaza enjoying our cigars.

We ran into a dude with his wife and the dude asked us if we were locals and then proceded to to grill us about what to see, what to do, etc. The Padre and I (I always call him "Padre" to his face because he is the only Irish priest I know of here, even if he is retired), anyhoo, I try answering his questions as best we can but the dude keeps cutting off and shutting up his wife in front of us. Rude. So the Padre (who sounds like the southern Californian he is) opens his mouth and asks the dude, in the high-heel boots and forty two gallon hat, if he is into cowboy history. What made me have to suppress a chuckle was that the Padre said it in a THICK authentic-sounding Irish accent. The Padre procedes to talk about the Pueblo Revolt when the Pueblo Indians banded together and drive the Spanish outta the region. (All true history so far.) But instead of the story of Onate, the Conquistador, who threw down the Indians and re-conquered the region for Spain, the Padre goes into the spiel (in his thick, fake Irish accent) about how the Irish Catholics showed up to fill the power vacuum. I can't remember all the twists and turns of his story, but it ended with Texas cowboys conquering the Irish with a gatling gun and shooting up the catholic church on the plaza the Irish renamed "Pogue Mahon". At this point I laughed aloud, because I knew pogue mahon means "kiss my ass". The story ended with the cowboys giving the region back to the Spanish, and the Spanish building a statue of the cowboys gatling gun and putting it in the Square. The Padre sent him off to look for the statue, and told me he felt sorry for the dude's wife.

We strolled and smoked some more when a gaggle of hippies passing by commented on how nasty our cigars smelled. I told them, we were using the tobacco as a Spiritual tool to find the exact course of the Ley lines. That ONE line had 'em hooked... I'm a good fisherman. "What Ley lines", they asked. I said the mystery of the "Taos Hum" is linked to ley lines. (The Taos Hum: The Hum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) I said two ley lines cross on the lawn at Our Lady of Guadalupe, and anyone can hear the Hum there, but no-one is sure of where the ley lines actually run, so we are tracing the lines with the help of pure tobacco without additives or chemicals... that's why we are using good cigars. The gaggle of hippies took off for the Square to go hear the Hum on the church lawn. Later when our meandering stroll took us to the Square the gaggle had grown, and a good fifteen (or so) hippies were sitting on the church lawn holding hands in a circle. The padre said, "At least they don't have drums."

I feel like I had a full day before noon.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

@El wedo del milagro

That sounds like a story Hemingway would tell about his time in Paris  You've just helped me realize how boring my days off typically are :lol:


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Three Friars in a 2003 black grain etched Karl Erik Ekstravagant horn with a smooth top.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Plum Cake in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a slight bend black sandblasted Lorenzo Elba Imperia 8636 with an amber colored acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Black Noble in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

G&H Top Black Cherry in a Gatlinburlier no.79 housepipe ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm doing the afternoon/night shift at work today.

I'm sitting at my kitchen table now, with a cup of coffee and a bowl of FVF in a Peterson green spray military mount. I'll have to shower soon and head to work.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early so I can concentrate on work for a while: MacBaren HH Acadian Perique in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Rinaldo Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Straight Grain egg. Should leave me enough for one more bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Compton's Reserve #21 in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls. Have a little more work to do before calling the work day done. Listening to _The Jack Benny Program_.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a smooth medium bend 1970s Savinelli Autograph 4 Dublin with blonde and black lucite ferrule and stem.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Bob's Chocolate Flake in a Vauen maple/walnut Wood. ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Mountain Pass in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

This morning I had a bowl of HV in a MM cob with a Forever stem during my commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the very first pipe I ever smoked (which was my father’s pipe), a late 1950s smooth with etched grooves straight Willard long stem adjustomatic Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Archduke Ferdinand in a 1979 no name French briar smooth full bend egg.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Peterson Nutty Cut in a briar Yello-Bole Imperial. ipe:

It's finally Friday! :biggrin:


----------



## NeverBend

2014 *Gawith Hoggarth Dark Flake Unscented* in a 1961 *Barling's Make #5179* smooth billiard saddle.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Mountain Pass in a straight 1979 MM Legend. This cob has a small bowl, but it sure has done well over the last 35 years. Simply Orange is my drink.


----------



## JustTroItIn

Dunhill EMP in my 1940s Kaywoodie Super Grain billiard taper while driving into work.


----------



## JimInks

Sam Gawith Cob in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Three Nuns in a very early Ascorti straight New Dear KS billiard with a carved shank.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Peretti’s Cuban Mixture in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a 2003 medium bend Nording 4 rough top sitter with a small rusticated area at the top left.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Welcome back, gentlemen :yo:

GLP Key Largo in a Dr. Grabow Golden Duke ipe:


----------



## JustTroItIn

McClelland No. 2020 Matured Cake mixed with PA in 1940s Kaywoodie Super Grain billiard taper while driving into work. Very tasty combo.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing Euphoria (Amphora Red Match) in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg (Charatan second).


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Heine's Blend in the third pipe I ever bought ($1.95), a 1974 smooth straight French briar Hadley Apple. Next is BRG in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Esoterica Blackpool in a Gatlinburlier no.76 house pipe ipe:


----------



## JustTroItIn

H&H Larry's Blend in an MM Patriot while driving into work.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Royal in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Cuban Mixture in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles.


----------



## JimInks

Reiner's Professional in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Esoterica and so to Bed in a briar Medico Windsor. ipe:

It's finally Friday! :dude:


----------



## JustTroItIn

Dunhill Royal Yacht in a MM Patriot.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a BIG Savinelli sandblast bulldog during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple Match in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Reiner's Professional in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque. Running low on this blend.


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SG English Summer Flake in a Savinelli Toscana ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of St. James Flake in a 1998 smooth medium bend Peterson Limerick 69 with a nickel band.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of MacBaren Three Nuns in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Rinaldo Straight Grain egg.


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Not too far from finishing this bowl of Black Noble in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some homemade flake in a Gatlinburlier no.79 housepipe ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Royal in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg. This finishes the pouch. A really good English blend.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Jim's Test VaPer in a 2003 medium bent straight grain Two dot 2 P. Ardor Venere Extra Bucaneve with a silver ferrule signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

My last smoke before sleep is Troost Aromatic Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer. I haven't smoked the original, but the Match is pretty good.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some of @madbricky 's Honor Guard blend in a 1983 Butz Choquin Mellesime ipe:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

JimInks said:


> My last smoke before sleep is *Troost Aromatic Match* in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer. I haven't smoked the original, but the Match is pretty good.


I didn't realize you could get match blends for drugstore varieties that are still on the market...interesting.


----------



## JimInks

Tobias Lutz said:


> I didn't realize you could get match blends for drugstore varieties that are still on the market...interesting.


Go to Pipes&Cigars and look for bulk alternatives. You'll see a couple of dozen of blends.

Carter Hall in a smooth medium bend 1970s Savinelli Autograph 4 Dublin with blonde and black lucite ferrule and stem.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a 2002 smooth Rinaldo Silver Line 3 EGER 05 paneled horn.


----------



## JimInks

EGR in a 2013 straight 5th Avenue DGE Nose warmer cob.


----------



## JimInks

Frog Morton's Cellar in a 1949 medium bend black Dunhill Shell.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Dan Blue Note in my new, straight, meerschaum lined Dr. Grabow ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Burley #1 in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg.


----------



## Branzig

Smoking a big bowl of Sammy G Navy Flake in a big Savinelli.

Working out all my Fantasy Football draft strategies for my now 5 leagues...drinking bold coffee as well trying to forget about my golf round yesterday hwell:


----------



## JimInks

St. James Flake in a straight sandblasted pre-transition Barling Exel 249 Fossil T.V.F. black billiard with a silver band and military bit.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Sutliff PS Breckinridge in an undated (1970s?) unbranded straight paneled sandblasted Tanshell Dunhill second.


----------



## JimInks

A minute or two away from smoking MacBaren Plum Cake in a light brown 1979 rusticated medium bend Italian Sir Jeffrey Dublin sitter with a flared top and yellow stem.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SG Winter Flake in a Stanwell Day and Night. ipe:


----------



## JustTroItIn

SPC Plum Pudding in a 1940s Kaywoodie Super Grain billiard taper.


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Smoker's Haven Exotique in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Cuban Mixture in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles. I've enough for one small bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Vincent Manil La Brumeuse Semois in a straight 2012 MM Pony Express cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SG Autumn Flake in a briar Yello Bole Imperial. I've got 5 hours of work ahead of me and then a trip to Milan Tobacconists and a couple cigars with a buddy of mine :dude:


----------



## JustTroItIn

MM American Patriot in an MM Great Dane with Forever Stem.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished Molto Dulce in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer. Next is MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Three Nuns in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s B-94 in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

JimInks said:


> *Sutliff PS County Cork* in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


With the SPS blends "buy two get one" this month at P&C, I'm really tempted to pick up the new ones. You're not helping the resistance :lol:


----------



## JimInks

Tobias Lutz said:


> With the SPS blends "buy two get one" this month at P&C, I'm really tempted to pick up the new ones. You're not helping the resistance :lol:


Well, that's what I'm here for, ya know!!! :biggrin1::twisted::evil: Now, don't forget to get Maple Street, too! oke:

Starting off my smoking day with Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

JimInks said:


> Well, that's what I'm here for, ya know!!! :biggrin1::twisted::evil: Now, *don't forget to get Maple Street, too!* oke:


You sir are a bad, bad man :biggrin: Fortunately I have a few tins on hand already. :nod:


----------



## JimInks

Tobias Lutz said:


> You sir are a bad, bad man :biggrin: Fortunately I have a few tins on hand already. :nod:


Barbados Plantation. CD Blend. BRG. Court of St. James. County Cork. Top Shelf. Etc., etc., etc. :rofl::banana::banana::banana::banana::deadhorse::rotfl:arty:arty:


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Half&Half/Per in a 2003 medium bent straight grain Two dot 2 P. Ardor Venere Extra Bucaneve with a silver ferrule signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Mount Marcy in a 1978 slight bend CAO Turk's Head Meer.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a straight Lane era Charatan black with burgundy undertone sandblasted billiard 420.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## tmoran

C&D Night Train while listening to the sweet song of the cicada. Fall can't get here soon enough.


----------



## Er999

tmoran said:


> C&D Night Train while listening to the sweet song of the cicada. *Fall can't get here soon enough.*


Amen!


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a very much appreciated 1979 brown, slight bend grain etched flat front Stanwell Rego 969-48 (09). Next is MacBaren Three Nuns in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair.


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Uhle’s 44 in a 1970s three quarter bend half smooth, half rusticated Savinelli Autograph 4 with a lucite stem and ferrule.


----------



## NeverBend

2014 *Cornell & Diehl* _straight *Virginia* flake cut _in a late 1940s *Barling Ye Olde Wood #332* smooth stovepipe billiard saddle.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some Dan Blue Note in a Butz Choquin Manet ipe:


----------



## JimInks

I had experimented with the tobacco for my last smoke by seeing how it tasted bone dry. I knew better, and got the predicted results: burned too fast, although the flavor wasn't weaker, it lost more sweetness than I expected. Not going to do that again. Now smoking FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic military mount 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Uhle’s 44 in a 1970s three quarter bend half smooth, half rusticated Savinelli Autograph 4 with a lucite stem and ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff #507 Virginia Flake in a 2003 straight grain Karl Erik Ekstravagant A medium bend freehand sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Three Friars in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

SG Autumn Flake in my Zurg Glass Sipper ipe:


----------



## NeverBend

Tobias Lutz said:


> SG Autumn Flake in my Zurg Glass Sipper ipe:


Morning Tobias,

May I ask what a Zurg Glass Sipper is?

*New Cromwell II* in a 1972 *Caminetto Business #104* billiard saddle. Started about 8:30am.


----------



## LewZephyr

NeverBend said:


> Morning Tobias,
> 
> May I ask what a Zurg Glass Sipper is?
> 
> *New Cromwell II* in a 1972 *Caminetto Business #104* billiard saddle. Started about 8:30am.


Zurg Glass Sipper

I was wondering previously too, and was directed to that thread.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

NeverBend said:


> Morning Tobias,
> 
> May I ask what a Zurg Glass Sipper is?


This fine pipe :yo:


----------



## NeverBend

Thanks Gents.

Creative Emperor that Zurg. Maybe he could get the new clothes to work?


----------



## JimInks

Penzance in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Jim's Va/Bur #1 in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Anejo 221 in a MM Patriot ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Penzance in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Heine's Blend in the third pipe I ever bought ($1.95), a 1974 smooth straight French briar Hadley Apple.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Roll Cake in a 1979 black sandblasted medium bend Savinelli Non Pareil 9606 Billiard with a horn ferrule. Time to feed the cats and get a new smoke. Next is Peretti's #333 in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of FVF in a Peterson Belgique during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1983 Ben Wade Duo 65 smooth Poker.


----------



## JimInks

Motzek #8 in a medium bend 1983 Ascorti New Dear KS.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Reiner's Professional in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque. This finishes my stash.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Wessex B.C. Dark Flake in a very early Ascorti straight New Dear KS billiard with a smooth shank.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff PS Breckinridge in an undated (1970s?) unbranded straight paneled sandblasted Tanshell Dunhill second.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JustTroItIn

McClelland No 2020 Matured Cake and PA in an MM Legend.


----------



## NeverBend

Finishing a bowl of *Mixture #1004B* in a 1986 *Ser Jacopo S2 Maxima* sandblast apple taper.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Gaslight in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Motzek #8 in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s B-94 in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Last smoke before sleep is Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2003 black sandblasted medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant blowfish. See you folks later this day.


----------



## tmoran

GLP Fillmore in a freshly scrubbed BBB Rare Grain Pot. I originally had this pipe dedicated to mild Lats and Orientals, but thanks to a thread by Pete (NeverBend), regarding matching pipe and tobacco type, I scrubbed it and am trying it with some VaPers and VaBurs.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Escudo/Dark Flake Unscented in a 2002 medium bend smooth straight grain Karl Erik freehand with a pointy bottom. Thanks to Neverbend for the formula and tobacco.


----------



## JimInks

Flying Dutchman Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## JustTroItIn

H&H Larry's Blend in a Savinelli Deluxe #127


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Buttered Rum in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff Buttered Rum in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Almondine in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a smooth briar calabash shaped Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier JR Fait Main with a horn ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a smooth 1981 Century full bend natural egg.


----------



## JimInks

Borkum Riff Limited Edition 11 with Trinidad Rum in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Bird's Eye Flake in a MM cob with Foreverstem during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Newminster 403 Superior Round Slices in a 2002 medium bend smooth straight grain Karl Erik freehand with a pointy bottom.


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Peretti’s B-94 in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe. Starting to run low on this blend now.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Hines Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer. Next is Jim's Burley #1 in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg.


----------



## Branzig

Orlik GS in a Pete system pipe.

Spending my morning before work cleaning out my back yard. We have been having some insane thunder storms this August. This is the 4th one to roll through in less than 10 days with 65-80 mph winds....we've never experienced hurricane force winds here before and neither have all the trees that have fallen down the past 10 days...


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a 2003 Stanwell Golden Danish 56 Rusticated Canadian.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2003 black grain etched Karl Erik Ekstravagant horn with a smooth top.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early so I can concentrate on finishing my work: Peretti’s Tashkent in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls. Haven't smoked this lately, but I should because it's a great tobacco blend.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Slices in a 1984 medium bend black grain etched Savinelli Non Pareil 9310 poker with a horn ferrule. I've enough for one more bowl.


----------



## NeverBend

Earlier this morning I smoked 2014 Presbyterian Mixture in a 1940s Barling Ye Olde Wood #251 EXEXEL (smooth) billiard taper.


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a smooth almost full bend 1981 Briar Workshop round volcano signed by Elliott Nachwalter with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Flying Dutchman Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Heine's Blend in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob. Next is Peretti’s B-94 in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black groove carved Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning everyone!!! 
Samuel Gawith skiff mixture in a beautiful custom mastro di paja, my pipeclub's official pipe for the 2012 slow smoke competition. Didn't take part but helped organise it. Wish I could post a pic!
With some awesome siphon black coffee.


----------



## freestoke

Thought I'd bore everybody with an early rant, while having my first smoke in a CG Forever with some PA. I won't mention the brand and give them free advertising, but a commercial caught my attention a few minutes ago. I am always surprised to hear professional announcers who don't enunciate well. There should be a licensing authority, so that those who work in the TV advertising business have to pass a competency test to do voice work. Some syllables do need to be enunciated, in my opinion, for example the prefix "anti-" needs both the "t" and the "i" sound, as opposed to saying "annahistamine". I'd let "antahistamine" slide, but "annahistamine" is too much, too sloppy, too ignorant -- it could almost be a completely different word. Coffee, coffee, coffee! :cp


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> Thought I'd bore everybody with an early rant, while having my first smoke in a CG Forever with some PA. I won't mention the brand and give them free advertising, but a commercial caught my attention a few minutes ago. I am always surprised to hear professional announcers who don't enunciate well. There should be a licensing authority, so that those who work in the TV advertising business have to pass a competency test to do voice work. Some syllables do need to be enunciated, in my opinion, for example the prefix "anti-" needs both the "t" and the "i" sound, as opposed to saying "annahistamine". I'd let "antahistamine" slide, but "annahistamine" is too much, too sloppy, too ignorant -- it could almost be a completely different word. Coffee, coffee, coffee! :cp


Annahistamine sounds like somebody's name. Sort of like Annagreen Gables 

I find the imbeciles who pass for announcers mildly amusing, although when a commercial comes on I'm usually a pretty quick draw on the mute button.

One word I find annoying is 'Caramel'. It grates to hear someone grind out all the syllables. This is a word that IMO should be shortened to 'car-mel'. Nobody says "care-a-mel-ized sugar' It's just car-mel-ized sugar. 'Care-a-mel Corn?!?' WTF? It's car-mel corn! Give it a rest.


----------



## freestoke

Emperor Zurg said:


> Annahistamine sounds like somebody's name. Sort of like Annagreen Gables


:biglaugh:

Another one that gets to me for some reason is "assessory", instead of accessory. I hear that one fairly frequently. There was a particularly funny one about ten years or so ago, on PBS no less. There was a commercial for the series "Poirot", with David Suchet, which appeared for one day, the announcer pronouncing it "poy' rot" -- I kid you not. The next day, the voice over was corrected, to "poy' row". Third time lucky, they managed the day after that to succeed with "pwa row' ". Remarkable. Obviously, no one involved with making the commercial had ever seen the show at all nor had any familiarity with French.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> *Thought I'd bore everybody with an early rant,* while having my first smoke in a CG Forever with some PA. I won't mention the brand and give them free advertising, but a commercial caught my attention a few minutes ago. I am always surprised to hear professional announcers who don't enunciate well. There should be a licensing authority, so that those who work in the TV advertising business have to pass a competency test to do voice work. Some syllables do need to be enunciated, in my opinion, for example the prefix "anti-" needs both the "t" and the "i" sound, as opposed to saying "annahistamine". I'd let "antahistamine" slide, but "annahistamine" is too much, too sloppy, too ignorant -- it could almost be a completely different word. Coffee, coffee, coffee! :cp


Don't be absurd!:drama: You could never bore _anyone_ here on puff when it comes to your rants! I'm sure that everyone enjoys reading your rants regardless of time of day!:drama:


----------



## Nachman

freestoke said:


> Thought I'd bore everybody with an early rant, while having my first smoke in a CG Forever with some PA. I won't mention the brand and give them free advertising, but a commercial caught my attention a few minutes ago. I am always surprised to hear professional announcers who don't enunciate well. There should be a licensing authority, so that those who work in the TV advertising business have to pass a competency test to do voice work. Some syllables do need to be enunciated, in my opinion, for example the prefix "anti-" needs both the "t" and the "i" sound, as opposed to saying "annahistamine". I'd let "antahistamine" slide, but "annahistamine" is too much, too sloppy, too ignorant -- it could almost be a completely different word. Coffee, coffee, coffee! :cp


One that has become so common that it may become the standard pronunciation is golf instead of gulf, as in "A storm is brewing in the Golf of Mexico", or "Shipping is being threatened in the Persian Golf". It is grating. In my mothers house one spoke received English or remained silent.


----------



## NeverBend

I'm from New York and there are words that get butchered here on a regular basis

Warter is the stuff you drink
Coughy is the stuff you drink
orange jewz is the stuff you drink

you get the idea


----------



## freestoke

NeverBend said:


> I'm from New York and there are words that get butchered here on a regular basis
> 
> Warter is the stuff you drink
> Coughy is the stuff you drink
> orange jewz is the stuff you drink
> 
> you get the idea


Small correction, Pete -- yews guys get the idea. :lol:

Here in Central New York, they pronounce Syracuse "Seracuse". :dunno:

It's morning somewhere and I'm greeting the rising sun there with bowl of SWR. (Actually, the horizon is moving down there instead of the sun coming up, but we don't want to be picky, now do we? :lol


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Three Nuns in a straight black sandblast 2 star Ferndown Bark Prince with a Cumberland stem.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s B-94 in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles. I've enough for one more bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## KungFumeta

Most of you still have a few hours of sleep ahead of you, specially since its Saturday but nevertheless...
Good morning!!!!!
GL Pease Samarra in a small Amorelli straight bulldog for this cloudy, stuffy Saturday morning


----------



## JimInks

Had a great day out with friends and smoked a few bowls of ERR Match and Dunhill Elizabethan Match. Home now and am almost finished with this bowl of BRG in a 1983 Ben Wade Duo 65 smooth Poker.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Jim's Va/Bur #1 in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Now it's the last of my stash of Peretti’s B-94 in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles. Going to concentrate on finishing the other Peretti's burley I have now that this is done.


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## NeverBend

2013 *Hearth & Home AJ's VaPer* in a 1983 *Ser Jacopo Gemma Granato* stout billiard taper banded. Thanks to Emperor Zurg for this very nice mixture, superior to C&D's Exclusive and Patton's Cool Hand Fluke in limited tastings.


----------



## JustTroItIn

NeverBend said:


> 2013 *Hearth & Home AJ's VaPer* in a 1983 *Ser Jacopo Gemma Granato* stout billiard taper banded.  Thanks to Emperor Zurg for this very nice mixture, superior to C&D's Exclusive and Patton's Cool Hand Fluke in limited tastings.


Is this tobacco no longer available? I can't seem to find it on P&C's site.


----------



## JimInks

St. James Flake in a smooth three quarter bend early '70s Stanwell Design Choice 837 sitter with a vulcanite ferrule.


----------



## NeverBend

JustTroItIn said:


> Is this tobacco no longer available? I can't seem to find it on P&C's site.


Hi Jack,

This was kindly sent to me by Emperor Zurg and I have seen it on Pipes and Cigars site but haven't purchased it myself It's on the fourth row.

Search - PipesandCigars.com

2014 *Stokkebye Luxury Bull's Eye Flake* in a 1982 *Ser Jacopo Gemma Rubino* canadian.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Louisiana Red in a 1970s smooth straight rough top Charatan's Make (Lane) Perfection Deluxe Extra Large.

Today marks the 80th birthday of Roberto Clemente.


----------



## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti's #333 in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Black Noble in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## JustTroItIn

NeverBend said:


> Hi Jack,
> 
> This was kindly sent to me by Emperor Zurg and I have seen it on Pipes and Cigars site but haven't purchased it myself It's on the fourth row.
> 
> Search - PipesandCigars.com
> 
> 2014 *Stokkebye Luxury Bull's Eye Flake* in a 1982 *Ser Jacopo Gemma Rubino* canadian.


Thank you. It was buried in the search results. I need to be more observant.


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## JimInks

Flying Dutchman Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


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## JustTroItIn

H&H Larry's Blend in a Savinelli Deluxe #127 . I really enjoy this tobacco in the morning.


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## Stonedog

A mixture of C&D Sierra Nevada and Royal Yacht in the Edward's bulldog this morning.


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## Emperor Zurg

JustTroItIn said:


> Thank you. It was buried in the search results. I need to be more observant.


Hey, it's on sale right now for a pretty decent price... I feel another bout of TAD coming on!
ipe:
@NeverBend - glad you liked it. Figured you would since you like Escudo. The sample you just smoked had about a year on it. I remember not liking it as much at first but either it's grown on me or the year has done good things to it. Either way it's one of my favorites as of late.


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## TanZ2005

Today I don't know why but I am Smoking some Stokkebye Black Coffee in a Brair Shoe pipe made in Italy. For the Size of pipe it has a really nice big bowl. Kind of a Oom Paul style. Only thing I don't like about this pipe is the draft chamber don't meet the bowl so when I run a Pipe cleaner down it there is a slight area that can't be clean through the bit. If i smoke a wet tobacco it is hard to clean well. Access to a small spot through the bowl only. Happy Smoking all. 

James.

Oh yeah did I say I love this pipe. :ask: Most everything I have smoked in it smokes really well. For how thin the wall on the bowl it don't seem to get hot. Just can't smoke with any hair on your face or it will most likely burn it off LOL Could use a little longer stem.


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## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


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## JimInks

Peretti's #333 in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles.


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## JimInks

Almost finished smoking MacBaren Plum Cake in a light brown 1979 rusticated medium bend Italian Sir Jeffrey Dublin sitter with a flared top and yellow stem.


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## JimInks

BRG in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


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## JimInks

Not far from finishing Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


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## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


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## JimInks

P&W Plum Cake in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


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## TanZ2005

Good morning all, I hope your day is Bright and Joyful. At this hour I am smoking my Arlington pipe with some Mac Baren The Cube Silver. 

James


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## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff PS Breckinridge in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


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## JimInks

G&H Balkan Mixture in a 1990 Peterson Irish Second Oom Paul natural.


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## JustTroItIn

H&H Anniversary Kake in a small no name dublin.


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## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


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## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Dunhill Navy Rolls in a 1984 black sandblasted straight Dunhill Shell 4103 Billiard.


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## JimInks

Bob's Chocolate Flake in a 1970s slight bend black sandblasted Comoy's Silver Cloud 624.


----------



## Davetopay

A little Solani aged burley flake in my Joh's 2010 puff.com pipe.


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## NeverBend

*Mixture #1011* (_pressed_) in a 1961 *Barling's Make #7574* smooth canadian.


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## TanZ2005

Morning all, Today I am smoking a Bowl of Cornell & Diehl Espresso in a Dr. Grabow Riviera Adjusto straight pipe. Paired with a Quad Shot Raspberry Mocha


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## JimInks

Tilbury in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


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## JimInks

Penzance in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank. This finishes the tin.


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## JimInks

Peretti's #333 in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


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## JimInks

Molto Dulce in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


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## JimInks

Smoker's Haven Exotique in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


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## JimInks

Now smoking one of the world's best tobaccos, Strang, in a 1999 medium bend black sandblast Savinelli Tris 677KS apple with a cumberland stem.


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## JimInks

Black Noble in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


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## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1978 smooth pointy bottom three quarter bend Sir Brent, shaped like a check mark.


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## TanZ2005

Smoking Dr. Grabow Royal Duke pipe packed with Mac Baren 7 Seas Royal. 

James


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## NeverBend

Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake in a 1961 Barling's Make #7574 smooth canadian.


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## JimInks

Listing this a little early: Peretti's #333 in a 2003 smooth matte finish Karl Erik rough top freehand. I've enough for one more bowl.


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## JimInks

Queen Anne’s Revenge in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


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## JimInks

Almost finished smoking MacBaren Plum Cake in a light brown 1979 rusticated medium bend Italian Sir Jeffrey Dublin sitter with a flared top and yellow stem.


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## JimInks

Borkum Riff Limited Edition 11 with Trinidad Rum in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JustTroItIn

Dunhill EMP in an Amphora Xtra 815 Rusticated Poker.


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## JustTroItIn

S&G FVF in a no name Apple with flat bottom. This pipe is an estate that I got off of ebay. After receiving it I found it had quite a few fills that detract from its cosmetic value, but it is a good smoker with a small chamber for a shorter smoke.


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## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


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## JimInks

Sterling Royal London Dock in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg. I've enough for one more bowl.


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## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2003 black grain etched Karl Erik Ekstravagant horn with a smooth top.


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## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970's medium bend big bowl rusticated Sienna colored Savinelli Estella with a pearl grey stem.


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## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin


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## JustTroItIn

H&H Larry's Blend in an Amphora Xtra 815 Rusticated Poker.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


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## JimInks

Just finished smoking Borkum Riff Limited Edition 11 with Trinidad Rum in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning everyone!!

MacBaren Original mixture in a small amorelli prince. Some coffee and puff.com to go along with it. What a great day to start the day!


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## JimInks

VIP Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


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## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JustTroItIn

Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake in a flat bottom no name dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording. Running low on the tobacco now.


----------



## JimInks

Boswell’s Premium Burley in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


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## JimInks

Just finished smoking Vincent Manil La Brumeuse Semois in a straight 2012 MM Pony Express cob. Next is Royal Yacht in a 1970's medium bend big bowl rusticated Sienna colored Savinelli Estella with a pearl grey stem.


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## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JustTroItIn

MM Missouri Pride in a MM Patriot with Forever Stem.


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## tmoran

JustTroItIn said:


> MM Missouri Pride in a MM Patriot with Forever Stem.


How do you like it? I just purchased some but haven't tried it yet. Is it more of a Burley blend with some VA, or are the VA's dominant?


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## JustTroItIn

tmoran said:


> How do you like it? I just purchased some but haven't tried it yet. Is it more of a Burley blend with some VA, or are the VA's dominant?


I enjoy all four of the MM Blends. Missouri Pride is more of a Burley blend with some VA. I find it quite tasty.


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## Desertlifter

ODF in my Stanwell Silver Band was on tap this morning.


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## JimInks

Stogie in a 1970s slight bend smooth Danish Sovereign XXX 309 with a flat front sitter.


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## JimInks

P&W Rum Cake in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


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## JimInks

Blackwoods Flake in a 1980 Stanwell 668 medium bend with a ferrule, half black sandblasted, half brown smooth, rough top.


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## JimInks

Last smoke before sleep is Heine's Blend in a 2013 MM straight Legend. Almost have this tub finished. I also really like this tobacco in a cob.


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## JustTroItIn

PA in a Savinelli Deluxe #127 straight smooth billiard.


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## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Marble Kake in a MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.

I have used this one cob exclusively for almost a week now. It has served well, and I'm not sick of it yet.


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## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Tilbury in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


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## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


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## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Peterson’s Irish Flake in a small 1982 three quarter bend meer with a smiling turbaned Turk's head.


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## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


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## JimInks

Hines Match in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


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## JimInks

P&W Nut Brown Burley in a black 1980 sandblasted Peterson Premiere 01 medium bend apple.


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## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


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## TanZ2005

Smoking a Dr. Grabow Royal Duke packed with some Orlik Golden Sliced. Very nice draw and nice smoking pipe this AM. Enjoy the day

James


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## JimInks

Not too far from finishing this bowl of Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


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## JimInks

Tilbury in a 2000 thin stem sandblasted black silver band spigot Ardor Urano S. Holmes #68 /100 D.R. briar calabash with a smooth flared top.


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## JimInks

Stogie in a 1970s slight bend smooth Danish Sovereign XXX 309 with a flat front sitter.


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## NeverBend

2014 McClelland Full Balkan in a 1985 Ser Jacopo Renaissance #316 sandblast lovat.


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## KungFumeta

This morning 10 hours ago I packed a missouri meerschaum pride with capstan blue and lit it.
Had to leave for sth and I'm doing some serious dgt right now.


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## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Smoker's Haven 20th Anniversary in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


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## JimInks

SG Perfection in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


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## JimInks

Almost finished smoking MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg.


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## JimInks

BRG in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021.


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## JimInks

Almost finished smoking G&H Dark Flake Unscented in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


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## JimInks

Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


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## KungFumeta

Missouri Meerschaum Short Stop packed with G.L. Pease Samarra and an expresso. This is one hell of a way to start a morning, I absolutely love this blend.


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## JustTroItIn

Back from a great weekend of trail riding with the kids and smoking H&H Larry's Blend in an Amphora Xtra 815 Rusticated Poker.


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## JimInks

G&H Dark Flake Unscented in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


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## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Heine's Blend in the second pipe I ever bought ($2.49), a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega.


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## JimInks

P&W Rum Cake in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


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## Pandyboy

I'm having a bowl of Erinmore Flake, lovely!


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## KungFumeta

Again, MM short stop with GLPEASE Samarra. I love this combo so much its reason enough for me to wake up 20 minutes earlier than usual to substitute the morning cigarette with this small bowl.
Loaded it wrong today though and it kept going out, but that Samarra flavor... I'm gonna have to get me another couple of tins of it, if only it weren't just outrageously expensive...


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## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Troost Aromatic Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


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## JimInks

Black Noble in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


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## JimInks

Heine's Blend in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


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## JustTroItIn

Had some PA this morning in a Savinelli Deluxe #127 straight smooth billiard.


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## JimInks

Dunhill Navy Rolls in a 2002 black pebble finish straight Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano Billiard. This will finish the tin.


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## indo-dave

peterson special reserve 2014 in a savinelli pipe this morning


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## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Gaslight in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl.


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## KungFumeta

Good morning to y'all!!

MM Short Stop filled with SG Skiff Mixture. This particular tin has some age to it, about 3 years. Was in a bit of a rush and couldn't enjoy it properly. It'll be waiting for me when I get back from work.

You can't imagine how I envy the guys that can smoke their pipe at work...


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## JimInks

SG Best Brown Flake in an early ‘70s pebble etched Savinelli 315 Prince.


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## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


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## Pandyboy

Solani Festival in my custom sailor pipe


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## JustTroItIn

Anniversary Kake in a smooth no name dublin with a flat bottom.


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## JimInks

Not far from finishing Wilderness in a 1949 medium bend black Dunhill Shell.


----------



## Desertlifter

C&D Christmas Blend 2011 in my DL special.


----------



## JimInks

P&W Rum Cake in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## VaStogie

Again I find myself posting yesterdays activities at this hour of the night/morning due to work. I was a bit short on time before work so I looked in my pipe cabinet for a small pipe to try out another Sutliff tobacco I have on hand, "Private Stock Sunrise Smoke", and realized I had never smoked my unknown make meerschaum that was given to me by a family member. It is obviously one of the small inexpensive meerschaums but it smoked just fine and will come in handy for my shorter smoke needs. Sunrise Smoke on the other hand didn't do it for me. I'll give it another chance but I thought it was pretty bland.


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## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter. Have enough for a couple more bowls.


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## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


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## TanZ2005

Smoking a Oom Paul with some Orlik Golden Sliced. Good AM everyone

James


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## TanZ2005

Double Post
James


----------



## freestoke

As I start a bowl of SWR in the CG Forever, I will warn you that a rant is due to start shortly....5..4..3..2..1 [rant]

How is it possible that nitrile gloves have replaced latex gloves? Having recently run out of latex gloves that I use for any number of messy chores, from putting Rainex on the car windows to cleaning the air purifier, I tried to buy another huge box at BJ's. They sell only nitrile now. So I checked at Walmart -- nitrile. So I went to the drug store and found only nitrile. My dermatologist was wearing nitrile back a ways, so I co-opted a pair (the right size, medium) in partial compensation for leaving me in the cold room unclothed for 10 minutes. I recently used one to clean the air filter. How can anybody stand these things? There is NO stretch, no give whatsoever. If it's big enough to allow you to make a fist, it's too big to give a tactile fit at the fingers. HORRIBLE stuff! My hand was cramping in five minutes, and I am not prone to cramps of any sort. So I went to another drug store and asked an employee, "Where are the latex gloves." "Over on aisle pi." Nitirle. No latex. I think it goes along with the baby carriages with tiny wheels, which have to be very hard to push and must give the babies brain damage from the vibration. It also reminds me of the disturbing series "Friends", at a time when the fashion was for women to wear sweaters with some sort of hand connector that made any normal use of their hands almost impossible. I could barely watch Whatsherbutt Cox struggling with them, but this was only one detestable part of the show, the worst being to portray the only one with a brain and an education as a misfit dufus and a vehicle for ridiculing science.

Latex gloves work great. Nitrile gloves are ridiculously terrible. How is it that nitrile has replaced latex in the stores almost completely? I say it's because of TV series like "Friends" and having grown up riding around in weird, small-wheeled baby carriages when they were young. [/rant]


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## tmoran

freestoke said:


> As I start a bowl of SWR in the CG Forever, I will warn you that a rant is due to start shortly....5..4..3..2..1 [rant]
> 
> How is it possible that nitrile gloves have replaced latex gloves? Having recently run out of latex gloves that I use for any number of messy chores, from putting Rainex on the car windows to cleaning the air purifier, I tried to buy another huge box at BJ's. They sell only nitrile now. So I checked at Walmart -- nitrile. So I went to the drug store and found only nitrile. My dermatologist was wearing nitrile back a ways, so I co-opted a pair (the right size, medium) in partial compensation for leaving me in the cold room unclothed for 10 minutes. I recently used one to clean the air filter. How can anybody stand these things? There is NO stretch, no give whatsoever. If it's big enough to allow you to make a fist, it's too big to give a tactile fit at the fingers. HORRIBLE stuff! My hand was cramping in five minutes, and I am not prone to cramps of any sort. So I went to another drug store and asked an employee, "Where are the latex gloves." "Over on aisle pi." Nitirle. No latex. I think it goes along with the baby carriages with tiny wheels, which have to be very hard to push and must give the babies brain damage from the vibration. It also reminds me of the disturbing series "Friends", at a time when the fashion was for women to wear sweaters with some sort of hand connector that made any normal use of their hands almost impossible. I could barely watch Whatsherbutt Cox struggling with them, but this was only one detestable part of the show, the worst being to portray the only one with a brain and an education as a misfit dufus and a vehicle for ridiculing science.
> 
> Latex gloves work great. Nitrile gloves are ridiculously terrible. How is it that nitrile has replaced latex in the stores almost completely? I say it's because of TV series like "Friends" and having grown up riding around in weird, small-wheeled baby carriages when they were young. [/rant]


You need to "co-opt" some from the airlines, apparently. We were on a flight and the lady in front of us had a bad peanut allergy. She didn't eat any, but I guess was exposed and was having a bad reaction. She took her epi shot and was still having difficulty breathing. My XO, who is a nurse, ended up trying to help the lady. She wanted to give her oxygen, but the lady had a latex allergy as well, and the only mask they had was latex (not the drop down masks, they had O2 and masks in a med kit), as were all the gloves.


----------



## Nachman

Back to the old standard, Royal Yacht, this morning. It is a shame that a few people with so many conditions that they should live in a polythene bubble have society change to accommodate them. I think I will declare myself allergic to crookneck squash and see if I can get it banned from the planet.


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> Latex gloves work great. Nitrile gloves are ridiculously terrible. How is it that nitrile has replaced latex in the stores almost completely? I say it's because of TV series like "Friends" and having grown up riding around in weird, small-wheeled baby carriages when they were young. [/rant]


You people just don't know where to find stuff

McMaster-Carr

Amazon.com - Safetouch Powder Free Latex Exam Gloves

Thinking about drying out some DE 7th Ave Blonde for a trip thru a corncob


----------



## Blue Raccoon

you would be hard pressed to find latex gloves in any of our hospitals.. 

peanuts and latex.. how can she go out in public?


----------



## freestoke

I've been meaning to order latex gloves, but I thought I could just go to the store and get some. Probably can, just haven't located them yet.

I am aware of the allergy problems, but they also make useable non-allergenic gloves for doctors whose patients require them. Those are okay, so I can see those replacing latex, but nitrile is not even close to being a substitute. The equivalent substitution would be canvas for cashmere. I would NOT want a surgeon operating on me wearing nitrile gloves, I can tell you that!


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> ...so I can see those replacing latex, but nitrile is not even close to being a substitute.


Maybe someday, because of allergies, they'll come out with nitrile condoms to replace those evil latex ones.


----------



## JimInks

Peterson’s Irish Flake in a small 1982 three quarter bend meer with a smiling turbaned Turk's head.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## KungFumeta

Greatest of mornings and a happy friday to everyone!! We almost DONE for this week!!

To kick the morning off, some leftover capstan blue from last night that i cube cut and gravity fed as per instructions in a Missouri Pride. Couldn't keep this mofo lit. I thought cube-cut flake was supposed to be really easy to smoke?


----------



## JimInks

Part way through through this bowl of G&H Dark Flake Unscented in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JustTroItIn

McClelland No. 2020 Matured Cake and PA in a 1940s Kaywoodie Super Grain billiard taper.


----------



## freestoke

I find myself smoking LGF, found in the back of a drawer and not even registered in the cellar! :shock: There has been a rather narrow range of tobaccos this summer, with a steady diet of PA, SWR, and Golf Mixes involving them, primarily burning through the 1Q, a little Happy Bogie (which does NOT play well with 1Q, BTW :nono, and various odds and ends mixed with PA or SWR and some 5B ignition powder. I have also fallen into smoking hardly anything but cobs being out and about so much in the car, on the course, BBQing, or whatever. I've selected the FourDot pot to shake up the action, because it has been sitting in a pipe rest on the coffee table for months, and loaded it with a musketball of LGF. I must say, I had almost forgotten what highbrow smoking was all about, and it has been a year or more since I smoked any perique! Absence has made the heart grow fonder, apparently. p: This is just dandy with some cafe. :cp Haven't had a smoke like this in quite a while! :smile:


----------



## NeverBend

Emperor Zurg said:


> Maybe someday, because of allergies, they'll come out with nitrile condoms to replace those evil latex ones.


When I was a lad (long ago), I was introduced to a virginal girl by my friend. She had a difficult time putting on my condom (I'm not so special, she was inexperienced) and afterwards, as we lay in bed, she told me that she felt 'tingly' all over. I smiled, kissed her and said, "Technique".

We never dated again. She moved out of state, got married and had kids and, if stories are to be believed, became incredibly experienced and her desire for more experience apparently led to several divorces. I couldn't help but think that she was just trying to equal her night with me.

My friend, who had introduced us, kept in touch with her over the years and he'd forgotten that we had dated a couple of times. She was in NY a few years ago, visiting family and friends and she accompanied my friend and his wife to my barbecue (she was again divorced). She had aged nicely into an attractive, (very) buxom woman who easily flashed a seductive smile and let her eyes wander down a mans body (this was mentioned later by other male friends).

I didn't feel uncomfortable and neither of us mentioned our brief interlude but when she saw me putting burgers on the grill she said, "Oops! No meat for me today." Was that a sexual reference?

"Why not?"

"I'm allergic to latex sweetie."

I was wearing latex gloves.

2014 *C&D Exclusive* in a 1991 *Ser Jacopo Gemma Fiammata* billiard taper with gold band.


----------



## VaStogie

Sutliff Private Stock BRG Mixture in a Kaywoodie Super Grain 13b.


----------



## TanZ2005

Today smoking some Mac Baren The Cube Silver in my SS rimmed Meerschaum IMP. IT IS A GOOD DAY.. Waiting on the Coffee.

James


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> I've been meaning to order latex gloves, but I thought I could just go to the store and get some. Probably can, just haven't located them yet.
> 
> I am aware of the allergy problems, but they also make useable non-allergenic gloves for doctors whose patients require them. Those are okay, so I can see those replacing latex, but nitrile is not even close to being a substitute. The equivalent substitution would be canvas for cashmere. I would NOT want a surgeon operating on me wearing nitrile gloves, I can tell you that!


I use nitrile gloves (pretty sure it is nitrile) at work, haven't really had any problems with it...don't want to give too much information but I understand the rationale of replacing latex with nitrile so...yeah...


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a straight Lane era Charatan black with burgundy undertone sandblasted billiard 420.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Jim's Test VaPer in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem.


----------



## freestoke

Er999 said:


> I use nitrile gloves (pretty sure it is nitrile) at work, haven't really had any problems with it...don't want to give too much information but I understand the rationale of replacing latex with nitrile so...yeah...


Latex molds to your fingers, so you know exactly what's happening (nitrile has dangling extra material, like Courtney Cox's horrible handhampering sweaters), the grip is solid, and there are no limitations on your movement (the latex stretches like skin, nitrile does not). The nitrile glove restricts movement unless it's big enough to be sloppy, and then the hand slips around inside and you lose dexterity.

I am totally astonished that nobody sees my point. :dunno: Latex allergy, smatex allergy, it still doesn't make nitrile anything LIKE a decent replacement for latex for those who do not have a latex allergy. I use latex gloves to put Rainex on the windshield. Nitrile not only would be very clumsy for that sort of job because to have a glove big enough to be able to make a fist, the my fingers would slide around inside. Might as well put a baggie on your hand and hold it on with a rubber band at the wrist -- which is what I have done in the past.

A pox on your latex allergies, you carrot-fingered, ham-handed, insensitive louts! I'm going to smoke a bowl of LGF and start scheming on ways to acquire a cache of latex gloves, just in case you anti-latex Nazis succeed in your evil scheme to rid the world of latex. You probably are loading up on sheep membrane stock as we speak, cashing in as the safe sex crowd has to find alternative materials.


----------



## tmoran

Oh I didn't mean to imply that I disagreed with you! I rarely find myself doing anything that requires that type of glove. I do have a few pair of the nitrile gloves in first aid kits that I keep around. I agree, they are terrible, and not really good for performing any task that requires gloves. I just picked them up out of convenience, and never really thought about it. I do appreciate the sheepskin stock tip, though. I'll have to start building a cellar. 

Since this is the morning thread, I had a My Father CT and some Maxwell House, black. Right now it's Night Train in a straight Aldo Velani blasted bulldog.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> Latex molds to your fingers, so you know exactly what's happening (nitrile has dangling extra material, like Courtney Cox's horrible handhampering sweaters), the grip is solid, and there are no limitations on your movement (the latex stretches like skin, nitrile does not). The nitrile glove restricts movement unless it's big enough to be sloppy, and then the hand slips around inside and you lose dexterity.
> 
> I am totally astonished that nobody sees my point. :dunno: Latex allergy, smatex allergy, it still doesn't make nitrile anything LIKE a decent replacement for latex for those who do not have a latex allergy. I use latex gloves to put Rainex on the windshield. Nitrile not only would be very clumsy for that sort of job because to have a glove big enough to be able to make a fist, the my fingers would slide around inside. Might as well put a baggie on your hand and hold it on with a rubber band at the wrist -- which is what I have done in the past.
> 
> *A pox on your latex allergies, you carrot-fingered, ham-handed, insensitive louts! I'm going to smoke a bowl of LGF and start scheming on ways to acquire a cache of latex gloves, just in case you anti-latex Nazis succeed in your evil scheme to rid the world of latex. You probably are loading up on sheep membrane stock as we speak, cashing in as the safe sex crowd has to find alternative materials.*


ound:nice...
Well seeing as I'm pretty damned sure that the packaging says nitrile (will dbl check tomorrow just for consistency) those gloves feel skintight, does not appear/feel like it has dangly bits, and I could go on and on about all of my counter arguments against yours, :anim_soapbox: however this will accomplish nothing more than just endless, mindless debating:argue:. Therefore I will end this with a simple: to each his own and whatever works for everybody else and stuff...:noidea:


----------



## JustTroItIn

RE: Nitrile/Latex gloves

If you have ever seen one of my posts in the "What are you smoking right now" cigar thread, you will know by my nails that I use neither. I think most of the board falls in that category based on that thread. :lol:


----------



## freestoke

Er999 said:


> ound:nice...
> Well seeing as I'm pretty damned sure that the packaging says nitrile (will dbl check tomorrow just for consistency) those gloves feel skintight, does not appear/feel like it has dangly bits, and I could go on and on about all of my counter arguments against yours, :anim_soapbox: however this will accomplish nothing more than just endless, mindless debating:argue:. Therefore I will end this with a simple: to each his own and whatever works for everybody else and stuff...:noidea:


There is no way we are talking about the same material. Mine were definitely nitrile, since I got them at a doctors office out of curiosity to find out what nitrile might be like. I assume they weren't "bad" nitrile, but maybe you have "good" nitrile, which certainly compounds the problem. Mine were completely non-elastic, which means that if I had nitrile glove that fit like a golf glove I would require hand surgery if I hit a couple of golf shots wearing one, provided I could even close my hand on the grip.

I will end with simply not understanding how you could possibly stand a skin tight nitrile glove. :dunno: You must have hands of stone.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> There is no way we are talking about the same material. Mine were definitely nitrile, since I got them at a doctors office out of curiosity to find out what nitrile might be like. I assume they weren't "bad" nitrile, but maybe you have "good" nitrile, which certainly compounds the problem. Mine were completely non-elastic, which means that if I had nitrile glove that fit like a golf glove I would require hand surgery if I hit a couple of golf shots wearing one, provided I could even close my hand on the grip.
> 
> I will end with simply not understanding how you could possibly stand a skin tight nitrile glove. :dunno: *You must have hands of stone*.


ound:

I'll get back to you on that subject when I get back from work. I'll take a look at the..uh.."company approved" box of gloves that is a required must wear during the course of work...me and my co workers go through lots of _boxes_ over the course of the day...though I might be overexaggerating just a tad...:madgrin:


----------



## freestoke

Er999 said:


> ound:
> 
> I'll get back to you on that subject when I get back from work. I'll take a look at the..uh.."company approved" box of gloves that is a required must wear during the course of work...me and my co workers go through lots of _boxes_ over the course of the day...though I might be overexaggerating just a tad...:madgrin:


I was checking out what was for sale and apparently there IS good and bad nitrile. :nod: There are "flexible" ones that seem to conform to the hand and sound like they might be okay! Schottlander Soft Touch Flexible Nitrile Gloves - Blue

I'm here to tell you that the ones I tried are useless. These definitely seem superior. If they are eliminating "hand fatigue" as promised, I have to assume other nitrile gloves are what I experienced. Obviously, latex gloves do NOT lead to hand fatigue.

It's morning somewhere, so in recognition of that fact, I'm going to have a bowl of PA and go to bed. p One normally has to go to a housekeeping forum for discussion of such exciting subject matter. :lol:


----------



## DanR

Er999 said:


> ound:
> 
> I'll get back to you on that subject when I get back from work. I'll take a look at the..uh.."company approved" box of gloves that is a required must wear during the course of work...me and my co workers go through lots of _boxes_ over the course of the day...though I might be overexaggerating just a tad...:madgrin:


I'm guessing Eduardo might be a professional technician? Maybe, maybe not. Nonetheless, I work in the automotive industry and it seems that techs prefer nitrile because they're more durable and don't rip as much when handling the rough edges on the cars parts. I don't think it has anything to do with Latex allergies (or conspiracies, lol).


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Heine's Blend in the second pipe I ever bought ($2.49), a 1974 three quarter bend black sandblast etched Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Tilbury in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


----------



## JimInks

A moment or two away from smoking Pelican in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Hines Match in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a medium bend grain etched undated Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand. I've enough for one more bowl.


----------



## KungFumeta

Rubbed out capstan blue in MM short stop. I'm gonna have to get another one of these tiny pipes, I'm giving this one quite a lot of use!


----------



## freestoke

DanR said:


> I'm guessing Eduardo might be a professional technician? Maybe, maybe not. Nonetheless, I work in the automotive industry and it seems that techs prefer nitrile because they're more durable and don't rip as much when handling the rough edges on the cars parts. I don't think it has anything to do with Latex allergies (or conspiracies, lol).


I think I had some proto-nitrile, before they figured out how to make it stretchy. :ask: I'd be littering the ground with screws and tools and taking Epsom salt hand soaks every hour just to survive wearing anything like I used. :shock:

Now the question is...what are they selling in the stores? :dunno:

Smoking a CG Forever with a musketball of LGF, thinking longingly of a trip on the Royal Yacht. Looks like I might have to open a can. p


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain. The same tobacco and the same cob for well over a week now. While I enjoy variety in tobacco, I could easily smoke HV in a cob for the rest of my life and be happy.


----------



## NeverBend

Mark, what's 'HV'? Thanks.


----------



## Er999

freestoke said:


> I was checking out what was for sale and apparently there IS good and bad nitrile. :nod: There are "flexible" ones that seem to conform to the hand and sound like they might be okay! Schottlander Soft Touch Flexible Nitrile Gloves - Blue
> 
> I'm here to tell you that the ones I tried are useless. These definitely seem superior. If they are eliminating "hand fatigue" as promised, I have to assume other nitrile gloves are what I experienced. Obviously, latex gloves do NOT lead to hand fatigue.
> 
> It's morning somewhere, so in recognition of that fact, I'm going to have a bowl of PA and go to bed. p One normally has to go to a housekeeping forum for discussion of such exciting subject matter. :lol:





freestoke said:


> I think I had some proto-nitrile, before they figured out how to make it stretchy. :ask: I'd be littering the ground with screws and tools and taking Epsom salt hand soaks every hour just to survive wearing anything like I used. :shock:
> 
> Now the question is...what are they selling in the stores? :dunno:
> 
> Smoking a CG Forever with a musketball of LGF, thinking longingly of a trip on the Royal Yacht. Looks like I might have to open a can. p


Ok, I took a look at the glove packaging and it turns out to be nitrile (and powderless, latex free, etc) gloves...I can't tell if these gloves are good quality or not although they are ok enough for me. Brand is blue touch or good touch...whatever I don't remember it now but I said I figure out if it was nitrile or not and I did so I'm done with that. Bottom line: I'm ok with these gloves and yes there may be good and bad gloves.



DanR said:


> I'm guessing Eduardo *might be a professional technician*? Maybe, maybe not. Nonetheless, I work in the automotive industry and it seems that techs prefer nitrile because they're more durable and don't rip as much when handling the rough edges on the cars parts. I don't think it has anything to do with Latex allergies (or conspiracies, lol).


It depends on on your point of view. I only started working in the federal service since June, I just don't feel too comfortable with posting (online) much more information beyond that. I can say that a lot of the work requires the use of hands.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

NeverBend said:


> Mark, what's 'HV'? Thanks.


 "HV" is Homborger Veermaster, by Dan Tobacco. Hands down, it is my favorite tobacco. It is a straight Virginia broken flake. Supposedly, it is much like what sailors smoked a few hundred years ago. If so, the sailors of yore had WAY better lives than we think they had.


----------



## Nachman

DanR said:


> I'm guessing Eduardo might be a professional technician? Maybe, maybe not. Nonetheless, I work in the automotive industry and it seems that techs prefer nitrile because they're more durable and don't rip as much when handling the rough edges on the cars parts. I don't think it has anything to do with Latex allergies (or conspiracies, lol).


Hey Dan, long time, no see. Don't be a stranger.


----------



## DanR

Nachman said:


> Hey Dan, long time, no see. Don't be a stranger.


Hi Nick. I don't intend to be a stranger. Just traveling a lot lately for work, and a little pleasure. I still pop in and read a lot. Just not posting as much...


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Bald Headed Teacher in a 1982 near full bend egg shaped Ascorti Business KS with a black ferrule and saddle stem.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking HU My Special One in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl.


----------



## KungFumeta

Sam G. Skiff Mixture in MM shortstop.

Getting tired of always smoking the same 3 blends, I have some nicely aged Early Morning Pipe and 965, but i don't want to open them until I get some mason jars to dump them into...


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## JimInks

Boswell’s Premium Burley in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139


----------



## JustTroItIn

H&H Larry's Blend in a Savinelli Deluxe #127 straight smooth billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Black Noble in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## NeverBend

Almost finished with

2014 Gawith Hoggarth Dark Flake Unscented (25%) & Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake (25%) in a 1961 Barling's Make #5719 smooth billiard saddle.

Hope that everyone had a good weekend.


----------



## NeverBend

8 days ago I was the last poster in this thread. Not a good sign...

Started this bowl in the AM

2009 Rattray's 7 Reserve in a 1963 Barling #6106 sandblast billiard taper.


----------



## TanZ2005

It is ok Pete, Just glad the site is up again and we can get our puff on.... Was starting to get a little worried. 

Today Smoking some Hearth & Home Magnum Opus, In my Vintage Arlington Pipe. What a kick to start the day..

James


----------



## JimInks

I just discovered this site is up and running again! Good! Listing this a few minutes early: C&D Kajun Kake in a 1970s smooth medium bend Stanwell Rego 969-48 Design Choice 837 sitter with a vulcanite stem and ferrule. I've enough for one more bowl.


----------



## KungFumeta

Top of the morning everyone!!

MacBaren Vintage Syrian in a MM pride. Quite liking the VS, but i expected a bit more oomph from it. very enjoyable nevertheless...


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## KungFumeta

Quick question Jim

Do you work nights or do you get up really, REALLY early in the morning? It seems like we're two of the few people on the forum at this hour, but I have a timezone difference helping!


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

KungFumeta said:


> Quick question Jim
> 
> Do you work nights or do you get up really, REALLY early in the morning? It seems like we're two of the few people on the forum at this hour, but I have a timezone difference helping!


I work late at night because I enjoy that time of day. Lately, I've been getting up early, too.

Peacehaven in a 2014 smooth quarter bend Basil Meadows horn.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: G&H Dark Flake Unscented in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

Going to list this one a bit early, too, so I can concentrate on work for a while: HU My Special One in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## KungFumeta




----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

P&W Rum Cake in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer. I've enough for one more bowl.


----------



## TanZ2005

Smokin Hearth & Home Fisilier's Ration in a 80's Royal Duke. So this tobacco looks kind of like 10 to Midnight. Rubbed it out is little small bits but then I pinch and load to the stuff that looks to small goes to the top. The Tobacco even in this straight pipe smokes well and has loads of smoke. Great burn, nice Retro. Very nice smooth smoke makes me wish I wouldn't keep buying the OTC blends for the cost of this in bulk I keep wondering why I even go to my daily OTC's Oh Well Enjoy your day everyone. 

James


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Breckinridge in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## NeverBend

2000 Rattray's 7 Reserve in a 1950s Barling Ye Olde Wood #251 smooth billiard taper.


----------



## JimInks

Smoking the last of this trade sample of Boswell’s Premium Burley in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## VaStogie

Frog Morton On The Bayou in a Red Bark Dunhill. Then off to work I go.


----------



## JimInks

P&W Rum Cake in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer. There's just a little left now.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## KungFumeta

Amorelli Ghibli rusticated with Skiff mixture


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing this bowl of G&H Rich Dark Honeydew in a straight 2014 MM Pride Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Tilbury in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton. I've enough left for two or three bowls.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Peterson’s Sherlock Holmes in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Walnut in a 1977 straight black rusticated Sir Brent billiard with a lucite stem and silver band repair.


----------



## TanZ2005

Smoking some Hearth & Home Magnum Opus in my Newish Cob. Awesome Smoke...

James


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Hines Match in a straight 1979 MM Legend. Next is Black Noble 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul. I'm almost out of this blend, which is burley good and latakia smoky.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Test VaPer in a 2003 medium bent straight grain Two dot 2 P. Ardor Venere Extra Bucaneve with a silver ferrule signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Borkum Riff Limited Edition 11 with Trinidad Rum in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

A moment or two away from smoking Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of HU Zulu in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Black Noble in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit. This finishes the tin.


----------



## JimInks

Wessex Burley Broadcut in a medium bend grain etched undated Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Tilbury in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles. This will finish the tin.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking Gatlin-Burlier Smokers Smoke-Ease in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1983 Ben Wade Duo 65 smooth Poker.


----------



## Nachman

It is a nice cool morning, so I varied my routine and smoked Rattray's Accountant's Mixture. The dark Scottish flavour is good on a cool morning.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I'm having a bowl of Homborger Veermaster (HV) in a Peterson Belgique with a mug of coffee this morning.


----------



## JimInks

Seattle Evening in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Listing my next smoke early: Troost Aromatic Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## KungFumeta

Dunhill Early Morning Pipe in MM short stop


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## NeverBend

*WT No Clue* in a 1981 *Mastro De Paja 1C* sandblast lovat.


----------



## JimInks

NeverBend said:


> *WT No Clue* in a 1981 *Mastro De Paja 1C* sandblast lovat.


I got some of that, too! Gave WT my impressions already.

Now smoking P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## NeverBend

JimInks said:


> I got some of that, too! Gave WT my impressions already.


Had a hunch that you might have tried it. Perhaps you'll do a review if WT is game.

I've been smoking several of that type recently and No Clue easily bested them.

Did you try the Escudo with GH DF Unscented?

How are Mrs. H. Inks and the purring girls?


----------



## JimInks

NeverBend said:


> Had a hunch that you might have tried it. Perhaps you'll do a review if WT is game.
> 
> I've been smoking several of that type recently and No Clue easily bested them.
> 
> Did you try the Escudo with GH DF Unscented?
> 
> How are Mrs. H. Inks and the purring girls?


M'lady and the kittens are doing well, though Suzy was very demanding of my attention today. She thinks because she's a cat that she rules everything, and she's probably right!

I smoked a few bowls of the Escudo/DFU and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was a good idea. But I really like DFU, so I'll probably smoke the rest solo so I won't dilute it.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Full Virginia Flake in a much cherished smooth straight grain three quarter bend 1979 Becker M 4 heart brandy. Next is SG Perfection in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## JimInks

Up early to work on a project with a tight deadline, so I'm smoking Bald Headed Teacher in a 1982 near full bend egg shaped Ascorti Business KS with a black ferrule and saddle stem. Coffee is brewing.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Wessex Burley Broadcut in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem. Next will be Blackwoods Flake in a 1980 Stanwell 668 medium bend with a ferrule, half black sandblasted, half brown smooth, rough top.


----------



## JimInks

McCranie's Murdock's Pipe in a 1990 Peterson Irish Second Oom Paul natural.


----------



## KungFumeta

Missouri Meerschaum Short Stop packed with SG Squadron Leader Pipaclub de España Special Edition. Its just like regular squadron leader but with a dash of perique. Really lovely!


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim. Next is Hines Match in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of moments away from smoking MacBaren Scottish Blend in a very ugly reddish color 1980 medium bend Lorenzo Leganza Sigma 8635 etched rough top.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a little early: MacBaren HH Acadian Perique in an egg shaped medium bend smooth Burgundy colored 1985 Caminetto.


----------



## JimInks

Prince Albert in a smooth three quarter bend 1979 Ben Wade Golden Matt freehand sitter. Reacquainting myself with PA before I start smoking the new Sutliff Match of it.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Borkum Riff Limited Edition 11 with Trinidad Rum in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a smooth 1977 Medley (GBD second) medium bend billiard with a flat underside.


----------



## JimInks

Just under half a bowl of Gatlin-Burlier Smokers Smoke-Ease in a 1949 medium bend black Dunhill Shell. That finishes the trade sample.


----------



## JimInks

Last smoke before sleep is MacBaren Plum Cake in a 1979 no name French briar smooth full bend egg.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

Today I had my first morning bowl in a while.

I had a bowl of FVF in a MM cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Prince Albert in a smooth three quarter bend 1979 Ben Wade Golden Matt freehand sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Escudo in a 2002 medium bend smooth straight grain Karl Erik freehand with a pointy bottom.


----------



## JimInks

Prince Albert Match in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Club Mixture Aromatic in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## JustTroItIn

JimInks said:


> Prince Albert Match in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem.


How was the PA match?


----------



## JimInks

JustTroItIn said:


> How was the PA match?


I'm still deciding. It's close. Not quite as chocolately or quite as nutty, but there's no chemical taste either. Very smooth.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Been busy this morning and just finished smoking Kentucky Club Continental in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe. Next is Kentucky Club Continental Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## JimInks

P&W Nut Brown Burley in a black 1980 sandblasted Peterson Premiere 01 medium bend apple.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a 2002 smooth Rinaldo Silver Line 3 EGER 05 paneled horn.


----------



## Nachman

smoking Red Rapparee this morning


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking GQ BurPer Kake in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Last smoke of the day is Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot. The previous smoke was awesome!!


----------



## JimInks

Sugar Barrel in a 1979 smooth medium bend billiard made in Israel.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Rinaldo Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Straight Grain egg.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a 2003 medium bend Nording 4 rough top sitter with a small rusticated area at the top left.


----------



## KungFumeta

Missouri Pride packed to the brim with Squadron Leader Pipaclub de España special edition to go with the morning coffee...

Coffee had to come from some beans that had been sitting in the bottom of the grinder for more than 3 months cuz I was all out of everything else... The taste was... peculiar...


----------



## Nachman

Elizabethan Mixture with a cup of Yorkshire tea, black, two sugars. Sweet tobacco and sweet tea.


----------



## NeverBend

2014 Esoterica Scarborough in a 1983 Ser Jacopo Gemma Granato billiard taper.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Peterson’s Sherlock Holmes in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Plum Cake in a light brown 1979 rusticated medium bend Italian Sir Jeffrey Dublin sitter with a flared top and yellow stem. Next is BRG in a 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2003 black sandblasted medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant blowfish.


----------



## TanZ2005

Smoking some Dunhill De Luxe navy Rolls in a Savinelli 622 KS. Got these today, Pipe was used Estate, I Reamed and Cleaned the pipe. It is a beautiful pipe and smokes great. 

James


----------



## JimInks

Tobacco Galleria Nightcap in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## KungFumeta

Amorelli Prince with Early Morning Pipe


----------



## Nachman

FVF in a Savanelli Caramello Zulu.


----------



## KC2VVJ

Typically its an english in whichever pipe I can grab but today its a cigar and a coffee.


----------



## stealthpenguin

Nosferatu in a briar this morning, now that I've finally had time to slow down and get a cup of coffee.


----------



## JimInks

Straight Cube Cut Burley in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Prince Albert Match in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem. Royals and Angels are 1-1 in the 8th.


----------



## JimInks

Capstan Blue in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem. Royals and Angels are playing free baseball in the 10th, score is 1-1.


----------



## JimInks

Bald Headed Teacher in a 1983 medium bend, mostly smooth, bottom rusticated Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier 3 Fait Main.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Royal Comfort Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Sugar Barrel Match in a smooth medium bend 1970s Savinelli Autograph 4 Dublin with blonde and black lucite ferrule and stem.


----------



## stealthpenguin

The frost warning missed us and the tomatoes are still alive, so it's dessert for breakfast: 4Noggins Catamount in the little briar


----------



## JimInks

Balkan Sobranie in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Prince Albert Match in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo. Next is Royal Comfort Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## The Nothing

Whipped up something that I'm hoping @madbricky might like...










I'll find out in a few when I'm driving to work...


----------



## JimInks

John Rolfe Match in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Troost Aromatic Match in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Sutliff PS Breckinridge in a smooth straight 1980s Upshall/Tilshead Walnut pot with the JU stamp.


----------



## JimInks

Dark burley in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## KungFumeta

Had to leave in a hurry for Madrid last Thursday, couldn't take pipes and/or tobacco with me.

Arrived late last night, didn't have time for a smoke.

Overslept this morning, didn't have time for a coffe+half a pipe as usual. Smoking half a pipe before work really makes my whole morning a lot brighter.

Starting to jones really bad for some HH vintage syrian... Or perhaps a celebratory bowl of my sacred Samarra stash...


----------



## stealthpenguin

Aromatic frankenpipe this morning  It's a 60-40 mix of a sample pouch of Thomas' Blend and the last of the bag of Catamount. I like the Thomas' Blend better than any Black Cav out there, I think.


----------



## cpmcdill

MM American Patriot in a Grabow Savoy


----------



## JimInks

4th Generation 1855 in an undated (1970s?) unbranded straight paneled sandblasted Tanshell Dunhill second.


----------



## madbricky

Black and Gold never gets old! looking good my friend.


The Nothing said:


> Whipped up something that I'm hoping @madbricky might like...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll find out in a few when I'm driving to work...


----------



## JimInks

Prince Albert in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles.


----------



## KungFumeta

Dan Tobacco Ascanian No.1 in an Amorelli Prince.

Sorely dissappointed by the Ascanian, almost tasteles...


----------



## JimInks

Prince Albert Match in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem.


----------



## Kegen

Frog Morton on the town which I'm running low on.


----------



## JimInks

BRG 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul with a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## KungFumeta

Special edition Squadron Leader in a Dunhill 4114 Shell Briar bent. It was my ex-pipeclub's POY for the 2007 25yr anniversary gathering.


----------



## JimInks

Bald Headed Teacher in a 1982 near full bend egg shaped Ascorti Business KS with a black ferrule and saddle stem.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some of Bruck's latest latakia flake in a straight Stanwell Day and Night ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Angler's Dream in a 1978 smooth pointy bottom three quarter bend Sir Brent, shaped like a check mark.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Capstan Blue in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem.


----------



## JimInks

Borkum Riff Limited Edition 11 with Trinidad Rum in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## KungFumeta

JimInks said:


> Balkan Sobranie in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


Whoa i missed THIS! Was the Balkan Sobranie for some sort of special occassion, do you have one hell of a stash or did you just feel like it?

This morning, HH Vintage Syrian in a MM Missouri pride with some siphon coffee.


----------



## JimInks

KungFumeta said:


> Whoa i missed THIS! Was the Balkan Sobranie for some sort of special occassion, do you have one hell of a stash or did you just feel like it?
> 
> This morning, HH Vintage Syrian in a MM Missouri pride with some siphon coffee.


I once had quite a stash of the old Balkan Sobranie, but I smoked it up quite a while back. This is the new version, which is quite good, but I don't think it's as good as the older versions were. There was once an unflavored soda-like flavor that is now missing, and yes, I sure do miss it because it helped make it special.


----------



## TanZ2005

JimInks said:


> Borkum Riff Limited Edition 11 with Trinidad Rum in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


Would love to see your Omega. Here is a picture of my 3, The one of the left is the oldest of my 3, The one in the center I used to use and Abuse at times 4 to 6 pipes a day with it a couple of times even used a torch lighter to light the poor thing. That one is from around 95 and then last one on the right (Smooth) is the newest bought that one in 2010.

Smoking my 95 Omega with some Price Albert. This pipe used to smoke Velvet, Prince Albert, Orlik Golden Sliced and loads of Captain Black White. Used to be my favorite pipe..

James


----------



## JimInks

@TanZ2005: I'm bad about getting pictures done, but I'll try. I can't now because I'm so busy with so many things, and my mother-in-law has the camera. I need to take pics of a number of my pipes, and when I do, I'll include a shot of my four Grabows.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## Trackmyer

Russ' monthly blend "Nut Cluster", in an unfinished Savinelli briar.


----------



## TanZ2005

Morning Everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Today I am starting out with some Peterson Connoisseur's Choice in my IMP Meerschaum.

James


----------



## stealthpenguin

Best Brown Flake this morning, while I'm reading an essay on 18th-Century Ottoman **** ... er ... erotic painting.


----------



## LandonColby

SG's Medium Virginia Flake (also known as Golden Glow in tins...MVF is the bulk) in a rusticated Savinelli 920 ks.


----------



## stealthpenguin

The weather took a turn for the soggy, so I loaded a brunch pipe with Pirate Kake and sat on the porch watching the rain fall.


----------



## OnePyroTec

A little penzance in a cob before I grab a few cigars for the range.


----------



## The Nothing

some LNF on my way to work this morning


----------



## JimInks

First Responders in a medium bend raw sienna toned early Radice sandblast egg with bamboo craving on the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256.


----------



## TanZ2005

Smoking some Dan Tobacco Blue Note in the Dr. Grabow Omega. WOW what a Tobacco. Needs to be smoked slow or you will know that you were smoking to fast. At least in the Omega. I will try it later today in the Savinelli and see of that pipe can smoke this cooler. 

James


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had my first morning bowl in a while today.

HV in a Dr. G during my morning commute up the mountain to work. It was sublime.


----------



## stealthpenguin

Coffee on the porch with Mac Baren Vanilla Creme, which the neighbors love more than all the rest of the blends I have.


----------



## JimInks

HH Mature Virginia in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Standard Match in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Modern Virginia Flake in a 2014 smooth quarter bend Basil Meadows horn.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a MM COB with a foreverstem during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

McClelland Three Cherry Blend in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## KungFumeta

Very good morning to everyone!!

Savinelli Junior/Dunhill Early Morning Pipe. Still messing with the palm-circling packing method. Perhaps its best suited for medium or bigger-bowled pipes, didn't get such great results yesterday in my small prince or this morning in the mini-churchwarden. Still a great smoke with the coffee!


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Modern Virginia Flake in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1983 Ben Wade Duo 65 smooth Poker with a black vulcanite stem.


----------



## stealthpenguin

Yay, there is time for a morning smoke! I'm having Comoy's Cask No. 4 with tea, and thinking that this is at least similar to Luxury Navy Flake in that it wants some age.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking G&H Rich Dark Honeydew in a straight 2014 MM Pride Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Briggs in a 2003 Stanwell Golden Danish 56 Rusticated Canadian.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking Briggs Match in an early smooth Radice Tiger Eye G medium bend tall Rhodesian with a bamboo-style carving on the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking GQ Askwith Kake in a 1970s smooth medium bend Stanwell Rego 969-48 Design Choice 837 sitter with a vulcanite stem and ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Queen Anne’s Revenge in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Motzek #8 in a medium bend 1983 Ascorti New Dear KS. Next is Peretti's Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## stealthpenguin

4th Generation 1855 this morning. It's nice, but that is some Serious Business topping on it. I lit the bowl to get rid of the pervasive raisin smell. Also, I'm not sure that the whole 40 gram tin thing is gonna catch on.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I was running late this morning, and selecting a pipe and tobacco for my morning commute takes too long at the best of times.

So, I grabbed a Villiger Export for my morning commute up the mountain. It was at least satisfactory.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking MacBaren Modern Virginia Flake in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Capstan Blue in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem. Still working and listening to _Information Please_.


----------



## TanZ2005

Smoking some Dan Tobacco Sweet Vanilla honeydew in a La Salle and it is only 3:17am pst. Morning everyone.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a MM forever cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Nachman

I started the morning with a bowl of Royal Yacht, and since then I have been smoking Carter Hall breaking in the pipe my grandson gave me.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic military mount 320KS author.


----------



## haebar

A bowl of Navy Flake with a vintage Kaywoodie billiard. Good morning to you all!


----------



## JimInks

GQ Nottingham Lace Rouge in a 1979 brown grain etched Lane Era Charatan's Make medium bend double comfort stem calabash shape 483DC.


----------



## JimInks

Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## JimInks

VIP Match in a 2014 straight rough finished Chinese Cob.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Modern Virginia Flake in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Low Country Santee in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morrow everyone!

Dunhill shell briar half bent dublin with Squadron Leader. Excellent combo.


----------



## JimInks

Half a bowl of Low Country Black in a 1979 signed Rossi Oom Paul 1886 natural. This finishes the sample.


----------



## Nachman

Royal Yacht in a Nording 1/8 bent Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Three Star Blue in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of C&D Burley Flake #1 in a 1979 smooth slight bend H. Jones Ltd. Easy Loader 391 Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## JimInks

Argosy Black in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning to all!!

Dunhill Early Morning Pipe in my small Amorelli prince. This combo just works great.


----------



## haebar

A bowl of Half & Half in a Peterson bent.


----------



## JimInks

GQ Askwith Kake in a 2003 medium bend straight grain Viggo Nielsen sitter with a Cumberland-like acrylic stem. This will finish the sample.


----------



## JimInks

Argosy Black Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## KungFumeta

I overslept this morning and thus had no time to smoke properly, so I took some squadron leader, rubbed it out a little, and rolled it up into a ciggy to have with the coffee.
Its remarkable how similar it tastes, but it burns hot and the paper taste is rather forward. It packs a rather potent nicotine punch when inhaled, too!
I might be doing this a litle more often. I have to try rolling some EMP...


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg.


----------



## LandonColby

Christmas Cheer 2014 in a Savinelli 413 ks. @stealthpenguin , this year is sweet and delicious as usual! Can't wait to try the tin I set aside for 5 years from now, I have a rotation where I smoke one the year of, and then on in 5 years. I have a tin of the last 3 or 4 years' blends.


----------



## stealthpenguin

1855 this morning, while the latest batch of prints is drying. Thanks, @LandonColby I have a single tin but it would really be a crime to open it now, so I appreciate reports on how this year is smoking


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Dunhill Nightcap Match in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: MacBaren Modern Virginia Flake in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black groove carved Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

C&D Burley Flake #2 in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## KungFumeta

Top of the morning everyone!

Stefano Santambrogio squat bulldog with cubed Capstan Blue this morning.


----------



## JimInks

Argosy Black Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing this bowl of BRG 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul with a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Half a bowl of Skandivanik Full Aroma in a tan etched medium bend 2001 Rinaldo Sahara 2 Acorn round at the shank, pointy at the opposite top. This finishes the sample.


----------



## JimInks

The last of my stash of Peretti’s Burley Slices in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black groove carved Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

GQ Breakfast Blend in a 2004 smooth long stem Canadian Trever Talbot Ligne Bretagne Faite en Bretagne 4/3.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Jim's Burley #1 in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg. Next is Sutliff PS Breckinridge in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

HV in a MM cob with foreverstem during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Capstan Blue in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem.


----------



## JimInks

About half way through this bowl of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

C&D Burley Flake #2 in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## KungFumeta

Dunhill early morning pipe in my beautiful amorelli ghibli.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Dan Galway in a Gatlinburlier house pipe ipe:


----------



## cakeanddottle

Storm Front in a GBD pot


----------



## Wildone

View attachment 88470

Visit with the Nuns....... Happy Sunday.......


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a Peterson military-mount green spray during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## stealthpenguin

A bowl of the experimental cake this morning, it seems to have finally dried out 2 days later


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Old Dark Fired in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

Low Country Santee in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 2001 black sandblasted three quarter bend Rinaldo Lithos YY bulldog with an amber colored stem.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of C&D Burley Flake #1 in a 1979 smooth slight bend H. Jones Ltd. Easy Loader 391 Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Not too far from finishing this bowl of Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: HU Flanagan in a 2014 smooth medium bend Basil Meadows egg with an aluminum band and a "root beer swirl" acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic military mount 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning everyone!



Missouri Meerschaum Short Stop with Prince Albert and some knockoff Nespresso.


----------



## cpmcdill

Hal O' The Wynd in a MM cob


----------



## Nachman

Carter Hall to work on breaking in a pipe this morning.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Royal Yacht in a Peterson Belgique during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Penzance in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Almost half way through this bowl of BRG in a 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul with a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

About to smoke 1960s Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow Match in a straight 2014 really cheap Chinese cob.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a Peterson green spray sterling silver military mount during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing this bowl of Louisiana Red in a 2002 smooth Rinaldo Silver Line 3 EGER 05 paneled horn.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking P&W #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot. And working.


----------



## JimInks

Almost half way through this bowl of Low Country Santee in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking BRG in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker. Next is Eltang Virginia in a 2014 smooth quarter bend Basil Meadows horn.

The day has finally arrived for some justice! Marvel Comics is crediting Jack Kirby with being the co-creator of the characters he did with Stan Lee. Even if it was to avoid the matter being heard by the Supreme Court, it's finally happened. I only wish Jack and Roz were here to see this day.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/marvel-comics-changes-credits-wake-745318


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV (Homborger Veermaster) in a Falcon during my morning commute up the mountain.

Damn, I'm getting pretty predictable.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Slices in a very much appreciated 1979 brown, slight bend grain etched flat front Stanwell Rego 969-48 (09).


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking Luxury Bullseye Flake in a slight bend 1968 group 4S Dunhill Shell 475 cherrywood.


----------



## JimInks

Queen Anne’s Revenge in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

WhiteKnight in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Vintage Syrian in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 2014 Rekamepip smooth short shank slight bend olive wood poker.


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter. A cup of properly brewed tea is my drink.


----------



## JimInks

Missouri Meerschaum Missouri Pride in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Missouri Meerschaum American Patriot in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## Skimmer0220

Gonna be trying another bowl of spc Mississippi river, just gonna try and keep it lit this time


----------



## Tobias Lutz

in a Straight, smooth Dr. Grabow Patriot for the walk to church this morning. ipe:


----------



## JimInks

HU My Special One in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a really big 2002 three quarter bend paneled light brown sandblasted Ardor Urano Fatta A Mano square shaped bulldog sitter.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes or so away from smoking Basil Rathbone's blend, P&W #515 in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## JimInks

A moment away from smoking G&H Coconut Twist in a straight 2014 MM Pride Legend.


----------



## JimInks

GQ BurPer Kake in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Briggs Match in a smooth early Radice full bend crossgrain/bird's eye 2 dot Clear.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a little early: Stogie in a 1970s slight bend smooth Danish Sovereign XXX 309 with a flat front sitter.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a meerschaum during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of HU Indaba in a 1970s slight bend Caminetto business 134 poker with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Capstan Blue in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem.


----------



## JimInks

Three Star Blue in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## KungFumeta

Best of mornings to ye all, fellow pipers!

Mine was definately improved by some Carter Hall on the cob with an espresso.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim.


----------



## JimInks

I'm up early for no good reason except to smoke. Almost finished with this bowl of Prince Albert in a 1970s slight bend black sandblasted Comoy's Silver Cloud 624 sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Just finishing this bowl of Sutliff PS Breckinridge in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking Luxury Bullseye Flake in a 1984 black sandblasted straight Dunhill Shell 4103 Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Captain Black Red Sky in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning Puff!

Decided to live dangerously this morning



Even with the tiny tiny short stop I decided to put it down half way. This shag sure packs a big punch if you're on an empty stomach! Either that or i'm a wimp. Interesting burley flavor, though I was expecting a little more of it!


----------



## TanZ2005

KungFumeta said:


> Good morning Puff!
> 
> Decided to live dangerously this morning
> 
> 
> 
> Even with the tiny tiny short stop I decided to put it down half way. This shag sure packs a big punch if you're on an empty stomach! Either that or i'm a wimp. Interesting burley flavor, though I was expecting a little more of it!


I seen your post and thought HUMM I have a package of that, Lets give it a try. Thank you for giving me a reason to open it  I found it to be very nice tasting. Little stronger then I was expecting (Not that it is a bad thing) This would be a good add in for the day not to take the place of PA. WOW your right, I feel like a light weight smoking this without eating. This punches without warning...

James


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul with a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of HV in a MM cob with Forever stem during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Modern Virginia Flake in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a smooth 1977 Medley (GBD second) medium bend billiard with a flat underside.


----------



## JimInks

GQ BurPer Kake in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

in a Gatlinburlier house pipe ipe:

We're starting to get frost on our windshields here


----------



## JimInks

About half way through this bowl of Doblone D’Oro in an egg shaped medium bend smooth Burgundy colored 1985 Caminetto.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Irish Flake in a MM cob with Foreverstem during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## Desertlifter

Trout Stream in a Stanwell Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Breckinridge in a three quarter bend 1983 Jobey Danski 2 straight grain freehand rough top sitter.


----------



## Er999

:target::target::banana::banana::banana::banana:Going to hijack this thread for a bit: *sign up for the pipe blind taste test!!! The more, the merrier!!!! *
Hijack ended, we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.:banana::banana::banana::banana::focus::focus::focus:


----------



## JimInks

About half way through this bowl of Angler's Dream in a 1978 smooth pointy bottom three quarter bend Sir Brent, shaped like a check mark.


----------



## JimInks

Interlude in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Exhausted Rooster in a 1982 smooth slight bend straight grain Ben Wade Martinique freehand sitter with a wide top.


----------



## JimInks

PS Whiskey No. 2 in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## JimInks

HU Zulu in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Vincent Manil La Brumeuse Semois in a 2013 MM straight Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking Old Dark Fired in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Three Star Blue in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

In the middle of smoking Hines Match in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a 2003 medium bend Nording 4 rough top sitter with a small rusticated area at the top left.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Angler's Dream in a 2001 Karl Erik Ekstravagant A medium bend with a pointy bottom and a wide top. Next is Captain Black Black Sea in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## JimInks

Five O'Clock Shadow in a 2004 smooth long stem Canadian Trever Talbot Ligne Bretagne Faite en Bretagne 4/3.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051. Next is BRG in a 1983 Ben Wade Duo 65 smooth Poker with a black vulcanite stem.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a 2002 smooth Rinaldo Silver Line 3 EGER 05 paneled horn.


----------



## JimInks

Capstan Blue in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1984 MM General cob.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking dark burley in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

About to light up a bowl of Missouri Meerschaum Country Gentleman in a black 1997 Brebbia Jubilee 925 silver banded grain sandblast briar calabash. Still working and listening to Eric Clapton.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2003 black sandblasted medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant blowfish.


----------



## JimInks

Briar Fox in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Missouri Meerschaum Missouri Pride in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Modern Virginia Flake in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished this bowl of Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black groove carved Dr. Grabow Omega. Next will be P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Middleton Cherry in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo. Next is Jim's Burley #1 in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Vintage Syrian in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin. Next is MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit.


----------



## JimInks

HU Flanagan in a slight bent 1970's Caminetto 103 Business KS billiard with a fumed rim.


----------



## JimInks

Not too far away from finishing this bowl of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Briggs Match in an early smooth Radice Tiger Eye G medium bend tall Rhodesian with a bamboo-style carving on the shank.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking MacBaren HH Latakia Flake in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Slices in an old grain relief, partly smooth full bend "V" shape bowl Ben Wade Prominence freehand with the letter A and the numeral 2 in circles.


----------



## LandonColby

Good morning everyone! I'm stoking my Roma bulldog with some GLP Laural Heights this morning. Have a great day ladies and gentlemen!


----------



## Secret Pipe Santa

If you haven't done it yet, come sign up for the Secret Pipe Santa. kids are being drawn on Saturday night!


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Modern Virginia Flake in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking MacBaren Navy Flake in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Balkan Sobranie in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## JimInks

Tom Eltang English in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Jim's Half Va., Half Burley w/Per in a 1970s slight bend Caminetto business 134 poker with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Almost half way through this bowl of MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021 with a black vulcanite stem..


----------



## JimInks

Boswell’s Virginia Slices in a 1987 Peterson first series Sherlock Holmes full bend with a silver band


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Missouri Meerschaum Country Gentleman in a 2000 thin stem rusticated black silver band spigot Ardor Urano S. Holmes #68 /100 D.R. briar calabash with a smooth flared top. This finishes the sample.


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was C&D Burley Flake #2 in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe. Next is McCranie's Red Flake 2008 in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## LandonColby

I honor of the pairing of SPS kids, im smoking some Christmas Cheer 2014 in a Grabow Omega. Can't wait to hear who my poor little bastard is


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a slight bend black sandblasted Lorenzo Elba Imperia 8636 with an amber colored acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Field and Stream in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking El Nino in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021 with a black vulcanite stem. This will finish the sample.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a 2002 smooth Rinaldo Silver Line 3 EGER 05 paneled horn.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a slight bend black sandblasted Lorenzo Elba Imperia 8636 with an amber colored acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Jackknife Ready Rubbed in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305.


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was Jim's Burley #1 in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg. Now, it's Sutliff PS Breckinridge in a smooth straight 1980s Upshall/Tilshead Walnut pot with the JU stamp.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: PS Cube Cut in a tan etched medium bend 2001 Rinaldo Sahara 2 Acorn round at the shank, pointy at the opposite top.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Prince Albert in a 1970s slight bend black sandblasted Comoy's Silver Cloud 624 sitter. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## KungFumeta

After a couple of hectic weeks which have kept me away from the pipe except for a single bowl of Margate (what an experience that was) this morning I managed to get back on the pipin' horse.

Missouri Pride + Carter Hall. Instead of leaving it on the table for some DGT this evening when I get home, I kept smoking it on the short walk to the parking garage, and then in the car for the trip to work (its a VERY short commute, about 10 mins) I LOVED it. I'll be doing this every morning from now on.
However I do get the impression that I smoke a lot faster than I should when I'm walking. I find it hard to keep my puffing and walking cadences independent. Perhaps I should leave earlier and walk slower!


----------



## JimInks

RLP-6 in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 1978 smooth pointy bottom three quarter bend Sir Brent, shaped like a check mark.


----------



## JimInks

Briggs Match in an early smooth Radice Tiger Eye G medium bend tall Rhodesian with a bamboo-style carving on the shank.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 2001 black sandblasted three quarter bend Rinaldo Lithos YY bulldog with an amber colored stem.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Bourbon Street in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of HU Scotney in a 2003 smooth Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Baskerville.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sail Yellow Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking Three Star Blue in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## KungFumeta

Deviated from my strict diet of carter hall/prince albert on the cob and fired up a bowl of EMP in my amorelli prince small apple this morning.
Taste was teh awesome, but i struggle to keep it lit as well as the OTC burleys. Some more practice needed!


----------



## JimInks

In the middle of smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the very first pipe I ever smoked (which was my father’s pipe), a late 1950s smooth with etched grooves straight Willard long stem adjustomatic Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Breckinridge in a smooth straight 1980s Upshall/Tilshead Walnut pot with the JU stamp.


----------



## The Nothing




----------



## JimInks

Brunello in a 2003 straight grain Karl Erik Ekstravagant A medium bend freehand sitter. Simple Orange is my drink.

Btw, I'm not seeing the number of morning smokers I used to. Where'd everybody go? I feel like the Maytag repairman, smokin' mostly by myself. Maybe I'm the only one in a smoking environment in the a.m.?


----------



## LandonColby

Good morning lads! Hope everyone had a nice turkey coma last night...GLP Laurel Heights in a Savinelli 920.


----------



## Nachman

JimInks said:


> Brunello in a 2003 straight grain Karl Erik Ekstravagant A medium bend freehand sitter. Simple Orange is my drink.
> 
> Btw, I'm not seeing the number of morning smokers I used to. Where'd everybody go? I feel like the Maytag repairman, smokin' mostly by myself. Maybe I'm the only one in a smoking environment in the a.m.?


I smoke the same few tobaccos over and over so I don't post unless I smoke an unusual (for me) tobacco that day. My habits are unremarkable and therefore boring.


----------



## JimInks

Nachman said:


> I smoke the same few tobaccos over and over so I don't post unless I smoke an unusual (for me) tobacco that day. My habits are unremarkable and therefore boring.


Not to me. Repetition of smokes is interesting, too. So are you. You know tobaccos.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Rinaldo Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Straight Grain egg.


----------



## JimInks

Caravan in a 2003 URAL full bend big bowl egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## JimInks

Missouri Meerschaum Missouri Pride in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Peterson’s Sherlock Holmes in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking B&B Scott’s Companion in a 1990 Peterson Irish Second Oom Paul natural. Now, it's MacBaren Modern Virginia Loose Cut in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 1988 smooth full bend Peterson System Standard XL 315.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Low Country Santee in a 2002 quarter bend sandblasted Stanwell Golden Danish 139.


----------



## JimInks

Stokkebye Navy Flake in a 2003 smooth full bend, gold banded 3 Star Ferndown Tudor Root.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Walnut in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Old Dark Fired in a smooth medium bend post-WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Killarney with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

PS Cube Cut in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## JimInks

Stogie in a 1970s slight bend smooth Danish Sovereign XXX 309 with a flat front sitter.


----------



## KungFumeta

Five Brothers "Pipe Tobacco!" in a MM short stop.


----------



## JimInks

Prince Albert in a 1970s slight bend black sandblasted Comoy's Silver Cloud 624 sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Luxury Bullseye Flake in a slight bend 1968 group 4S Dunhill Shell 475 cherrywood. Next is FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a straight Lane era Charatan black with burgundy undertone sandblasted billiard 420.


----------



## JimInks

Not too far from finishing this bowl of MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1983 Ben Wade Duo 65 smooth Poker with a black vulcanite stem.


----------



## freestoke

G'Mornin', lads and lasses! :yo: Been avoiding the site because of the Mozilla virus that I strongly suspect I ran into here, but now I'm on a Linux box and will be coming around a bit more. The ground is free of snow and dreams of a green Christmas are dancing in my head. :banana: Burnin' some Union Square in the CG Forever, with strongish coffee (think I miscounted the scoops, talking while I scooped :smile: ). A little chilly out there, but any day with sunshine should be enjoyed in the Mohawk Valley!


----------



## Emperor Zurg

freestoke said:


> G'Mornin', lads and lasses! :yo: Been avoiding the site because of the Mozilla virus that I strongly suspect I ran into here, but now I'm on a Linux box and will be coming around a bit more. The ground is free of snow and dreams of a green Christmas are dancing in my head. :banana: Burnin' some Union Square in the CG Forever, with strongish coffee (think I miscounted the scoops, talking while I scooped :smile: ). A little chilly out there, but any day with sunshine should be enjoyed in the Mohawk Valley!


JIM!!! Bout time you made an appearance! We thought you wuz hung!
I ought to dock your RG for abandoning us like that :nono:


----------



## freestoke

Yo Zorg! :hn The scaffold has a wifi connection. :smile:


Been trying to clean up containers, now seemingly my lifework. ipe: Mixing some Union Square and Tambo, neither of which I'm wild for on its own, but together they aren't all bad.


----------



## Nachman

Glad to see you back Jim.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem. Next will be Missouri Meerschaum Missouri Pride in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of McCranie’s Red Flake 2008 in a 2003 medium bend Nording 4 rough top sitter with a small rusticated area at the top left. I've enough left for one more bowl.


----------



## KungFumeta

Greatest of mornings to all of PuffPiperdom!

Still hittin' the codger burley hard over here. I do miss the sophisticated flavor of english blends, but the wonder of seeing my pipe actually stay the heck lit brings me SO much enjoyment. Plus the fact that I really do enjoy the taste of these blends.

This morning, Prince Albert on the MM Pride. Excellent! I still can't decide whether I prefer CH over PA... Oh well i've got 2oz of each to smoke through before I order reinforcements.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

freestoke said:


> G'Mornin', lads and lasses! :yo: Been avoiding the site because of the Mozilla virus that I strongly suspect I ran into here, but now I'm on a Linux box and will be coming around a bit more. The ground is free of snow and dreams of a green Christmas are dancing in my head. :banana: Burnin' some Union Square in the CG Forever, with strongish coffee (think I miscounted the scoops, talking while I scooped :smile: ). A little chilly out there, but any day with sunshine should be enjoyed in the Mohawk Valley!


WOOOHOOO! Jim's back! arty: ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Glad to see you back Jim.


Hi, Nick! Good to be posting here again. Love this Linux Mint! I hate Windows systems because they always seem -- busy. The disk light blinks when nothing is happening, and occcasionally it will rebuild the index the entire file system, slowing you down to a halt. At least you can disable that crap, but most people don't know about it and suffer the slowdown when it happens. Then there's FlashPlayer, that hangs and dies from time to time. :tsk: Horrible.

Smoking some Union Square in the Diplomat Forever, CFoN coffee. :cp


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Breckinridge in a smooth straight 1980s Upshall/Tilshead Walnut pot with the JU stamp.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Old Dark Fired in a smooth medium bend post-WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Killarney with a sterling silver band. Next is MacBaren HH Latakia Flake in a 1949 medium bend black Dunhill Shell.


----------



## JimInks

HU Indaba in a 1970s slight bend Caminetto business 134 poker with a gold acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking Joie DeVivre in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Filmore in a 1980 Stanwell 668 medium bend with a ferrule, half black sandblasted, half brown smooth, rough top.


----------



## JimInks

Prince Albert in a 1970s slight bend black sandblasted Comoy's Silver Cloud 624 sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum&Maple in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking MacBaren Modern Virginia Loose Cut in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob. Next is GLP Embarcadero in a 1979 pebble relief Verona Corallo 3080 natural Oom Paul.


----------



## JimInks

C&D Burley Flake #2 in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## Nachman

Another wet and foggy day, so I decided to make it a Lakelands day. I started with a big bowl of GH Rum Flake. It was sweeter than most of the tobaccos I smoke, but quite satisfying and went well with the weather.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Old Dark Fired in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

McCranie’s Red Flake 2008 in a 2003 medium bend Nording 4 rough top sitter with a small rusticated area at the top left. This finishes the stash.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Sutliff PS County Cork in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Breckinridge in a smooth straight 1980s Upshall/Tilshead Walnut pot with the JU stamp.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Scottish Blend in a very ugly reddish color 1980 medium bend Lorenzo Leganza Sigma 8635 etched rough top.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 1998 smooth straight Butz-Choquin Bistro 1501 pot.


----------



## Nachman

It has turned cold here so my wife took mercy on me and let me smoke inside. I chose Stonehaven because it has a better room note than most of the tobaccos I smoke.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking HU Balkan Passion in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls. Next is Angler's Dream in a 2001 Karl Erik Ekstravagant A medium bend with a pointy bottom and a wide top.


----------



## JimInks

Three Star Blue in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend horn shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a slight bend black sandblasted Lorenzo Elba Imperia 8636 with an amber colored acrylic stem.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Lane-1Q in a MM cob ipe:


----------



## Nachman

Still cold so I smoked inside again this morning. Sugar Barrel today, trying to please the wife with the mild room note. The way she griped, I might as well have smoked Brown Bogie.


----------



## tmoran

Dan HV in a HWiebe #049 "Devil Anse" re-imagining. I use this pipe almost entirely for VA flakes, and it provides one heck of a smoke.


----------



## JimInks

Nachman said:


> Still cold so I smoked inside again this morning. Sugar Barrel today, trying to please the wife with the mild room note. The way she griped, I might as well have smoked Brown Bogie.


What didn't she like about it? Sugar Barrel is one of the least offensive tobaccos one can smoke

Smoking RLP-6 in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## Nachman

JimInks said:


> What didn't she like about it? Sugar Barrel is one of the least offensive tobaccos one can smoke


She takes spells when nothing I do is right. I am now doing all the cooking, cleaning, laundry etc because she has had a new pacemaker implanted, but nothing I do is right. The tobacco is just another thing to complain about.


----------



## JimInks

Nachman said:


> She takes spells when nothing I do is right. I am now doing all the cooking, cleaning, laundry etc because she has had a new pacemaker implanted, but nothing I do is right. The tobacco is just another thing to complain about.


I'm sorry to hear this. I know it's tough for both of you. I hope it gets better.


----------



## JimInks

Pelican in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of C&D Burley Flake #2 in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe. Next is Sugar Barrel in a straight 2012 Rekamepip made Sugar Barrel pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Capt. Black Midnight Gold in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## dgerwin11

Hearth & Home in an Altinok bent Apple.


----------



## RiGuy

I'm enjoying a nice bit of orlik golden leaf in my MM Legend Bent Corn Cob.


----------



## JimInks

A couple of minutes away from smoking MacBaren Modern Virginia Loose Cut in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## KungFumeta

Very best of mornings to y'all!

This morning I had half an Amorelli Ghibli packed with Prince Albert to go with my morning coffee and my new commute. It's now been reduced to only 10 minutes with no need to walk on the street whatsoever, from underground car park to underground car park and back. Feeling kind of ambiguous about that...


----------



## JimInks

Amphora Red Match in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega. I smoked the original in this very same pipe for a few years back in the 1970s, and thought it ought to host the Match, too. The Match is fairly close to the original.


----------



## JimInks

B&B Scott’s Companion in a 1990 Peterson Irish Second Oom Paul natural.


----------



## RiGuy

House blend english called Old Colony out of my mini corn cob.


----------



## Nachman

St James Flake in a rusticated Savinelli bent apple.


----------



## JimInks

Four Seasons Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul with a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Club Mild Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## LandonColby

Solani Aged Burley Flake in a smooth Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was Just finished smoking FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author. Now it's Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a slight bend rusticated 1979 Savinelli Estella 310 poker.


----------



## JimInks

Model Match in the first pipe Trever Talbot made when he went to France many years ago. It's a smooth straight Algerian briar Billiard bowl with a long Canadian stem, unbranded.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning everyone!
Nothing special about my morning smoke, keeping hard at the corncob + codger burley combo, but i'm feeling great this morning (the prince of burleys helped!) and wanted to wish every one of you visiting this friend an awesome morning!

Puff on, brothers!


----------



## JimInks

Amphora Red Match in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a slight bend black sandblasted Lorenzo Elba Imperia 8636 with an amber colored acrylic stem.


----------



## JimInks

Revelation Match in a 1978 smooth three quarter bend Danish Special.


----------



## LandonColby

McConnell Scottish Cake in a cob with a cup of coffee.


----------



## Secret Pipe Santa

LandonColby said:


> McConnell Scottish Cake in a cob with a cup of coffee.


Secret Pipe Santa is sending @LandonColby something special tomorrow. You should get it on Monday or Tuesday. Do not open until Christmas or Christmas eve!


----------



## JimInks

Earlier, it was MacBaren HH Latakia Flake in a medium bend 2001 Ural lattice Rhodesian with a yellow stem with white swirls. Now, it's Louisiana Red in a straight Lane era Charatan black with burgundy undertone sandblasted billiard 420.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of F&T Vintage Flake in a MM Forever cob during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## madbricky

Had a great bowl of #10 pressed flake in the new Morgan from MM. An incredibly good English blend with my peach topping as a finish note. Thanks @Bruck for taking all the stuff sent to you and doing the voodoo you do to make it magical. I'll be trying the Rope you made next, it looks and smells great!


----------



## JimInks

Rich Dark Flake in a 1998 smooth medium bend Peterson Limerick 69 with a nickel band.


----------



## RiGuy

L.J. Peretti's House Blend Stawberry Patch, in my basket pipe.


----------



## JimInks

BRG in a 1979 Ascorti Business KS Oom Paul with a black pearl acrylic stem. This finishes the 8 ounce tin. Going to have to get more of it now.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

About half way through this bowl of MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Missouri Meerschaum Missouri Pride in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard.


----------



## Auburnguy

Dunhill Royal Yacht thanks to @04EDGE40 bombing me with a bunch of samples. Enjoying it in my Dr. Grabow.


----------



## Tony78

PA in General Cobwarden.


----------



## Nachman

I started this morning with University Flake. Yesterday I smoke Royal Yacht until evening, then switched to Carter Hall for the evening. It amazes me that Jiminks can smoke so many different tobaccos in a day. I can't make that many decisions.


----------



## izkeh

Start the day (a lil hungover from an xmas party last night so the day started later than normal) with a little H&H Classic Burley Kake in my el cheapo cob pipe. Oh, and coffee. A shiteload of coffee.


----------



## LandonColby

Secret Pipe Santa said:


> Secret Pipe Santa is sending @LandonColby something special tomorrow. You should get it on Monday or Tuesday. Do not open until Christmas or Christmas eve!
> 
> View attachment 51457


I can hardly contain myself! Thanks Santa! 
It's going to take no small amount of will to keep from opening that box until Christmas..


----------



## JimInks

Union Leader Match in a 1990 smooth medium bend Nording freehand sitter with a wider top than bottom that also has a ridge and a narrower bowl resembling an upside down spout, with an amber colored lucite stem with cream swirls.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Sutliff PS Breckinridge in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian. Next is Erinmore Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Walnut in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## Auburnguy

Drew Estates Stroll in the Park. Using one of my MM Cobs. Very mild, but I do like the room note.


----------



## Nachman

GL Pease Piccadilly in a Savanelli rusticated sitter pot.


----------



## freestoke

Some Chocolate Flakes are skinnier than others, this one being quite thin, a perfect musketballing thread guage, now burning in the Country Gentleman. I have become quite fond of the Chocolate Flake, to be expected since I have only a couple ounces left.


----------



## gtechva

C&D We Three Kings in a smooth bent Dr. G Savoy. Hoping it'll make me a wise man. Ha!


----------



## JimInks

Moments away from smoking MacBaren Modern Virginia Loose Cut in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Motzek #8 in a medium bend 1983 Ascorti New Dear KS. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black groove carved Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

I'm half way through this bowl of Sutliff's Mapleton Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer. I'm picking out the differences between it and Sutliff's Rum and Maple, and I have some House of Windsor Mapleton to compare it to, also, for my upcoming thread on Sutliff Match blends. Wish I had some pancakes, now. :yo:


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a little early: Brindley’s Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Not too far from finishing this bowl of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a slight bend rusticated 1979 Savinelli Estella 310 poker.


----------



## JimInks

C&D Burley Flake #2 in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking G&H Rich Dark Honeydew in a straight 2014 MM Pride Legend. Next is Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## Branzig

A little Briar Fox in a Capitello before heading off to the post office and beginning what is hopefully the end of my Christmas shopping....


----------



## LandonColby

Branzig said:


> A little Briar Fox in a Capitello before heading off to the post office and beginning what is hopefully the end of my Christmas shopping....


Still smoking that tobacco I gave you? Haha

Having a bowl of PA in a Savinelli 413 ks


----------



## Branzig

LandonColby said:


> Still smoking that tobacco I gave you? Haha
> 
> Having a bowl of PA in a Savinelli 413 ks


Haha I have some of it! This is a new tin of briar fox however!


----------



## JimInks

Wineberry Match in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## LandonColby

Rain dumped suddenly and the wind picked up. Went out for a quick cigarette of PA just to get a fix...wish i could have been smoking a pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Union Leader in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth full bend 1977 Crown Coachman 215 egg.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning everyone!

My mornings seem significantly brighter if I start them with a pipe, and today was particularly excellent!

Prince Albert in my Amorelli ghibli.

I'd never, EVER been able to get a satisfactory smoke out of that pipe, though it definately had to do a lot more with my technique than the pipe itself. Hot, wet, constant relighting, bowl to hot to hold... Till I found Prince Albert. It's still not my best smoker but damn, do I love it now...


----------



## JimInks

Brindley’s Mixture in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Brindley’s Mixture Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## Branzig

Decided to have one more before going to bed....pipe number 6 in one night. That's a lot for me!

Trying to smoke out some pesky ghosts in newly restored Custombilt. Struggling my way through some PA :lol:


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Filmore in a 1980 Stanwell 668 medium bend with a ferrule, half black sandblasted, half brown smooth, rough top.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Model Match in a smooth medium bend post-WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Killarney 9BC with a sterling silver band.


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> Decided to have one more before going to bed....pipe number 6 in one night. That's a lot for me!
> 
> Trying to smoke out some pesky ghosts in newly restored Custombilt. Struggling my way through some PA :lol:


If Prince Albert can't conquer it, maybe it's time to convert it to a Lakelands pipe. Stuff some Ennerdale in there and whatever else may have been ghosting it will be exorcised forever. Of course, you now have a permanent resident spirit, but better the ghost you know than the ghost you don't, as they say.

Having me a bowl of Chocolate Flake in the TwoDot Cheltenham Canadian, looking optimistically ahead to Xmas. Looking very GREEN on the forecast! :banana: Right now, a couple of inches of snow, but a melt on the way. So far, so good! Only one snowblow day so far -- knock on briar.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Club Aromatic Match in a 2014 smooth quarter bend Basil Meadows horn. I don't know what it is about Basil's pipes, but I'm getting a more nuanced feeling of flavor from this blend than I did when I smoked it in a meer.


----------



## RiGuy

Having a bowl of Berry Nice in my MM Mini Corn Cob.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> If Prince Albert can't conquer it, maybe it's time to convert it to a Lakelands pipe. Stuff some Ennerdale in there and whatever else may have been ghosting it will be exorcised forever. Of course, you now have a permanent resident spirit, but better the ghost you know than the ghost you don't, as they say.


I didn't have the plans of making this one an essence'ed pipe, but you are correct, I may just have to do that. Whoever owned this pipe back before me, smoked some kind of goopy terrible aros in it. My guess is that he smoked it 12-15 times a day and used maybe 2 pipe cleaners in that same amount of time :lol:

I have done 2 SA treatments on it and the ghost has dismissed itself considerably since starting, I still have faith in the good prince to do it's duty. About 6 more bowls and we will know for sure...



freestoke said:


> Having me a bowl of Chocolate Flake in the TwoDot Cheltenham Canadian, looking optimistically ahead to Xmas. Looking very GREEN on the forecast! :banana: Right now, a couple of inches of snow, but a melt on the way. So far, so good! Only one snowblow day so far -- knock on briar.


Here in the Pacific Northwest we would usually have a couple feet of snow by now, but we too are being spoiled. Been in the low 40s and rainy so far! Heck, I could of gone golfing yesterday if the courses were still open!!!!

I usually let my pipes sit a while after smoking, but I am going to roll another bowl of PA through this Custy to continue my Ghostbusting duties. At least I have some strong French Roast to help tame my tastebuds ipe: : :ranger:

Oh, and nice talking to you again Jim :bounce:


----------



## JimInks

Now smoking Missouri Meerschaum Missouri Pride in a smooth medium bend post-WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Killarney 9BC with a sterling silver band.


----------



## Tony78

4 noggins bald headed teacher in a Grabow Grand Duke


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Capt. Earle’s Reflections in a black pebble finish straight 2003 Cavicchi C. Fatto A Mano lovat.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Breckinridge in a 1988 smooth full bend Peterson System Standard XL 315.


----------



## JimInks

GLP Laurel Heights in a 2002 medium bend smooth straight grain Karl Erik freehand with a pointy bottom.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Rinaldo Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Straight Grain egg.


----------



## Tony78

PS Luxury Twist Flake in a Savinelli


----------



## JimInks

Viprati in a smooth medium bend straight grain 2001 Karl Erik Ekstravagant brandy with a leaf engraved silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Well, Viprati burns cool, but quickly. Listing my next smoke a little early: MacBaren Modern Virginia Loose Cut in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## KungFumeta

Early morning mm pride + prince albert with some hot coffee in my new deck. It's chilly out but not cold. This is close to the pinnacle of simple pleasures for me.









I hope you all get to enjoy similarly wonderful Saturday mornings! Onto my first ever bowl of Peterston perfect plug!


----------



## JimInks

Last smoke before sleep is Wineberry Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer. Not a bad aro at all. Smooth and flavorful. Later this day, I'll try the original and see what I think of that.


----------



## freestoke

I'll definitely settle for a Green Christmas Eve! Probably Xmas too! :banana: 

This Chocolate Flake will probably bite the dust today, but I've really enjoyed it! Smoking it in the 4Dot diplomat right now, suddenly realizing my coffee is missing. :spy: Ah! Once inch from knocking it over! :shock:


----------



## Nachman

Boswell's Bear Blend in a Kaywoodie Super Grain. Just not enough vitamin N in this one for me. It tastes all right, but I over-puff trying to get more nicotine out of it.


----------



## KungFumeta

I had to dump the Perfect Plug in frustration since it is clearly way beyond my current pack-fu skills. Even with close to two hours air time and being cube-cut, i just couldn't keep the sucker lit.
Opted to break open my 0.7oz free sample of Modern Virginia from teh noggin. I was very pleasantly by it! I usually steer clear of aromatic blends but this had good, sweet taste and aroma, a great room note and smoked great all the way down with few relights even though it seemed slightly too moist straight from the pouch.

I'm gonna send out a puff-signal to @Branzig here since I've come across a thread of his where he is looking to find a way into aromatics. It probably has already been suggested, but this Modern Virginia tastes good, burns good, is lightly topped and has a negligible goop factor. I think you might like it!


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> Boswell's Bear Blend in a Kaywoodie Super Grain. Just not enough vitamin N in this one for me. It tastes all right, but I over-puff trying to get more nicotine out of it.


I find all of Boswell's blends ever thus. I just stuffed a mix of Tambo and PA (heavy on the Tambo) into the Forever Diplomat, taking the Low Nicotine Warning Light into the green zone. PA takes the edge off and stabilizes the burn, so it's a happy pairing so far. I see the first patch of blue sky I've seen in over a week out there! Who knows? The sun might even peek out before the day is out. While the Northwest might get more days of rain, the Mohawk Valley gets fewer hours of direct sunlight than any region in North America. We rejoice with the enthusiasm of nudists when we see it, even when shielded from the cold by layers of wool and Thinsulate. :smile:


----------



## Branzig

KungFumeta said:


> I'm gonna send out a puff-signal to @Branzig here since I've come across a thread of his where he is looking to find a way into aromatics. It probably has already been suggested, but this Modern Virginia tastes good, burns good, is lightly topped and has a negligible goop factor. I think you might like it!


Thanks for the heads up! I'll check it out! ipe:


----------



## JimInks

A few minutes away from smoking Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## KungFumeta

i'm giving Peterson Perfect plug a second chance since yesterday it was a total, unburnable disaster.

I've had the little cubes airing for close to 20 hours at around 58% RH and although it's still veeeeery far from burning well, at least i can now smoke it... And this plug... It ain't half bad!


----------



## Nachman

KungFumeta said:


> i'm giving Peterson Perfect plug a second chance since yesterday it was a total, unburnable disaster.
> 
> I've had the little cubes airing for close to 20 hours at around 58% RH and although it's still veeeeery far from burning well, at least i can now smoke it... And this plug... It ain't half bad!


Try cutting it in slices (flakes), then wad up the slices and roll them between your palms until it looks like ready rub or ribbon. That should make them burn well without too much drying if any at all. If you do that you not only will have an easier smoke, but will also taste the topping more.


----------



## gtechva

Prince Albert in a cob my dad made, I believe 1974


----------



## JimInks

Been doing various things and as I did them, I smoked a bowl of Boswell’s Virginia Slices in a 1979 black sandblasted medium bend Savinelli Non Pareil 9606 Billiard with a horn ferrule. Now, it's time for Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## KungFumeta

Nachman said:


> Try cutting it in slices (flakes), then wad up the slices and roll them between your palms until it looks like ready rub or ribbon. That should make them burn well without too much drying if any at all. If you do that you not only will have an easier smoke, but will also taste the topping more.


Thanks for the tip Nick!
I'm gonna let my tongue rest a couple of days, it was an intense smoking day yesterday both at home and and my local pipeclub's christmas dinner at night so the 3P was tingly this morning, but i'll be sure to try rubbing some out as soon as i'm back. How thick should I slice it? Capstan thick?



gtechva said:


> Prince Albert in a cob my dad made, I believe 1974


WAY cool. Post pics!!


----------



## gtechva

KungFumeta said:


> WAY cool. Post pics!!










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----------



## KungFumeta

Thanks for obliging, that's really awesome, it resembles a MM Short Stop but with a great story of its own. I bet it smokes amazing too!


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking VIP Match in a straight 1979 MM Legend. Next is Crown Achievement in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Wineberry in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Model Match in the first pipe Trever Talbot made when he went to France many years ago. It's a smooth straight Algerian briar Billiard bowl with a long Canadian stem, unbranded.


----------



## freestoke

Just a wonderful Xmas in store! No snow!! :banana: Just watched a local news with interviews of complaining snowmobilers. Schadenfreude goes well with Chocolate Flake and fresh coffee. :evil:


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 smooth three quarter bend Rinaldo Fiammata Odissea Titania 02 Silver Line 3 Straight Grain egg.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning fellow PuffPipers!

After a weekend of much smoking, experimentation (and a burnt tongue) and yesterday off, I'm back on my training/technique-improvement regime.

Prince Albert in a MM Pride.

The PA sure seems a lot blander than I remembered after having smoked bowls of Margate (AWESOME), Blackpoint (meh...), Presbyterian (rather tasty), some Capstan Blue (apparently I'm not a Virginia man... yet), Peterson 3P (excellent when dried some) and Modern Virginia (really liked it!) this weekend...


----------



## freestoke

Hard to believe there is still snow on the ground at all, but what little that is left will be gone completely tomorrow -- and stay gone until next week! :tu Loaded some Paper Plate Potpourri into the Diplomat Forever and it's smoking rather well, a crispy blend of Tambo, Chocolate Flake, PA and SWR. ipe:


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Hard to believe there is still snow on the ground at all, but what little that is left will be gone completely tomorrow -- and stay gone until next week! :tu Loaded some Paper Plate Potpourri into the Diplomat Forever and it's smoking rather well, a crispy blend of Tambo, Chocolate Flake, PA and SWR. ipe:


We have had a historically low, less than 2 inches so far this year here. Been nothing but rain and mid 40 day temps here! Of course, it is showing snow in the forecast for tonight...We will see. I would be OK with a little bit of white for Christmas, but then it has to melt for me the day after! :lol:

I was lazy and didn't wrap last night, so I am puffing some Ennerdale this morning for extra oomph and motivation with my coffee. Gotta get this done before the wife comes home :lol:


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1981 Ascorti Black Billiard Business with a military bit.


----------



## gtechva

McClelland 2014 Holiday Spirit Limited Edition in a smooth bent Dr G Savoy


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Viprati in a smooth medium bend straight grain 2001 Karl Erik Ekstravagant brandy with a leaf engraved silver band. Next is Breckinridge in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


----------



## JimInks

Revelation Match in a 1978 smooth three quarter bend Danish Special with a volcano-ish bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Three Star Blue in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## JimInks

Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a 2003 medium bent straight grain Two dot 2 P. Ardor Venere Extra Bucaneve with a silver ferrule signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## Tony78

Merry Christmas everyone! Christmas Cheer 2010 in a Peterson 314.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff PS Breckinridge in my old reliable 1986 smooth Peterson Kildare 999 Rhodesian.


----------



## JimInks

Amphora Red Match in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.95) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## El wedo del milagro

I had a bowl of Orlick Golden Sliced in a DR G during my morning commute up the mountain.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking Missouri Meerschaum Missouri Pride in a smooth 1998 Parker 489 three quarter bend Billiard. This finishes the stash.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking the last of my stash of Dunhill Elizabethan Match in a late '70s full bend straight grain rough top Savinelli Autograph 6 sitter with a cumberland stem.


----------



## JimInks

B&B Scott’s Companion in a 1990 Peterson Irish Second Oom Paul natural.


----------



## JimInks

Model Match in a 2002 Caminetto J.N.C.C. Spool three quarter bend flat top and bottom with sandblast in-between.


----------



## JimInks

Model in a straight black sandblast 2 star Ferndown Bark Prince with a Cumberland stem.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob. Next is MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Revelation Match in a 1978 smooth three quarter bend Danish Special with a volcano-ish bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Couple minutes away from smoking Sutliff Breckinridge in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton. Have enough for maybe one more bowl.


----------



## freestoke

Beatiful out there! No snow, no wind, not cold. Almost golfing weather! Can't beat this for late December in the Mohawk Valley! :banana: Finally opened my last can of Royal Yacht, which has been been yelling "All aboard" for days, and have some a-burn in the 4Dot diplomat. (The more yacht-worthy Four Dot is in the computer room.) The trip to Boston was great! No now on the drive! :banana: Ordinarily, we'd be suffering the whine of snowmobiles the weekend after Xmas, but it's nice and quiet. :evil:.

Hope everybody's Xmas was as nice as mine!


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256.


----------



## JimInks

Triple Play in a smooth medium bend post-WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Killarney 9BC with a sterling silver band.


----------



## Tony78

Dunhill My Mixture 965 in a Savinelli University


----------



## JimInks

VIP Match in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker.


----------



## JimInks

McClelland Top Hat in a 1982 near full bend egg shaped Ascorti Business KS with a black ferrule and saddle stem.


----------



## freestoke

The Royal Yacht has the emissary from Missour aboard, the Diplomat Forever. Fresh cafe on the afterdeck. ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

GQ Nottingham Lace Rouge in a 1979 brown grain etched Lane Era Charatan's Make medium bend double comfort stem calabash shape 483DC.


----------



## JimInks

Briggs Match in an early smooth Radice Tiger Eye G medium bend tall Rhodesian with a bamboo-style carving on the shank.


----------



## JimInks

The last of this tin of Sutliff Breckinridge in a three quarter bend big bowl grain relief 1970s Savinelli Autograph 5. I'll revisit this one before too long. It's a really good, underrated Kentucky burley blend.


----------



## freestoke

The Juggernaut aboard the Royal Yacht continues into its third day. I don't think I've ever smoked the same thing exclusively for this many days in a row. :ask: In any case, I absolutely have to order some more -- today! This was my last can!! :shock: I need some scrapies, too, so that should bring me up to free shipping. :tu

Done! (My first order with pipes&cigars, because they used to be in New York with prohibitive taxes applied.) Worked out to $8.10 a can with free shipping after some bristle pipe cleaners pushed me over a $100. :smile:

Thinking about getting a pound of GH&Co Scotch Flake Aromatic/Scented. NOT a Lakeland, believe it or not. Truly superior tobacco. I'm down to my last jar of that, too! 

Just ran across this little piece of interesting trivia from Neil deGrasse Tyson.

*All of England was celebrating Christmas the day Newton was born, But the Gregorian Calendar (an awesomely accurate reckoning of Earth's annual time), introduced in 1584 by Pope Gregory, was not yet adopted in Great Britain. To do so required removing ten days from the calendar - excess time that had accumulated over the previous 16 centuries from the mildly flawed Julian Calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. These remnants of the turbulent schism between the Anglican and Catholic churches meant that Catholic Christendom was celebrating Christmas ten days earlier than anybody was in England. If you wanted to reckon Newton's birthday on today's Gregorian Calendar, we would place his birth on January 4, 1643.
*


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Thinking about getting a pound of GH&Co Scotch Flake Aromatic/Scented. NOT a Lakeland, believe it or not. Truly superior tobacco. I'm down to my last jar of that, too!


This is a blend that I have been interested in trying! If *YOU* like it, then I feel rather safe trying it out. I am going to have to order some on my next TAD.

First snow fall of the year...dreadful. With it comes sub-zero temperatures with brutal wind chills. We have been spoiled so far, knew it had to end at some point. I need to move. hwell:

In efforts to brighten up my day, I just bought this http://www.amazon.com/Cleveland-Golf-Ultralite-Stand-Bag/dp/B007SR2R9A Merry Christmas to me! I had a promo coupon at rock bottom so got it for a ridiculously low price and just had to pull the trigger.

Going to load up a bowl of anny kake and go out and battle through breaking the icy on the drive and lay down ice melt...


----------



## freestoke

Branzig said:


> This is a blend that I have been interested in trying! If *YOU* like it, then I feel rather safe trying it out. I am going to have to order some on my next TAD.
> 
> First snow fall of the year...dreadful. With it comes sub-zero temperatures with brutal wind chills. We have been spoiled so far, knew it had to end at some point. I need to move. hwell:
> 
> In efforts to brighten up my day, I just bought this http://www.amazon.com/Cleveland-Golf-Ultralite-Stand-Bag/dp/B007SR2R9A Merry Christmas to me! I had a promo coupon at rock bottom so got it for a ridiculously low price and just had to pull the trigger.
> 
> Going to load up a bowl of anny kake and go out and battle through breaking the icy on the drive and lay down ice melt...


Cool bag! I started carrying again this year, because I'm too old to push! :lol: Picked up a like-new standing bag for $10 at a yard sale this summer and it works great! I've never tried the straps like that, but I can't imagine it being a bad idea. I seen a few of the tour caddies using them for the moving van size bags they cart around. One of these days, one will pull a guitar (with case) out and play it while he waits through a ruling delay.

Marscigars.com has some for $52 a lb, but they always charge $6.50(?) for shipping. Still, $60 a pound isn't terrible. Can't find it anywhere else right now. Anyhow, it's a chocolate flake, but unlike SG Chocolate Flake it has vanilla, so it smells like a milk chocolate candy bar instead of cocoa powder. A terrifically good if you ask me. Not really an aromatic and a "real" tobacco that tastes like tobacco. Not a killer nic hit, but G&H never really disappoints in that regard. I think it's tied with Royal Yacht for my favorite tobacco, running just ahead a host of others like Stonehaven and FVF.

Now that I know more will be here in time, I'm going out on the quarter deck to enjoy of bowl aboard The Roil Yachet.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> Cool bag! I started carrying again this year, because I'm too old to push! :lol: Picked up a like-new standing bag for $10 at a yard sale this summer and it works great! I've never tried the straps like that, but I can't imagine it being a bad idea. I seen a few of the tour caddies using them for the moving van size bags they cart around. One of these days, one will pull a guitar (with case) out and play it while he waits through a ruling delay.


I consider carrying as an added benefit while golfing. Adds a little extra to the "work out" aspect of golfing. I also like to carry as I approach my ball, helps me relax, lowers my anxiety, lets me check out my lie etc etc etc. I think there are a lot of benefits to using a carry bag over a push cart or riding in a golf cart. :2



freestoke said:


> Marscigars.com has some for $52 a lb, but they always charge $6.50(?) for shipping. Still, $60 a pound isn't terrible. Can't find it anywhere else right now. Anyhow, it's a chocolate flake, but unlike SG Chocolate Flake it has vanilla, so it smells like a milk chocolate candy bar instead of cocoa powder. A terrifically good if you ask me. Not really an aromatic and a "real" tobacco that tastes like tobacco. Not a killer nic hit, but G&H never really disappoints in that regard. I think it's tied with Royal Yacht for my favorite tobacco, running just ahead a host of others like Stonehaven and FVF.


Thanks for the heads up! GH&Co tobaccos can be so elusive to find at times!!!!


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking GLP Laurel Heights in a 2002 medium bend smooth straight grain Karl Erik freehand with a pointy bottom.


----------



## JimInks

Briggs Match in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## freestoke

I misspoke yesterday --- not the right word -- inadvertently lied. It occurs to me that I interspersed bowls from the pouch, both behind the wheel and at the dart board, so the uninterrupted time aboard the The Royal Yacht that I reported was a misapprehension of the moment, one of those random cranial vapor locks that can afflict people of a certain age. Perhaps I'm developing a split personality, the devil-may-care game player who smokes aromatic-laced tobacco in a cob while swilling beer and the curmudgeon who smokes Royal Yacht while drinking coffee. At the moment, the latter, employing the superior Four Dot pot.


----------



## Tony78

Stonehaven in a Dr. Grabow Grand Duke.


----------



## JimInks

Old Dark Fired in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Revelation Match in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret billiard, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Amphora Red Match in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top. Next is C&D Burley Flake #1 in a 1979 smooth slight bend H. Jones Ltd. Easy Loader 391 Dublin.


----------



## Branzig

Pony Express of FVF with my coffee this morning before heading off to work. 

Looking forward to having tomorrow off!


----------



## freestoke

After an early excursion on The Royal Yacht, I'm ashore with some basic PA in the 4Dot. A light dusting of snow overnight, but not enough to make the snowmobilers happy. :evil: Coffee is good this morning! :cp


----------



## LandonColby

The wind really picked up last night, lots of leaves to skim out of the pool now...had a bowl of Carter Hall earlier in a full bend sandblasted HIS. 
No work today or tomorrow so I'm taking my coffee with whiskey this morning to knock of the chill. Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Old Dark Fired in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## JimInks

Couple minutes away from smoking FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished this bowl of Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin. Next is Field and Stream Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## Branzig

Sneaking out into the frosted wasteland of winter to try pony express of Dark Birdseye. 

I'll probably only get 10 mins of smoking time in with how cold it is, but I have to celebrate New Years! arty:


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a bit early so I can concentrate on work for a while: Tom Eltang Sweet and Mellow in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next will be Sutliff County Cork in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## KungFumeta

Just finished my morning breakfast bowl. Small today

MM Short Stop with PA.


----------



## freestoke

Royal Yacht in the 4Dot that I cleaned after its last smoke. Much better! The ominous lake effect snow forecasts have brightened some, now down to 5 or 6 .inches, which is not worth snowblowing. :smile:


----------



## Tony78

Lane 1Q in a cob.


----------



## freestoke

Marlin Flake. Not bad! This is my first can of it and I'm enjoying a little perique for a change of pace. I always think of Black Cavendish as being a nasty aromatic from Altadis or Sutliff, but obviously the Black Cavendish in MF is not that at all. The snow has almost stopped with a scant 3 or 4 inches, which can basically be completely ignored. :smile:

One of my four cats is becoming morbidly obese since the colder weather set in. I think she's eating out of boredom.


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## Tony78

freestoke said:


> Marlin Flake. Not bad! This is my first can of it and I'm enjoying a little perique for a change of pace. I always think of Black Cavendish as being a nasty aromatic from Altadis or Sutliff, but obviously the Black Cavendish in MF is not that at all. The snow has almost stopped with a scant 3 or 4 inches, which can basically be completely ignored. :smile:
> 
> One of my four cats is becoming morbidly obese since the colder weather set in. I think she's eating out of boredom.


Maybe you could affix a laser pointer to a cheap pipe and both of you could have a little fun at the same time.


----------



## freestoke

This FourDot pot is a splendid smoker. Very light, despite the generous bowl, a wonderfully comfortable saddle bit, cool-smoking, dry. Unluckily, the old Sasieni pipes are getting some respect on ebay these days, and you can't easily get a pipe like this for $100 anymore. Dunhill got all the glory, because they had the Royal Warrant, but Sasieni made pipes which were every bit as good, if not better. This pipe was made to smoke Royal Yacht. ipe: I see an analogy here: Franz Liszt playing his friend Chopin's pieces better than Chopin could.


----------



## JimInks

Couple minutes away from smoking GQ Nottingham Lace Rouge in a 1979 brown grain etched Lane Era Charatan's Make medium bend double comfort stem calabash shape 483DC.


----------



## JimInks

Briggs Match in an early smooth Radice Tiger Eye G medium bend tall Rhodesian with a bamboo-style carving on the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1980s smooth slight bend Wally Frank Dublin.


----------



## freestoke

RY in the CG Forever, on my third cup of coffee and almost awake. Next week looks like the weather has returned to normal for January in the Mohawk Valley.

*
Sunday Night Rain and snow showers likely, becoming all snow after 9pm. Cloudy, with a low around 21. Breezy, with a west wind 13 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of around 2 inches.
Monday Periods of snow. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 21. West wind 15 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Monday Night Snow showers likely, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 8. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 20. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Tuesday Night Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 16. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Wednesday Scattered snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 18. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Wednesday Night Scattered snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -7. Chance of precipitation is 30%.*

:faint:


----------



## gtechva

Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture in a smooth bent Dr G Savoy


----------



## Nachman

Royal Yacht today.


----------



## JimInks

A couple minutes away from smoking MacBaren Modern Virginia Loose Cut in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## gtechva

Dan Tobacco Treasures of Ireland Galway Black and Bright in a smooth straight billiard


----------



## JimInks

GQ Nottingham Lace Rouge in a 1979 brown grain etched Lane Era Charatan's Make medium bend double comfort stem calabash shape 483DC.


----------



## JimInks

Three Star Blue in a 2003 IMP smooth full bend horn shaped meer.


----------



## freestoke

This is truly infuriating. Like the parting of the Red Sea, streams of rain are going well north and south of us, leaving us high and dry. :rant: The warm air will not remove the snow and ice completely without the rain. The radar doesn't indicate that this will improve before it turns to snow again. :faint: And the snowplow scraped a foot of solid ice onto the end of the driveway, that will be unmovable. Rain would have melted most of it and the rest could have stayed, but now I'll have to deal with it about sunset. out: 

RY in the 4Dot with strongish coffee. :cp


----------



## Desertlifter

Bah - weather. Had a whole week of wintery stuff, with temps in the teens. Took just long enough for me and a hunting buddy to kill some Canadian geese and ducks on the river yesterday, snowed like hell last night, and we are set for 50 degrees the rest of the week.

Protesta - 4Noggins Trout Stream in the Sav LBSS bent dip should do the trick.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking WhiteKnight in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank. Next is Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Modern Virginia Loose Cut in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Sweet Cask in a 2013 medium bend Spillproof corndog cob.


----------



## LandonColby

@JimInks, Are you an insomniac or are you up these early hours working? Pardon my asking but I've always wondered when I read your late night/early morning posts.

McClelland VaPer Flake in a Savinelli 114


----------



## JimInks

LandonColby said:


> @JimInks, Are you an insomniac or are you up these early hours working? Pardon my asking but I've always wondered when I read your late night/early morning posts.
> 
> McClelland VaPer Flake in a Savinelli 114


The answer is both. I'm a life long insomniac, and can remember my dad giving me a hard time about being up too late at night when I was in Kindergarten. I like to work at night because it's quieter with fewer distractions, aside from being an incurable night owl.


----------



## KungFumeta

Started my morning with Prince Albert in my new 1974 Dunhill shell billiard, group 3, shape 44. Its beaten to hell, but i got it for cheap and it smokes great!!


----------



## RobertNYC

Old Joe Krantz in a Bewlay prince.


----------



## Branzig

A little orange Grabow filled with SG navy flake to go along with my morning coffee before work.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Bah - weather. Had a whole week of wintery stuff, with temps in the teens. Took just long enough for me and a hunting buddy to kill some Canadian geese and ducks on the river yesterday, snowed like hell last night, and we are set for 50 degrees the rest of the week.
> 
> Protesta - 4Noggins Trout Stream in the Sav LBSS bent dip should do the trick.


If you're ever in Rome, we have about a million geese that need to be dispatched. They're a curse. Believe it or not, Canada geese are natural born US citizens, born along the Gulf of Mexico or the US Atlantic coast. They stay here all winter and hang around all over place. (Wonder if they're edible? :ask In summer, they crap on the greens at the golf course. Sometimes you find it your spikes after a round. Disgusting.

Man, it's rough out there this morning! Glad I don't have to go to work! I see about 15 inches on the table in the back yard and it's still coming down really hard. I'd say a solid 6" has fallen in the last hour. With a 25mph wind and 40mph gusts, driving must be just swell. :lol: Having a bowl of RY in the Cheltenham Canadian, girding my loins for the joys of snowblowing. Probably won't do that until tomorrow, when the even has wound down. At this rate, we could get 3ft. :faint:


----------



## freestoke

Looks like the snowband is shifting south, so hopefully it will slow down now. It all fell in just a few hours. :shock: Sadly, the snowmobilers will be out in force later. :frown: Gonna have a bowl aboard the Royal Yacht, glad that I get to smoke below deck out of the wind and not have to suffer snow falling off the rigging. ipe: Good coffee this morning, too! We did some shopping yesterday, so we won't need to venture forth if we don't want to. Everything will be cleared off by afternoon, though. This much snow would cripple DC for a week. :lol:


----------



## Longer ash

hello.....enjoy that snow jim.....enjoying some stonehaven this afternoon


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> If you're ever in Rome, we have about a million geese that need to be dispatched. They're a curse. Believe it or not, Canada geese are natural born US citizens, born along the Gulf of Mexico or the US Atlantic coast. They stay here all winter and hang around all over place. (Wonder if they're edible? :ask In summer, they crap on the greens at the golf course. Sometimes you find it your spikes after a round. Disgusting.
> 
> Man, it's rough out there this morning! Glad I don't have to go to work! I see about 15 inches on the table in the back yard and it's still coming down really hard. I'd say a solid 6" has fallen in the last hour. With a 25mph wind and 40mph gusts, driving must be just swell. :lol: Having a bowl of RY in the Cheltenham Canadian, girding my loins for the joys of snowblowing. Probably won't do that until tomorrow, when the even has wound down. At this rate, we could get 3ft. :faint:


As a fellow afflicted white pill chaser, I appreciate the death of those green (and fairway, if you play American style courses) ruining bastards. Well brined, they actually cook up decently and make better than expected jerky. I just breast them out (what man doesn't enjoy saying that) and leave the rest for the local song dogs, who love them and their high fat content. Good for winter pups.

Switched at the last minute to Ruins of Isengard (wow - this is good stuff!). Tomorrow I tackle a bowl of MaB Vintage Syrian on an hour drive to my eye surgeon.

And JimInks - that Modern VA is lovely, isn't it? I have several pouches that I received after winning a lottery, and they won't be my last. Good stuff.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the very first pipe I ever smoked (which was my father’s pipe), a late 1950s smooth with etched grooves straight Willard long stem adjustomatic Billiard. Will have one more smoke tonight.


----------



## JimInks

The last of this sample of Viprati in a 2003 smooth medium bent straight grain Ardor Venere Extra signed by Dorelio Rovera Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

McClelland Black Tie in a brown 1980 long stem three quarter bend Caminetto 205 Business egg.


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## freestoke

The driveway is done! :banana: Cold out there! Was going to snowblow it last night, but when I started I noticed I was missing the right auger, so I had to replace the shear pin. After doing that, I didn't feel like continuing on, but it's just as well. A lot less wind this morning and wind makes it more unpleasant all around. Celebrating aboard da Roil Yachit with the Cheltenham Canadian in hand. And HOT coffee! :cp


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Modern Virginia Loose Cut in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band. I've enough left for one more bowl. Then, it'll be time to figure out what I'll smoke next in this great pipe.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Club Aromatic in a 1979 large calabash briar 221-B Baker Street made in Israel.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Club Aromatic Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## RobertNYC

Some C&D Bailey's Front Porch in a Savinelli Roma 602.


----------



## JimInks

GQ Askwith Kake in a 1982 black grain relief sandblasted three quarter bend W.O. Larsen Dublinish pipe.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Modern Virginia Loose Cut in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Three Star Blue in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque. Next is Sugar Barrel in a 1970s black sandblasted Savinelli Autograph 05 Horn.


----------



## NorCalJaybird

I hate mornings....LOL 

JUST KIDDING......Not really


----------



## JimInks

Briggs Match in a slight bend black sandblasted Lorenzo Elba Imperia 8636 with an amber colored acrylic stem.


----------



## KungFumeta

Prince Albert in a beat to hell 1974 group 3 Dunhill Billiard


----------



## freestoke

A crispy morning to everybody. A chilly -13˚ F when I went to bed, but it's back up to a balmy -8̈˚F. Think I'll have to pop a can of RY and celebrate SUNSHINE!! :banana: Don't see much of that around here in the winter. Hot coffee, summoning up the courage to go out and get my cellphone out of the car that I left there last night. :spy:


----------



## freestoke

Almost up to zero out there. The Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian smoking much better now! The regular scrapies from BJ Long wouldn't quite deal with a narrowing of the draught hole, but these new Bryco scrapies have cleared it right out. :tu Stiffer wire really gets the job done. In the bowl, some Full Virginia Frosted Flakes from a few years ago. FVF is really nice stuff.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this short smoke: VIP Match in a straight 1979 MM Legend.


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Scottish Blend in a smooth 1979 Chippendale (Charatan second) Rhodesian 49.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning PipePuff!!

Dunhill EMP in an amorelli straight small apple.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Some H&H White Knight in a straight, rusticated Sasieni Windsor ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Up too durn early considering when I went to sleep, but I'm awake, so I'm almost done smoking Wineberry Match in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## freestoke

I think we've entered the Mohawk Valley steady payment plan, with an inch of snow every day for while. Moisture from the Great Lakes precipitates at night like dew. Not quite lake effect, just a regular nightly snowfall. It'll persist as long as this high pressure sits on us, but at least there's occasional sunshine to go with it. Left a frosted flake of FVF on the plate last night and forgot to smoke it, so I had that for breakfast earlier. Crispy! The humidity levels inside are bottoming out, despite hundreds of house plants. Think I'm going for a basic bowl of PA in the CG Forever now, and load up on some more café. :cp


----------



## freestoke

.SYNOPSIS...
LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP EAST OF LAKES ONTARIO AND
ERIE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED
TO CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON. ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL
APPROACH THE REGION SUNDAY AFTERNOON BRINGING MORE SNOW SHOWERS
INTO THE START OF THE NEW WEEK.

So. Snow in the Mohawk Valley in January. What else is new? :lol: Another bowl of PA in the 4Dot. More coffee, jacking up the courage to face an excursion this afternoon. Gotta get out of the house sometime! :lol:


----------



## LandonColby

freestoke said:


> .SYNOPSIS...
> LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP EAST OF LAKES ONTARIO AND
> ERIE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED
> TO CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON. ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL
> APPROACH THE REGION SUNDAY AFTERNOON BRINGING MORE SNOW SHOWERS
> INTO THE START OF THE NEW WEEK.
> 
> So. Snow in the Mohawk Valley in January. What else is new? :lol: Another bowl of PA in the 4Dot. More coffee, jacking up the courage to face an excursion this afternoon. Gotta get out of the house sometime! :lol:


I tell my family in Minnesota, my favorite thing about winter is watching it on TV from California :lol:

PA and coffee for me as well.... G'morning :yo:


----------



## Branzig

Weather has messed with my travel 2 times now...was supposed to leave last night but freezing fog halted everything and now this morning ice is keeping everything at a standstill.

Oh well, time for one more bowl before heading out finally.

Going with some Abingdon in a big bent Stanwell with a nice bold french roast coffee.


----------



## JimInks

Not far from finishing this bowl of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Briggs Match in an early smooth Radice Tiger Eye G medium bend tall Rhodesian with a bamboo-style carving on the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this early so that I can concentrate on work for a while: Missouri Meerschaum American Patriot in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## KungFumeta

Mm short stop with prince albert while I made breakfast...
It's now time for a condega serie f perla while I enjoy said breakfast with the gf. The sun's shining bright this morning, too :laugh:


----------



## freestoke

The TwoDot apple was at hand, Union Square was the first jar that came out of basket, so I'm going with it. Arctic out there, at 8˚F. The cats are going stir crazy. I think they're pissed off at me for letting this happen to the back yard.


----------



## freestoke

The Union Square didn't cut it. Lady Nicotine is banging on the Low Nicotine Warning Bell, telling me I need Vitamin N immediately! The Royal Yacht to the rescue! :bing:

The Blue Buffalo commercials bug me. Exactly what does a cat need with whole grains, fruits, and garden vegetables? :ask: Cats are carnivores, you idiots! Dogs might make some use of that crap, but for a cat it's useless filler. Reading the nonsense on their website, I couldn't help but notice the last sentence, "...selected by animal nutritionists and *holistic *veterinarians. " That explains a lot. I'm surprised they don't also offer a Crystal Power Pyramid for the cats to dine in.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Prince Albert in a 1970s slight bend black sandblasted Comoy's Silver Cloud 624 sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Penzance in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Old Dark Fired in a smooth briar calabash shape 1984 Fero Danese made in Italy. Next is the last of my stash of Old Colonial in a medium bend beater 1979 Aalborg natural freehand made by Nording.


----------



## KungFumeta

2:1 mix of prince albert and skiff mixture in a big ser jacopo straight panel billiard. I'm having trouble getting it to burn right though. Damn technique!!


----------



## gtechva

Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture


----------



## freestoke

Smoking some FVF in the TwoDot apple, I suddenly realized that I have an aversion to xylophones, or keyboards set to sound like them. I suppose I could summon up something that I could enjoy that has xylophonic noise in it, but I could more easily find a hundred that I hate. Not quite the same problem that I have with bagpipes, the Dr. Seuss of musical instruments (in other words, not a real musical instrument). I think my problem is, that the genre of music where xylophones are most frequently employed gives me hives. Now marimbas, that's okay. :hippie:

If the sun were to come out by chance, I might find myself outside with Lady Ennerdale! Supposed to be a balmy -4˚C today! :smile:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> ... Not quite the same problem that I have with bagpipes, the Dr. Seuss of musical instruments (in other words, not a real musical instrument).


Poor Jim.

Don't fear! I will be traveling with the Northern New Mexico Drum and Bagpipe Band to Mohawk County for our yearly snowmobile trip. We would be happy to educate ya on the finer points of bagpipe music. Hopefully the early morning will be good for you.

All joking aside, I think the only musical instrument I don't like is the Ichigenkin. I had a neighbor in Texas when I lived in a duplex that played it late at night when I was trying to sleep. Cats mating would have sounded more pleasant...


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> Poor Jim.
> 
> Don't fear! I will be traveling with the Northern New Mexico Drum and Bagpipe Band to Mohawk County for our yearly snowmobile trip. We would be happy to educate ya on the finer points of bagpipe music. Hopefully the early morning will be good for you.
> 
> All joking aside, I think the only musical instrument I don't like is the Ichigenkin. I had a neighbor in Texas when I lived in a duplex that played it late at night when I was trying to sleep. Cats mating would have sounded more pleasant...


:lol: Had to look up ichigenkin. Japanese dulcimers are still probably better than the Appelachian versions. :lol:

"Hell is full of amateur musicians." -- GB Shaw.


----------



## Nachman

My father's mother was from Ayrshire so my father once bought a set of pipes. Cat strangling would have been more pleasant. Perhaps this says more about my father's talent than the bagpipes.


----------



## freestoke

Nachman said:


> My father's mother was from Ayrshire so my father once bought a set of pipes. Cat strangling would have been more pleasant. Perhaps this says more about my father's talent than the bagpipes.


Musical talent has as much to do with noisemaking on bagpipes as it does bulldozer repair. Cut your father some slack, he could easily have been a GREAT bagpipe player. How can you tell? As Bill Maher says, "Bagpipes are not a musical instrument; they're a Scottish breathalyzer test. You blow in one end, and if the sound that comes out the other end doesn't make you want to kill yourself, you're not drunk enough."


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Briggs Match in an early smooth Radice Tiger Eye G medium bend tall Rhodesian with a bamboo-style carving on the shank.


----------



## RobertNYC

PS LNF in a GBD bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

WhiteKnight in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Revelation Match in a smooth medium bend post-WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Killarney 9BC with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Capstan Blue in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem.


----------



## JimInks

Middleton London Dock Match in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970's medium bend big bowl rusticated Sienna colored Savinelli Estella with a pearl grey stem. It's been a while since I smoked this bend and this pipe.


----------



## LandonColby

PA in a cob with a forever stem. Have to run out to fix a leak asap so this is both my coffee and breakfast.


----------



## freestoke

FVF in the sturdy 4Dot. Just now zero outside, with a refreshing cool day in store. Lots of sunshine! :smile:

I'm starting to feel sorry for the cats. out:


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Kentucky Club Mild Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Tuskegee Airman in a 1949 medium bend black Dunhill Shell.


----------



## JimInks

Sail Yellow in a 2001 black sandblasted three quarter bend Rinaldo Lithos YY bulldog with an amber colored stem.


----------



## JimInks

McClelland Mellow Apple in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Missouri Meerschaum Great Dane in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff 511 Black Whiskey in a 2014 smooth quarter bend Basil Meadows horn.


----------



## JimInks

Erinmore in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Model Match in the first pipe Trever Talbot made when he went to France many years ago. It's a smooth straight Algerian briar Billiard bowl with a long Canadian stem, unbranded.


----------



## LandonColby

H&H PA and a cup of coffee. Using a cob this morning


----------



## JimInks

Capstan Blue in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Listing this a few minutes early: Early 1970s Prince Albert in a black 1997 Brebbia Jubilee 925 silver banded grain sandblast briar calabash.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Three Star Blue in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Kentucky Club Mild Match in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## gtechva

JimInks said:


> Listing this a few minutes early: Early 1970s Prince Albert in a black 1997 Brebbia Jubilee 925 silver banded grain sandblast briar calabash.


Did the age make a significant difference? I have wondered if some of the better OTCs (PA, SWR, CH, H&H) would age or just get old.


----------



## freestoke

Briefly up to 28˚F, with the high for the day supposed to be 17˚. :dunno: It's dropping now, though, so it must have been just a politician schmoozing a campaign donor aboard a corporate jet that took off from Griffiss. A bowl of FVF in the Country Gentleman Forever, finishing the can, but I think I might have one more -- :spy: -- uh, no, I don't! Guess I need to smoke some Marlin Flake today!


----------



## LandonColby

Chestnut in a Grabow Omega. I cant imagine a better blend to start the day with, it's waking up my palate for a lot of tobaccos that I still need to order more of...oh the agony of being sublimely happy but still wanting more.
G'morning :yo:
remember to stop and appreciate your life today, this is the only one you got, brother.


----------



## JimInks

gtechva said:


> Did the age make a significant difference? I have wondered if some of the better OTCs (PA, SWR, CH, H&H) would age or just get old.


The '70s PA had some spice, which I think came from aging. I've experienced that kind of thing before. I have smoked batches of SWR every decade from the 1940s until now, and the only difference I ever noticed was that the 1945 SWR was just a little deeper in flavor. Didn't notice any PG in the them until the 1970s. The mid-1920s Half&Half is much better than now, and I still have a few bowls left. 1960s EGR is much, much spicier than the new EGR. 1960s Field and Stream is amazingly perfumey, and I suppose that's because it was designed that way, and being sealed in a tin all those years intensified it. 1940s ERR is a little deeper in flavor than the 2000s version.


----------



## JimInks

Penzance in a 2002 Ser Jacopo Delecta Fatta A Mano R1 sandblast Rhodesian with a smooth extension at the shank. I've just enough for one more bowl.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black groove carved Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


----------



## KungFumeta

Prince albert with a pinch of vintage Syrian in a mm pride cob


----------



## freestoke

Looks like 20s during the day and low single digits at night from now into February. We're into the coldest stretch of weather in the Northern Hemisphere, 15Jan-15Feb, so time to rejoice that there's not that much snow on the ground at this point, which could foreshadow an early start to the golf season. (Pitiable, huh? Grasping for any positive thought tho counteract the gloom of winter. :lol It's a lot warmer around here than it used to be, though. I'm thinking back to a 2 week period in 1973 or so, when it never went above zero! I had an old, used diesel Mercedes at the time and had to go out, drain the coolant, boil it on the stove, then pour it back into the radiator to heat it up enough to start. :faint: 

Hitting the Royal Yacht early this morning, coffee, and -- sunshine! :smile:


----------



## El wedo del milagro

freestoke said:


> I'm thinking back to a 2 week period in 1973 or so, when it never went above zero! I had an old, used diesel Mercedes at the time and had to go out, drain the coolant, boil it on the stove, then pour it back into the radiator to heat it up enough to start. :faint:


I've never had (nor wanted) a diesel. But where I live we are serious about being able to start our trucks in the morning. EVERYONE here either parks in a heated garage, has an electric dip-stick, or a block heater. My buddy Carter drives a 30ish year old 4wd Toyota station wagon that won't even turn over on a cold morning up here, but when he plugs an extension cord into the block heater for ten or fifteen minutes it will fire up on the first try.


----------



## freestoke

El wedo del milagro said:


> I've never had (nor wanted) a diesel. But where I live we are serious about being able to start our trucks in the morning. EVERYONE here either parks in a heated garage, has an electric dip-stick, or a block heater. My buddy Carter drives a 30ish year old 4wd Toyota station wagon that won't even turn over on a cold morning up here, but when he plugs an extension cord into the block heater for ten or fifteen minutes it will fire up on the first try.


I did get a block heater in my next diesel, a new 1986 190D (a fabulous car), but a block heater would have cost as much as that old clunker was worth! :lol: It was only those two weeks that I really ever had such problems, though. I think about 60% of the curb weight was the battery. :lol: (Highs were -5˚F and lows -20˚F during the period.) I actually only did it a few times, then wised up and let it run all night. :lol: I had just bought the thing and was a diesel innocent.)

Having a big bowl of scraps from the plate, mostly FVF and ODF. Dry at first, but it has smoothed out nicely. A big load too, in the huge Ser Jacopo.

A funny story about that old diesel: The voltage regulator went (had a generator, not an alternator) and it was going to cost me $50 for a USED one to replace it at the Mercedes dealer, but I figured that it was just a stinking three--pole regulator. I went to a parts store, gave 'em the voltage specs and they comes back with a Delco-Remy for a tractor for $10.95. Figured I could jury rig it somehow...took it out to the car -- and it was the EXACT part! Found out that Delco Remy made Mercedes parts, stamped "Bosch" on them, and sent them to Germany for repackaging for the Mercedes. :lol: Took me about five minutes to trade them out and I was set! :tu


----------



## gtechva

freestoke said:


> A funny story about that old diesel: The voltage regulator went (had a generator, not an alternator) and it was going to cost me $50 for a USED one to replace it at the Mercedes dealer, but I figured that it was just a stinking three--pole regulator. I went to a parts store, gave 'em the voltage specs and they comes back with a Delco-Remy for a tractor for $10.95. Figured I could jury rig it somehow...took it out to the car -- and it was the EXACT part! Found out that Delco Remy made Mercedes parts, stamped "Bosch" on them, and sent them to Germany for repackaging for the Mercedes. :lol: Took me about five minutes to trade them out and I was set! :tu


Nice job


----------



## JimInks

Almost half way through this bowl of GQ Cypriot Sunset in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021 with a black vulcanite stem.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a 2002 smooth natural straight silver banded Ardor Venere Extra Fatta A Mano Maigret billiard, signed by Dorelio Rovera.


----------



## JimInks

About to smoke the last of my Penzance in a 2003 Ural full bend egg shaped Lattice meer.


----------



## freestoke

After a bowl of ODF in the Diplomat, going for some RY in the TwoDot apple and lots of coffee. :cp Gonna do a ton of laundry today! Been so cold, the drain pipe in the laundry room froze. :frown:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

I started the morning off with a bowl of P&C Starlit Night in a 1997 French Christmas pipe. ipe:


----------



## JimInks

G&H Dark Flake Unscented in a 2013 bent MM Missouri Pride Legend.


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


----------



## KungFumeta

Good morning PuffPipers!

My boss took the day off today, so it's gonna be a chilllllll day!
Started it off with some PA in a MM Short Stop to go along with the morning espresso.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Chocolate Supreme in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

P&C Sundown in a MM cob ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Burma Road in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Three Star Blue in a 1979 medium bend etch relief meerschaum lined TinderBox Arabesque.


----------



## JimInks

Prince Albert in a straight black sandblast undated Savinelli Hercules 115EX pot.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

My final bowl of P&C Sundown, in a straight, Brushed Black Stanwell. ipe:


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Club Aromatic Match in a giant size 2002 full bend black sandblasted Ardor Urano with the initials D.R.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Rum and Maple in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## Desertlifter

Morning all!

GL Pease Telegraph Hill in my Stanwell Silver Band, a pipe that has seen some neglect since I received my two Tsuge pots.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Morning all!
> 
> GL Pease Telegraph Hill in my Stanwell Silver Band, *a pipe that has seen some neglect *since I received my two Tsuge pots.


So, is "seen some neglect" anything like "showed up missing"? oke:

Mornin', Brian! I'm running a bit snide this morning, having sent a second (somewhat snarkily worded) email to Matt Brewing Company concerning Utica Club. My first, sent days ago, got no response. I HATE THAT! :rant: Genensee, brewed in Rochester, is almost ready to get the cheap beer contract. Grumbling into my coffee with the Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian shoved in my mouth, puffing clouds of RY into the air. :frown:

But the sun is shining! :banana: We've seen quite a bit of sunshine this winter, actually. Remarkable. :smile:


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> So, is "seen some neglect" anything like "showed up missing"? oke:
> 
> Mornin', Brian! I'm running a bit snide this morning, having sent a second (somewhat snarkily worded) email to Matt Brewing Company concerning Utica Club. My first, sent days ago, got no response. I HATE THAT! :rant: Genensee, brewed in Rochester, is almost ready to get the cheap beer contract. Grumbling into my coffee with the Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian shoved in my mouth, puffing clouds of RY into the air. :frown:
> 
> But the sun is shining! :banana: We've seen quite a bit of sunshine this winter, actually. Remarkable. :smile:


I have a few cans of Rainier in my fridge if you need cheap beer. Have cheap greens fees in these parts as well.

Thinking HH Vintage Syrian sounds about right in the morning.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1978 smooth full bend Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Old Dark Fired in a 1970s GBD Prehistoric Rhodesian 9438 with a perspex stem.


----------



## LandonColby

McClelland Virginia / Perique Flake in a smooth Big Ben Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

McClelland Pebblecut in what has become one of my favorite pipes: in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band. I've just enough left of the Pebblecut for one more smoke.


----------



## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a slight bend 1984 Stanwell Antique 124 grain etched with a smooth front.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> I have a few cans of Rainier in my fridge if you need cheap beer. Have cheap greens fees in these parts as well.
> 
> Thinking HH Vintage Syrian sounds about right in the morning.


I used to drink Rainier when I lived in Idaho -- or was it California? :ask: I think it was Idaho, because in California I was drinking Olympia and Lucky Lager. Lucky Lager is now Budweiser, alias InBev. Good Dutch beer now. :lol: I bought a case of Olympia once with one full can of Lucky Lager in it. :spy: Some sort of industrial sabotage I reckon. Lucky Lager used to hold the Lucky Lager Invitational, a PGA tour event held at Harding Park in San Francisco, where they had the US Open a few years back. Played it practically every day in the summer/fall/winter of '66. Ken Venturi's father was the pro and I played a few times with the caddymaster, who was a dwarf (Shorty?). That year, they held the Open at Olympic, and I got to see Arnold Palmer's meltdown on the backside up close and personal, every shot. (He should have let me play the back side and he'd have won! :lol

And a sidelight to that '66 Open. Followed Ben Hogan (and I think Ken Venturi?) a full 18 holes and it was demoralizing. At the time, I was starting to take a bit of pride in my ball striking -- until I watched Hogan. :faint: Venturi (or whoever it was) didn't impress me much, not playing much better than I did, other than getting up and down from absolutely everywhere, but Hogan's ball striking was overwhelmingly perfect. The ball would start out about 20 feet left of the stick, fade in and almost hit the flagstick every hole, from tee shots that were long and in perfect position every time. I don't think he had a single putt over 15 feet and lot of them inside 10 feet, but it was pitiable watching him putt. He'd stand over the ball and his hands would begin to shake -- and he'd start over, and his hands would shake and he would just jab at it. He three-putted once from inside 3 feet. He shot something in the 60s, but I think I could have shot 57 off his ball. The only person I ever saw play as well in person was Gary Player. Great memories from that summer!

Now that I'm over my fit of logorrhea, I'll report that I'm just finishing a bowl of RY in the Country Gentleman Forever, having my second cup of fresh coffee. :cp


----------



## Branzig

Long day of work ahead of me, figured I better hit vitamin N early to take the edge off before heading off!

Briar Fox in my Capitello along with some french dark roast.


----------



## LandonColby

Unlike Brandon, I have a pretty short days work ahead..sorry bud :lol:
Prince Andrew in a Fero author and a thermos full of strong coffee to propel me through this morning. 
Good morning, gentlemen :yo:


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> I used to drink Rainier when I lived in Idaho -- or was it California? :ask: I think it was Idaho, because in California I was drinking Olympia and Lucky Lager. Lucky Lager is now Budweiser, alias InBev. Good Dutch beer now. :lol: I bought a case of Olympia once with one full can of Lucky Lager in it. :spy: Some sort of industrial sabotage I reckon. Lucky Lager used to hold the Lucky Lager Invitational, a PGA tour event held at Harding Park in San Francisco, where they had the US Open a few years back. Played it practically every day in the summer/fall/winter of '66. Ken Venturi's father was the pro and I played a few times with the caddymaster, who was a dwarf (Shorty?). That year, they held the Open at Olympic, and I got to see Arnold Palmer's meltdown on the backside up close and personal, every shot. (He should have let me play the back side and he'd have won! :lol
> 
> And a sidelight to that '66 Open. Followed Ben Hogan (and I think Ken Venturi?) a full 18 holes and it was demoralizing. At the time, I was starting to take a bit of pride in my ball striking -- until I watched Hogan. :faint: Venturi (or whoever it was) didn't impress me much, not playing much better than I did, other than getting up and down from absolutely everywhere, but Hogan's ball striking was overwhelmingly perfect. The ball would start out about 20 feet left of the stick, fade in and almost hit the flagstick every hole, from tee shots that were long and in perfect position every time. I don't think he had a single putt over 15 feet and lot of them inside 10 feet, but it was pitiable watching him putt. He'd stand over the ball and his hands would begin to shake -- and he'd start over, and his hands would shake and he would just jab at it. He three-putted once from inside 3 feet. He shot something in the 60s, but I think I could have shot 57 off his ball. The only person I ever saw play as well in person was Gary Player. Great memories from that summer!
> 
> Now that I'm over my fit of logorrhea, I'll report that I'm just finishing a bowl of RY in the Country Gentleman Forever, having my second cup of fresh coffee. :cp


Gary Player is on the shortlist of "Guys I wish I could meet," along with Seve Ballesteros.

As to the '66 Open, my dad was a sophomore in high school. 

The Latakia itch wasn't quite scratched this morning. Some 4noggins Nutty Professor should help.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Doblone D’Oro in an egg shaped medium bend smooth Burgundy colored 1985 Caminetto. Next is the last of my stash of McClelland Pebblecut in a smooth briar calabash shaped Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier JR Fait Main with a horn ferrule.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Sail Yellow Match in a 1970s smooth straight grain Savinelli Oom Paul Non Pareil 9504 with a horn ferrule. Gonna have a quick smoke now: Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob.


----------



## JimInks

Sutliff Burma Road in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Gary Player is on the shortlist of "Guys I wish I could meet," along with Seve Ballesteros.
> 
> As to the '66 Open, my dad was a sophomore in high school.
> 
> The Latakia itch wasn't quite scratched this morning. Some 4noggins Nutty Professor should help.


Seve was definitely an interesting fellow. :tu "I wish there were no fairways!" :rofl: His first British Open win was played from fields, parking lots, all over the place. :lol: How he could win spraying the ball everywhere like he did was magic to watch. He played Tom Lehman in the Ryder Cup one year. The first hole started with Seve in the trees, with a restricted backswing, impossible lie, which he hit into a bunker short of the green. (How the hell did he do that!? :dunno Lehman hit it down the middle, hit it to about three feet, Seve holed it out of the bunker, halving the hole. This pattern persisted hole after hole, Lehman playing like a machine, Seve hacking it like your average weekend golfer, until Lehman eventually wore him down, but what a match! That's how he played though! A British sportswriter wrote, "Ballesteros hasn't hit a fairway and a green on the same hole since England had a king." If Seve ever could have figured out how to hit a tee shot even halfway consistently, he'd have won every tournament he entered. It really was just the tee shot, it seems. I saw him win once in Europe where he was hitting it SO bad off the tee that he hit a SIX iron off the tee the last two holes -- and still wound up in the woods. And still won. :dunno:

A flake of ODF, musketballed into the venerable TwoDot apple, starts the day right. ipe: I was a freshman in high school when Seve was born. :shock: That calls for another cup of coffee, since it's too early for a beer.


----------



## Branzig

freestoke said:


> "I wish there were no fairways!" :rofl: His first British Open win was played from fields, parking lots, all over the place. :lol: How he could win spraying the ball everywhere like he did was magic to watch.


Sounds like my hero! I am living proof that you can score in the mid 90s and only touch the middle of the fairway maybe 6 times :lol:

Starting the day off with a little Red Rap in a big clunky Custombilt. High Octane french roast is the beverage of choice to go along with it.


----------



## Desertlifter

freestoke said:


> A flake of ODF, musketballed into the venerable TwoDot apple, starts the day right. ipe: I was a freshman in high school when Seve was born. :shock: That calls for another cup of coffee, since it's too early for a beer.


Too early for a beer? Bah - conventions be damned.

For the record, that Nutty Professor was some AMAZING stuff. Rich's blends are really clicking with me - have a good supply of Bald Headed Teacher and Nutty Professor, and a TON of Trout Stream. Not a dud in the bunch that I've found.


----------



## JimInks

Lane’s Blend 11 Match in a 2013 slight bend red stone Rekamepip Rockcob poker.


----------



## Desertlifter

Branzig said:


> Sounds like my hero! I am living proof that you can score in the mid 90s and only touch the middle of the fairway maybe 6 times :lol:
> 
> Starting the day off with a little Red Rap in a big clunky Custombilt. High Octane french roast is the beverage of choice to go along with it.


Fairways are for carts. The fringe is for balls.

I keep mine in the rough - makes it easier for me to play through. :lol:


----------



## JimInks

McClelland Somerled in a 1984 three quarter bend medium brown Ascorti KS Business Dublin.


----------



## JimInks

Almost half way through this bowl of 1970s Union Leader in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


----------



## KungFumeta

Just starting a bowl of prince albert with a little pinch of squadron leader with perique in an mm pride


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Orlik Golden Mixture in a smooth, straight Ehrlich Boston ipe:


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Fairways are for carts.


Carts are for those with a handicap license plate or a doctor's excuse.









ODF in the TwoDot apple with fresh coffee. Watching The Three Musketeers yesterday, I was wondering why they all carry swords instead of muskets. :ask:


----------



## JimInks

Louisiana Red in a straight Lane era Charatan black with burgundy undertone sandblasted billiard 420.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black groove carved Dr. Grabow Omega. Next is Old Dark Fired in a smooth medium bend post-WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Killarney 9BC with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Prince Albert in a black 1997 Brebbia Jubilee 925 silver banded grain sandblast briar calabash.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Villiger 1888 After Dinner in a MM Cob with Forever stem ipe:


----------



## cbr310

Prince Albert Dr Grabow savoy smooth


----------



## freestoke

RY in the Diplomat Forever. Another day of sun! :shock: Been running through some ODF earlier and I think that's got to be moved into the top 10. One has to wonder why it isn't their best seller. ipe: (Of course, it may be. Who knows? :dunno


----------



## JimInks

Mississippi Mud in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Kentucky Club Continental in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


----------



## JimInks

Model Match in the first pipe Trever Talbot made when he went to France many years ago. It's a smooth straight Algerian briar Billiard bowl with a long Canadian stem, unbranded.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## JimInks

Mapleton Match in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


----------



## freestoke

The peerless FourDot pot cranking along with a big ball from a freshly opened can of The "Royal Yacht" Mixture, storms to the east, with easy sailing for another week. An ominous lack of snow here for late January. :spy: I must say, it beats having the roof shoveled off. :smile:


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Posting late... I had a bowl of Villiger 1888 After Dinner in a meer-lined Dr. Grabow this morning ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Mississippi Mud in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog.


----------



## JimInks

Straus Ault Park in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


----------



## Branzig

An exquisite bowl of Red Rap in one of my fave 90's savi's

Every time I smoke this blend in this pipe, I think about dedicating the two together forever!


----------



## Desertlifter

J4H Treebeard this morning. Nice aro, needs a touch more body. Puffed like a train on the stuff just to see if I could get it to bite, failed miserably.

Or not. Next time I will hit it up with a splash of Tambo or La Brumeuse for more strength.


----------



## JimInks

Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

Jim's Burley #1 in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

The last of my Villiger 1888 After Dinner, long after dinner, in a rusticated, 1/4 bent Dr. Grabow Royalton ipe:


----------



## JimInks

Up early for no durn good reason, so I'm smoking Amphora Brown in a 1990s slight bend black Sasieni 4 Dot Ruff Root Dark 4 Dublin. I'm kind of surprised it tastes like it always has.


----------



## JimInks

Carter Hall in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


----------



## freestoke

RY in the Sasieni Cheltenham Canadian, wondering about the wimpy snowplows in Boston. Relative to the budget of the city, they are skimping on snowplows, for sure. :tsk: People use those little things to clear driveways around here. We have bigger and better plows just to clear out parking lots. :tsk: Puny snowplows. 

And another question this morning. I'll even mention the drug Humira, since it's more or less necessary to make the point. They pronounce it Humera. :spy: Why? I guess for the same reason that Syracuse TV announcers pronounce Syracuse "Sarah Cuse". :dunno: There seem to be a lot of commercials where the "i" is pronounced "e" (as in "error" :lol.

Coffee is great on this chilly morning. :cp


----------



## Desertlifter

Prepping for tomorrow. Had an aro the other day, and I've been hitting the Latakia train pretty hard. Time for a change. Perhaps a nice bowl of 5 O'Clock Shadow will fill the bill.

And snowplows? We have bare ground on the mountain passes, and it was 60 degrees in the mountains last weekend. Got my last river float and killed some more ducks and geese. Little monsters won't be pooping on fairways around here - they will be turned into jerky and ride in my bag.


----------



## JimInks

Having a quick smoke: Sail Yellow in a 2013 slight bend grain etched briar Rekamepip Volcano with a walnut shank.


----------



## JimInks

PH Dark Strong in a smooth medium bend post-WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Killarney 9BC with a sterling silver band.


----------



## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the second pipe I ever bought, a 1974 three quarter bend black groove carved Dr. Grabow Omega.


----------



## JimInks

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 2003 black sandblasted medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant blowfish. Only have a little left of this now.


----------



## JimInks

Just finished smoking Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256.


----------



## Tony78

Orlik Golden Sliced in a MM Legend cob while organizing tasks and presentations for work today.


----------



## freestoke

Desertlifter said:


> Got my last river float and killed some more ducks and geese. Little monsters won't be pooping on fairways around here - they will be turned into jerky *and ride in my bag*.


:rofl:

Royal Yacht for me, in the diligent 4Dot diplomat. Coffee and cold weather ahead. Looking like over a week before the temps moderate a bit, but at least we haven't had the usual 20 below nights yet. When it gets that cold, I get nervous. :smow:


----------



## JimInks

About half way through this bowl of Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


----------



## JimInks

P&W #515 in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


----------



## Desertlifter

Morning bowl turned up to 10 you say?

Couldn't dig up my rope in time, so had a nice bowl of Peterson's Perfect Plug in my Tsuge on the way to work. Love this stuff.

Tonight I WILL dig up my stash of Rum Twist though...


----------



## JimInks

FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.


----------



## JimInks

Not too far from finishing this bowl of MacBaren Vintage Syrian in a full bend black pebble finish 2001 Rinaldo Lithos YY8 Titania Silver Line egg.


----------



## JimInks

MacBaren Navy Flake in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


----------



## Tobias Lutz

Edward's Supreme in a 1/4 bent, smooth Dr. Grabow Golden Duke ipe:


----------



## freestoke

The worthy FourDot pot, executing a stylish burn aboard the Royal Yacht. Coffee against the cold. Another light snowfall on the way tonight, but with a little luck, we'll be able to ignore it, snowblower-wise. They have a very nice snowtubing area about half a mile from here, in Lee Town Park -- just closed! My guess is that days of sunshine, a thin snowpack, and tubes sliding down the hill have made it Christmas Vacation quick, ala Chevy Chase's ride. Might even be tough getting back up the hill at this point, and I can invision serious injuries bouncing out onto hardpack. If true, they'd need at least a foot of snow to make it useable again. Hope they don't get it! :evil:


----------



## Branzig

Should be getting ready for work, but instead I've been in a bit of a bid war over a little, semi-rare pipe on the bay. 

I won it, paid a little more than I wanted too for it, but still I won it! Pictures and description will follow once it arrives. 

Now having a super quick celebratory smoke in my pony express of FVF along with my coffee. It's a biting a bit, but I don't mind ipe:


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## freestoke

How long have I been at sea!? :ask: Still aboard with the Diplomat Forever, the Royal Yacht apparently stuck in an ice floe.


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## LandonColby

Walnut in a Grabow Omega. Chestnut is a damn good match in my opinion, this has a tad more sweetness but also a slight acrid, chemical "essence" about it.


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## freestoke

LandonColby said:


> Walnut in a Grabow Omega. Chestnut is a damn good match in my opinion, this has a tad more sweetness but also a slight acrid, chemical "essence" about it.


I have about 6oz of Walnut in a jar. If I decide to move, I'll list it on ebay for the closing costs. :lol: Wonder how much of that is still around?

Finally managed to get into port with yacht and enjoying a bowl of ODF ashore with the Sasieni "Canadian" Canadian.


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## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Chatham Manor in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


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## Desertlifter

Not morning yet but pulling out a hunk of Rum Twist. Nothing like a nice, mild rope 'baccy for the morning bowl....


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## JimInks

Just finished smoking Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in the very first pipe I ever smoked (which was my father’s pipe), a late 1950s smooth with etched grooves straight Willard long stem adjustomatic Billiard. Right as I started to light up, the power went out. Hardy soul that I am, I kept right on smoking in the dark! Glad the power is back on though! Think I'll smoke the last of my stash of Sail Yellow in a 2001 black sandblasted three quarter bend Rinaldo Lithos YY bulldog with an amber colored stem.


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## JimInks

2 Daughters VIP in a 1970s slight bend Caminetto business 134 poker with a gold acrylic stem.


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## JimInks

Couple minutes away from smoking Royal Yacht in a 1970s smooth GBD 9665 slight bend with a rough top flat bottom sitter.


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## JimInks

I'm half way through this bowl of Edward's Black Cherry in a 2002 IMP smooth full bend egg shaped meer.


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## JimInks

I'm almost finished smoking Experimental blend in a post WW2 Pre-Republic Peterson Dublin straight smooth X155 Bulldog with a sterling silver band.


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## JimInks

Angler's Dream in a 2003 paneled black grain relief medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant freehand sitter with a smooth rim.


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## JimInks

Almost finished smoking Chatham Manor in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


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## JimInks

Just finishing C&D Burley Flake #1 in a 1979 smooth slight bend H. Jones Ltd. Easy Loader 391 Dublin. Next is Exhausted Rooster in a black 1980 sandblasted Peterson Premiere 01 medium bend apple.


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## JimInks

Edgeworth Slices in an old medium bend grain etched Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand. Eventually, some new smokers will join me! ipe:


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## JimInks

Sutliff 1952 Base Cavendish in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


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## JimInks

Bourbon Street Match in a 1978 smooth three quarter bend Danish Special with a volcano-ish bowl.


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## Kevin Keith

Today is bill paying day, I have my visor, sleeve garters ,and hand crank ten key... All at the ready. I'm smoking Accountant's Mixture in an Omega to heighten the mood.


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## JimInks

Edgeworth Slices in an old medium bend grain etched Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand.


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## JimInks

Now smoking Epiphany in a 1975 full bend black Dunhill Shell 52021 with a black vulcanite stem. Working and listening to old radio shows.


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## JimInks

Now smoking Capstan Blue in a straight sandblasted black billiard 2013 PSF POY Kaywoodie with an amber colored lucite stem.


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## JimInks

Now smoking Walnut Match in a 1975 smooth slight bend Tinderbox Aalborg freehand made by Nording. Might be my last smoke for the day since work is done, and got up so early.


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## RobertNYC

Old Joe Krantz in a Savinelli Seta 606 KS.


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## Kevin Keith

Peter Stokkebye Cube Cut in a Dr Grabow Freehand 07


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## JimInks

HU Scotney in a 1970s smooth straight rough top Charatan's Make (Lane) Perfection Deluxe Extra Large. I've enough left for one more bowl.


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## JimInks

Almost half way through this bowl of Sutliff Golden Age in a 1982 smooth straight Dunhill Root Briar 31051.


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## JimInks

Just finished smoking Jim's Evolving Work Blend in a smooth 1976 Canadian GBD Seventy Six 256. Next is Chatham Manor in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.


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## JimInks

Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 1982 black sandblasted paneled slight bend Savinelli flat bottom sitter.


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## JimInks

Just finished smoking Mapleton Match in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin. Next is Peretti's #333 in a very much appreciated 1979 brown, slight bend grain etched flat front Stanwell Rego 969-48 (09).


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## JimInks

2 Daughters VIP in a mid-late 1930s straight black grain relief Dunhill OX Shell bulldog with a silver band repair.


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## JimInks

C&D Burley Flake #2 in a 1980s Peterson 314 Full Bend black Sandblast system pipe.


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## JimInks

The last of this sample of Edgeworth Slices in an old medium bend grain etched Preben Holm Ben Wade Prominence B freehand. All great things must come to an end.


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## JimInks

Just finished smoking Filmore in a 1980 Stanwell 668 medium bend with a ferrule, half black sandblasted, half brown smooth, rough top. Next is the last of this tin of Doblone D’Oro in a 1988 smooth full bend Peterson System Standard XL 315.


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## JimInks

Castello Old Antiquari in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl.


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## gtechva

Dunhill Early Morning Pipe in a small meer


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## JimInks

Starting off my smoking day with Stonehaven in a 1984 black sandblasted straight Dunhill Shell 4103 Billiard. Simply Orange is my drink.


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## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.


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## JimInks

1970s Union Leader in a smooth 2002 Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series Milverton.


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## JimInks

Sutliff Ambrosia in a 1975 medium bend sandblasted looking, smooth on the sides yellow Pioneer meer.


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## JimInks

Half way through this bowl of Mapleton Match in a smooth straight late 1970s Tinderbox Selected Grecian Briar Dublin.


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## JimInks

Just finished work and this bowl of Chatham Manor in a medium bend 2002 MM Legend cob. Next is Peretti's #333 in a 2003 black sandblasted medium bend Karl Erik Ekstravagant blowfish.


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## JimInks

Part way through this bowl of Jim’s A Blend in a 1980 three quarter bend long stem Ascorti New Dear KS egg.


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## JimInks

Starting off my smoking day with a bowl of Lane Hazelnut in a 2003 IMP horn Meer.


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## DSturg369

Hot coffee and cool smoke... It just don't get any better.

MM cob with PA.

Picnic shoulder in the smoker and a slow cooker full of Lima beans, to be joined with some cornbread. A pretty good day.


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